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Summer nodded slowly. “I get that.” She looked at Erica. “Thank you for letting them live here. I know it’s going to be an adjustment and stuff, but I need them to be safe.”
“I know.”
“I don’t know how I feel about my dad.”
“You don’t have to decide today.” Erica smiled at her. “Whatever he does, he’s still your dad and it’s okay to love him.”
“I do. I just don’t know what to think of him.”
Erica rose and crossed to the bed. Summer reached for her and Erica wrapped her arms around her daughter.
“Maybe for now, you can remember how it used to be. The other stuff will still be here when you’re ready to deal with it.”
“That’s a good plan.”
Allison’s life had never felt so out of control. Since Peter’s arrest, she’d been reacting to events rather than driving them, and that situation only got worse. After accepting Erica’s offer—something she still couldn’t believe she’d done—they’d had a lengthy conversation working out the details of the move.
Given that she was nearly out of day care credits and paying for day care would take half her take-home pay, they’d decided to get her out of the house as quickly as possible. Allison had given notice at the grocery store and notified her landlord. He’d gladly agreed she wouldn’t have to pay the rent for the remainder of the lease, had refunded half of her current month’s rent and had given her the small bonus he’d promised. Fortunately she’d learned her lesson and had picked up the check rather than have him deposit it in her account.
The two days after her phone call with Erica, a nice woman had shown up to help her decide what to keep with her and what to store in Erica’s garage. The consultant had already been to the house to see Allison’s and Jackson’s rooms and had come armed with floor plans and measurements.
The following Saturday, Allison dropped Jackson off at day care. He would be there much of the day, which would use nearly all her remaining credits, but she couldn’t have him around for the move. She was back at her house by eight thirty. By nine the packers had arrived.
She’d never had packers before. She didn’t even know such a service existed. In her world, you packed the boxes yourself, then got friends to help you move them. But not today. The team brought in dozens of boxes along with huge stacks of packing paper.
She’d carefully separated the items she was taking from those being stored. Each box was marked and put into the appropriate pile.
They worked with frightening efficiency, reducing stuffed closets to a few boxes in what felt like minutes. In less than an hour, both Jackson’s room and hers and Peter’s were done. She stood by the stripped bed, remembering how excited she and Peter had been to rent the house. She’d only been a few months into her first pregnancy then, and they’d both been so happy to be starting their family.
They’d brought Jackson home from the hospital to this house and she had assumed they would do the same with Bethany. There were memories here, so many of them wonderful. And now it was all gone.
Her chest ached—some from all that had been lost and some from what would never be. She missed Peter so much. Doing this on her own was hard and she wanted to be able to lean on him. She missed his warm presence, his silly jokes, the way he was always there for her and Jackson.
She returned to the living room, which was now only furniture and boxes, and sat on the sofa.
She was going to be all right, she told herself. Staying with Erica would allow her to rest before the baby was born. Jackson would have lots of attention and room to run around. She hadn’t seen Erica’s place but Peter had described it as “huge and cold.” The latter wasn’t exciting, but she was sure there was a big backyard. It was April. The days were getting longer, so Jackson would be able to play outside.
As for missing Peter, there was nothing to be done about that. He was—
“Do you think they’re still here?”
The question came from just outside the open front door. Allison walked out to find a young couple standing by the porch stairs. They were in their mid-to late twenties, casually dressed and holding hands. A small SUV was parked behind the moving truck.
“Can I help you?”
They both looked at her, then at each other. The man gave her a tentative smile. “Hi. Are you the renter? We’re sorry to bother you. Our broker said you’d already moved out and it was okay to come by and look at the house.” His smile turned genuine. “We’re the new buyers. I’m Matt and this is Greta.”
Greta tugged on her husband’s hand. “We’ll come back another time.”
Allison hesitated, not wanting to deal with them, but unable to turn them away. Because of the terms of the lease, the buyers had been unable to actually come into the house. Instead the landlord had taken several videos and posted them online. Buying a house sight unseen would be a little scary, so of course they wanted to see where they were going to live.
“There’s a team of guys packing up everything,” she said, waving toward the open door. “It’s a mess and loud and crowded, but if you’d like to walk through, that would be okay.”
Greta and Matt exchanged a brief glance.
“Are you sure?” Matt asked.
“I am.”
