“What if I’m in the bathroom?”

“You heard me.”

Nick laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.”

Anita did the I’m-watching-you hand gesture, using two fingers to point at her eyes then one to point at Nick, before getting back into the car and making a U-turn in the street. He was a good kid and she trusted him, but as this incident showed, he was a bit of a smartass and a little too full of himself for his own good.

She was hoping that this would be one of those rare days when Dr. Wilson was late to the office, but no such luck. Immediately after pulling in, she saw the optometrist’s Mercedes parked in the small lot on the side of the building. Pulling next to it, she quickly got out, grabbed her purse and hurried through the side door, where Dr. Wilson, striding down the short hallway, turned to see her walking in.

“Sorry,” she apologized. “Family emergency.”

The optometrist was frowning, but as that was his natural expression, she wasn’t sure if he had any reaction at all to her excuse. She chose to believe he did not, and made her way to the front counter, stashing her purse beneath the desk. The office had only been open for a half-hour, and as yet there were no patients, but the optometrist was strict about employees showing up on time, and she mentally kicked herself for not calling in to explain that she was going to be late. It would have made her seem less…flaky.

Dr. Wilson hated flakes.

The optometrist had already gone back into his personal office and closed the door, and Anita waved hello to Jen, the other assistant, who was rearranging a display of designer frames.

“You’re late?” Jen said, walking over. “That’s a first.”

“Happens to the best of us.”

“What was it?”

“Nick got suspended.”

“Really?” The other assistant dropped her voice. “Was it drugs? My nephew Tommy got caught with marijuana a couple years ago. Never recovered. He’s still a screwup.”

Anita shook her head. “No. Nothing like that. The principal called us in because Nick wrote a play with the word ‘shit’ in it.”

“That’s all? Well…shit.”

They both laughed.

The buzzer rang as the front door opened and a patient walked in. After that, there was a mini-rush, and all three of them were suddenly busy as two new patients came in for eye exams and three older patients either ordered or picked up glasses.

Everyone was gone by eleven, and with the office empty and no appointments until one-fifteen, Dr. Wilson told Anita and Jen they could take an early lunch. The two of them paused outside the office. “Are you…going over to the nursery?” Jen asked carefully.

“Why?” Anita responded, suddenly defensive.

“No…I…Sorry. No reason.”

Was it that obvious?

The situation with Steven was clearly spiraling out of control. She needed to nip this in the bud, to use a gardening term, to stop things before they went any further and did some real damage. The best idea would be to stand Steven up, not show and not tell him and let him figure things out from there.