As he helped Julian compile information for a prospectus report, Rob worried that he wasn't up to the task. To Ms Dover, the stuff he found difficult was a breeze. Rob ended up doing only the most basic tasks. At the end Julian still thanked him.
"I wasn't as helpful as I wanted to be," Rob admitted.
"Of course you were. I would be way behind if it wasn't for you. And I would have to work right through dinner," Julian said.
After Julian didn't need him any more, Rob sat on the floor of the library with the kids and read them theSuper Strong Little Bee. The little bee was the tiniest bee of all the bees. The other bees teased him and he was sad. Then the little bee discovered how strong he was, and he went around lifting fire trucks and refrigerators. Rob read while the kids sat on either side of him so they could see the pictures of the bee lifting things over his head.
"He's really strong," Sammy said to Danny. "That's a good book."
Danny smiled, pleased that she liked it. "Lenny likes it too, but then he tries to eat it."
Sammy sighed at him. "Oh Lenny."
When Rob closed the book, he saw that Julian was leaning in the doorway of his office, smiling at them. Rob's eyes lingered on him, but he wasn't the only one who saw him there. Rico noticed him too.
He elbowed Mitch and whispered, "See that? What did I tell you?"
Both Rob and Julian glared at him, but he only shot them an innocent smile. Whatever he was implying, Rob refused to read anything into the way Julian smiled. That smile was for the kids, not for him.
That evening, right on cue, Danny's super strong bee costume arrived. Hurriedly, Rob stashed it in the closet under the stairs so Julian could surprise him with it on Halloween. He did it just in time as he heard Julian and Danny upstairs.
Rob went up to see if Julian needed anything, but he was already done giving Danny his bath. Ready for bed, Danny was stepping out into the hall. Julian kissed the top of his head then he told him, "Your hair smells nice."
Running over to say goodnight to Rob, Danny told him the news. "My hair smells nice."
He pointed to the top of his head, so Rob kissed his head too. "Sure does," he confirmed.
Going over to Lenny, Danny got down on the floor. "You sniff it, Lenny."
Laughing, Rob picked him up off the floor and hoisted him up and over his shoulder. "Everyone sniffed your hair now. Time for bed."
"I'm up here, Lenny." Danny waved to the little dog, who cocked his head to one side like he was wondering how he got up there.
Rob handed Danny off to a smiling Julian. Working as a team, the two of them put Danny to bed together and once again read to him about the super strong bee.
When Danny had been in bed for a while, Rob decided to go get the costume. It could wait until morning, but he knew Julian was awake too. Always alert for the sound of his footsteps, Rob heard him moving around. He would take the costume to Julian so he could have a look at it, check it over. Or maybe that was just an excuse so Rob could spend some time alone with him in the dead of night.
He didn't see Julian as he went out into the hall, so he went downstairs to get some water first. When he came back from the kitchen, he saw Julian coming down the stairs.
"I was a little restless so I figured I might as well get up and do something useful," Julian said to him.
"So you're going to be working?" Rob asked.
"I promised Danny I would find Lenny's friend, that purple seahorse, dog toy, so that's what I'm doing," Julian said. "I didn't see it upstairs."
"I think I saw it under your desk," Rob told him.
As they both went toward the office, Rob could tell that Julian was alert for any sounds coming from upstairs. He was ready to rush up there if Danny should need him.
When they reached the office, it was dark and it stayed that way even after Rob flipped the light switch.
"Why is this light out?" Julian asked almost angrily. Rob had noticed that he kept a lot of lights on at night. The lamp on his desk was always on at night, but it was out now, and Julian was suddenly tense and breathing fast.
After going in and checking the lamp, Rob told him, "Looks like the light bulb went out. I'll change it."
"You don't have to do that," Julian said, but he didn't sound very convincing as he forced out the words. Walking stiffly, he came into the room but not very far. He went to lean on the wall by the door.
Something was way off about him.
