Page 23 of Brock’s Lost Lunchbox

I unbuttoned his shirt and helped him out of his clothes then pulled the covers back. “You lie down. I’ll bring some water as well.” Brock always liked having water beside the bed in case he got thirsty in the night. “Okay?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Leaving him behind, I trotted off to find his phone. It was outside, right on the table we’d had our drinks on, and I carried it in, stopping to fill our water glasses on the way back. Just as I reached the bedroom door, the phone chimed.

Brock sat up in bed. “I heard that.”

“Me too.”

We looked at each other. “It’s probably nothing,” he said.

“Probably.”

“But I have to check.” He reached out and jerked his hand back. “No, you do it.”

“Let’s do it together.” I sat on the side of the bed and held the phone in front of both of us. “On three.”

“One,” I said.

“Two,” Brock added.

And together, “Three.”

We probably shouldn’t have been so ready to celebrate, but as it happened, my sweet boy turned a blinding smile my way. “Let’s go see Ms. Lily tomorrow.”

“You don’t need to rest?”

“I don’t start my new job for two weeks.”

“You got it! Glitter for everyone!”

Chapter Seventeen

Brock

I loved my new job. It offered work I excelled in, I was appreciated, and best of all, I went in, did my thing, and came home. I really couldn’t ask for much better than that. And as great as work was going, things were going even better with Zeph and me.

We were practically living together—different than actually living together, but still pretty wonderful. We ate meals together. He packed my lunches some days. Other days, I packed his. I’d been thinking about opening up the discussion about things becoming more permanent, but it never seemed like the right time.

Until tonight when we came back to my place after a nice steak dinner, and I saw a fluorescent-green notice taped to my door. It was the sign I’d been looking for.

In our complex, the colors of notices indicated their purpose, which meant everybody knew if you were behind in your rent or if maintenance was coming to your place or if power was going to be out while work was being done, or, in this case, the lease was up.

“Everything okay?” he asked as I yanked it from the door.

“Yep. But tonight might be a good time to talk about what’s in this.” I wiggled it in front of him, and then we went inside and sat on the couch together.

I read him the letter, which included a four-hundred-dollar rent increase, which was over the top considering how much they were already getting from me each month.

“I am not saying we should have this conversation now because my lease is up, but it felt like maybe it wouldn’t be a bad time to have it.” I still hadn’t told him what “this” was, but I was working in that direction.

Daddy took my hand. “You sound nervous.”

“I just don’t want you to think I’m using you to get out of a lease hike when I ask—”

He put up his finger, indicating for me to be quiet before I could finish my sentence.

Zeph reached in his pocket and pulled out a key chain, one that had to be from the same collection as the glitter monster on my lunchbox. On it were three keys.