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“Good night, kiddo. Sleep well.”
He flashed a toothy grin as he settled into bed and under the blankets to ward off the nighttime chill in the air. “Is my other mommy coming home soon?”
“I’m working on trying to find her, buddy.”
His blond brows dipped in confusion. “Is she lost? Momma told me she had to go away.”
How do you explain something like that to a kid without scaring them? If anything, death was easier to explain, but when someone just vanishes what can you tell them? I didn’t want him to think Ellie or I might suddenly disappear one day. I shoved away the pain of knowing that someday I would have to tell him the truth about his mother and answered his question in the best way I could think of. “Yeah, she’s lost and I’m trying to find her.”
“You will,” he said with so much confidence it filled my chest with warmth. “You’re the best.”
Being around this kid filled my heart with joy. He was so innocent, so untouched by the shit this world had to offer, and I vowed then and there I would do whatever it took to keep him a kid for as long as possible.
“You’re the best,” I whispered, and tightened the blankets around him until he laughed. “Good night.”
“See you in the morning,” he called out, and I was grateful that, this time, it wasn’t a question. Leo was getting used to having me around to the point where he expected it.
I was a real and expected part of his life.
Finally.
With my son quickly asleep in his bed, I tiptoed out of his bedroom and enjoyed a moment of solace in the dark hallway. The next matter I had to deal with was far more complicated than reassuring a little boy.
Ellie was downstairs, still in the spot where we’d left her, with a fork in her hand as she studied the table as if it was the most interesting thing in the whole fucking world. She was totally unaware of her surroundings, which was concerning on its own, but the fact that she didn’t hear me at all was worse.
I went to Ellie and laid a hand on her shoulder, bringing her gaze to mine. “Is everything all right?” She’d been especially quiet throughout dinner and now she still sat at the table rather than her usual ritual of cleaning the kitchen while I put Leo to bed.
She blinked slowly, her green eyes wide and surprised, a sure sign she hadn’t heard me approach. She nodded when she finally remembered I asked a question, pasting a fake smile on her face. “I’m good.”
I frowned. “I thought we were going to be honest with each other. Always.”
The fog cleared from her eyes, and she arched a brow. “You first. What have you been dancing around since you came home?”
I wanted to focus on the fact that she referred to my place as home, because that’s what I wanted it to be for her. “You’re right.” I released her shoulder and made my way to the fridge because this conversation required a beer. Or two. “Want one?”
She shook her head and picked up a nearby glass of water. “What’s going on?”
I took my time, stalling for my sake as much as hers, popping the cap on the beer and taking a long, fortifying sip. “The guys finally went through all of Stacy’s boxes.”
Ellie sat up taller, her eyes grew wide with a mixture of fear and excitement. “What did you find?”
“It’s not good,” I said, eager to get that idea out of the way quickly. “Nothing is confirmed, but we’ve got a pretty good idea of what led to her disappearance.”
“Who was it?”
“I can tell you who I suspect was behind it, but unless or until we find Stacy, it’s all just fucking theories.”
“So is gravity. Tell me.”
“Stacy spotted some accounting irregularities at her job, and being a good employee, she investigated to see if she’d made a mistake or if someone was trying to cheat the company.”
“She was always a stickler for the details,” Ellie said fondly, a wistful smile on her face. “She found something.”
I nodded. “She found that some of the accounts weren’t relevant to building shit or construction and she kept digging.”
Ellie nodded, motioning for me to continue.
Here goes. “She used your mother’s diaries to figure it out.”
