I hear the key in the front door as I pull my coat on. Renee is right on time.
“Boys, Renee is here, and I’m heading to work,” I call to them at the back of the house.
“Bye, Dad,” they both yell out in unison.
“Whoa, is that how we say goodbye?” I bark back at them.
“Sorry.” They come running down the hallway.
Crouching down, I take Kade and hug him so tight that if something happened to me tonight, he would always remember how much I loved him. “Love you, Daddy, until the end of the rainbow.”
I kiss him on the cheek and tell him, “Love you too, big guy.” Then I ruffle his hair, and it makes him giggle every time.
Pulling Nash into my arms, the hug is just as tight, and I whisper into his ear, “I was so proud of you today for being brave.” And my words make him hang onto me just that little bit tighter.
“Thanks, Dad. Love you to the end of the rainbow.” He pulls back and smiles at me, and I know he is okay.
“Love you too, buddy.” I give him a kiss and then tickle him on his side, which brings him to his knees in a fit of giggles.
Seeing them both laughing and happy is all I need to get through another night of work.
“Be good for Renee,” I tell them, and they are on their way back to building their LEGO towers. I turn my attention toRenee and start giving her the instructions for the boys’ dinner tonight and then give her the heads-up that Nash has been a little fragile today. And as I pick up my keys off the counter, she stops me.
“Before you leave, Mr. Wood, I have something I need to tell you.” Stopping to look back and seeing the fear written on her face, I just know my world is about to implode and that whatever she is about to say is going to piss me off.
“I’m really sorry, but my mother broke her leg and she’s now in a full cast. She is still in the hospital tonight, but they are sending her home tomorrow. She will need full-time care for a while, so I won’t be able to look after the boys.” Her voice is almost trembling by the time she gets to the end, and it’s probably got something to do with the storm that is plastered all over my face.
And there it is. The explosion that has just derailed me. Of course, why would I expect things to run smoothly.
“Can’t someone else do it?” I snap at her and see the tears starting to well up in her eyes.
Shit, I’m an awful person.
“Sorry, ignore that. Don’t worry, I’ll sort something out,” I grumble at her. “Glad your mom is okay.” I spin on my heel and march out to the garage, trying to take some deep breaths.
I reverse out of the garage, pushing my foot down a little too heavily on the pedal. The tires spin on the icy road as I accelerate down the street, and straight away the guilt ravages my body.
“Slow down, you idiot,” I say out loud. “The boys need you.” I lecture myself, because there is no one else to do it.
During the thirty-minute drive into the city, I wrack my brain, thinking of every option, but nothing comes to me. Of course, I could ask Mrs. B, but this is not a one-night thing, and I can’t take her away from spending time with Poppy. She doesn’t have her daughter home that often, so I couldn’t do that to theold lady. The trouble is we haven’t lived in the neighborhood long enough to get to know anyone other than Mrs. B. Especially since I’m at work every night and the boys are still too little to have made good friends yet.
I pull my car into my parking spot behind the bar, and I’m no further ahead with solving my problem. But at least I have tomorrow to come up with something. Maybe Mrs. B knows a good sitter who can fill in. Getting out of the car, I pull my jacket tighter around me, and as the nip in the air gets colder and the weather looks like it’s turning to more rain, I pray that I can find a solution tomorrow because I don’t have time to dwell on it anymore tonight.
Unlocking the back door and disarming the alarm, I hit the light switch and continue down to the main area, flicking all the light switches on, and Lucinda’s comes to life. I walk along the front of the bar while running my hand over the beautiful solid oak top that Lucinda and I picked out together, and for the first time since we opened, I notice that it just doesn’t give me the same tingles that it usually does. And again, that thought of selling niggles at the back of my mind, because this just feels too fucking hard tonight.
“Hey, boss,” I hear from behind me as Charlene walks in to start her shift. “You okay?” she calls out to me as she heads for the staff room to lock away her bag.
“Yeah,” I reply as convincingly as I can muster and then take a deep breath and slowly let it out. I walk down the hallway, past the staff room, and into my office to start the nightly routine to get the bar open.
POPPY
“Mom, this lasagna is to die for. I’m going back for seconds.” Standing from my seat and making my way to the kitchen, Igrab the lasagna dish and bring it back to the table to serve out my piece because I know Autumn will say she doesn’t want any more but will then steal mouthfuls off my plate.
Autumn waits until I have a mouth full of lasagna before asking my mother a question she knows I won’t be able to shut down because I won’t talk with food in my mouth.
“So, tell us all about Landon and the boys next door. What’s their story?” She sits back in her chair and makes herself comfortable, while I sit glaring at her from my chair and chewing aggressively.
“Oh, my little Nash and Kade are the sweetest boys. They’re a little shy at times, but that’s understandable. They have been through a lot in the last two years, losing their mother and then moving houses.” I can see the love my mother has for these little boys.
