Lauren smiled. “That’s the role of a parent. It’s tough to have responsibilities placed on you when you’re young. From what I can see, you all certainly have your act together. Your parents should be very proud of you.”

“Thanks,” the two girls said at the same time.

Charlotte came out of the office with more tears streaming down her face. “Mom says it’s okay if I want to stay at your place, Lauren, but I’m good at Lacey’s and Kiley’s. She said to thank you again for being so concerned. So what plan do you have to keep my mom in the hospital tonight?”

Chapter 6

Charlotte wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I didn’t tell her that I want this, too. She doesn’t want to be a burden,” she said.

When Lauren had left the house this morning, she could not have guessed in a million years how the day would unfold.

“I promise you I don’t think helping you or your mother is a burden. People are supposed to help one another when they can. I’ll have to make a few more calls to get things rolling.” Just then, another brilliant idea hit her.

“Can I ask you all a huge favor?”

They all nodded.

“Can you girls watch the store for thirty minutes? No, never mind. I’ll just close early—”

“No, we can help out; we want to,” Charlotte said. “I’m sure we can manage for a bit. I’m good with math,” she added.

“Okay, it’s a deal. I need to show you a few things, then I’ll run out, and I shouldn’t be more than half an hour or so.”

She took the girls through a run of the items in the store, showed them how to use the cash register, then had to show them how to use the ancient credit-card swiper. They were shocked to learn she didn’t have Wi-Fi here or at home. They were quick studies. Lauren said that, if they ran into any problems, to tell the customers she would take care of whatever they needed the minute she returned.

Lauren left through the back door, making sure to lock it behind her. She wasn’t expecting any large deliveries that required using the back entrance, and if FedEx had any deliveries, they would have to use the public entrance. She cranked the engine over, again thankful Jimmy’s had tuned up her aging Honda.

She hoped this crazy idea she’d concocted wasn’t a waste of time. Driving as fast as she could without breaking the speed limit, she parked in the parent pickup area at Fallen Springs Elementary. She shivered as she made her way inside; she’d been in such a hurry when she left the store that she hadn’t bothered putting on her coat. She wore a thick wool sweater, but it wasn’t enough to fight the dropping temperatures. She popped into the main office and saw Cheryl Stanton, another high-school friend, who was the elementary school’s secretary. “I need to see Madison. Can I go to the classroom, or can you ask her to come to the office? It’s important, and I don’t have a lot of time.”