Chapter 10

After that, I started keeping ice cream treats in the freezer. Marcus and Tammy were more than happy to come over and help me eat them. I always enjoyed baking so I laid in ingredients the next time I shopped and started baking cookies. Chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin seemed to be the favorites. The kids would come by almost every afternoon when I got home and I’d give them one apiece and a glass of milk. One doesn’t sound like much but I made really big cookies.The kid network kicked in and word got out there were fresh cookies to be had. I’d often have half-a-dozen swarming in the backyard until the parents came to get them or Mark got home. They usually vanished pretty quickly when he arrived. He’d grumble about somebody else’s rug rats, but he never turned down the cookies.

The mothers would take turns gathering them up before he arrived. Chloe once told me if I had a swing set in my yard she wouldn’t see hers until it got dark, then asked if I had any cookies left over. “Not for me, I swear those things have a million calories apiece. I’ll dangle them in front of the hubby as a reward for doing things around the house.”

For the first time in a long time I was truly happy with my life. There were a few incidents now and then. Mark became enraged when he saw my cellphone and found out I had our bank balance emailed daily. “Why are you snooping?”