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It would have felt wrong if he left without it.

“Two days,” I said into his shirt. I wasn’t sure why I’d asked before. I knew it was two days.

“I’ll be back this time.”

Emotion clogged my throat, but I tried my best not to let it show. This time he was coming back, even if it was only temporarily.

26

GABRIEL

Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch

Jackie Anne: Hi, friends. Have any of you seen my lovely Ciabatta? He’s a round raccoon in a pink tutu. He’s missed his favorite treat!

Comments:

Marjorie Brown: Is that what tripped me this morning? I thought I’d done the shrooms again and was losing it.

SherriffMike Finch: Marjorie, I’m in this group.

Marjorie Brown: They’re after me again!

Jackie Anne: I’ll be on the hunt for my baby! If I do find him, can anyone help me catch him? He likes to run.

On the flight, I took my time to make sure that I responded to emails. What I should have done was catch up on sleep. Even though things were going better with Agnes, Beatrice, and me, I still lacked enough rest to fully function.

But the emails were more important. Even though it had only been a few days since I had time alone, they had already piled up again. It seemed like my life as a parent was being perpetually behind.

I wasn’t sure how Alice did it. Not only did she help me out as my assistant, but she also raised Agnes and Beatrice the best she could. She made it to work on time and she always did what she needed to. I felt like I was missing a part of my life without her.

It was tempting to get a hotel instead of doing what I needed to. Sleep wouldn’t be a terrible idea, but the school had given me a list of things to prepare, and I hadn’t checked in on my apartment in far too long.

The contractor who was working on my house knew that I was coming. When I prepared this trip, I made sure that they were aware that I wanted to see how things were going. The damage from the fire had been extensive, and it uncovered an electrical problem that I needed to get fixed.

The roads the taxi driver took me on were familiar, as was the lobby of my apartment. When I bought this place, I was a single man thinking only of myself. It barely had enough space for Agnes, Beatrice, and me, and was made more for a bachelor, not a father.

I felt out of place even walking into it.

Shaking it off, I made my way into the elevator.

I couldn’t think this way. It would do me no good when I had to return.

My contractor was in the living room. I was pretty sure his name was Cody, but I couldn’t remember for sure. My memory had suffered with all the lost sleep.

“Hi,” I said, offering my hand. “It’s good to see you in person.”

“You too.” He gave me a tight smile. “Progress is happening, even if it doesn’t look like it.”

The kitchen was still behind a sheet of plastic. Agnes and Beatrice had started a fire and hid it from me until I smelled smoke all the way across the unit. I walked to the sheet and pulled it to the side. Everything had been torn down and the kitchen was mostly bare.

Wiring was exposed from the extra work that had to be done.

Looking at it told me there was no way this would be finished before the school year. Not that I had any hope that it would.

“What’s the timeline on finishing?”

Cody rubbed the back of his neck. “The cabinets are on back order, so that’ll be at least a month. The electrician is slowly making his way through everything, but he had to tear apart more than originally anticipated, so there’s still a lot of patching up left to do. Plus, all the stuff that’s not in the kitchen. I’d say three more months?”