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“I’m also sharing Johnny and Wes’s contact information with you.”

“Thank you,” I whisper, my mind still spinning, a plethora of conversation topics flying through my mind. But Tucker puts his phone away just as I feel my own vibrating in my butt pocket, and turns on his seat, putting one ankle over the opposite knee and facing me head on.

“Now, please tell me how you figured out where Ottie was.”

I snort, full of relief.

“I know from experience how closely child carers pay attention to stuffed animals. If they didn’t know where it was, then I guessed it was somewhere in the house. Then, because the boys were so sure that Ottie had gone to daycare with them, my best guess was that they couldn’t remember and had just stuck to that idea in their heads.

“That normally happens when you don’t have a clear memory of something at any time during that day, so my best guess is Mason woke up and didn’t see Ottie at all, so . . .”

“So Ottie fell during the night and rolled under the bed.” Tucker groans and throws his head back against the headrest.

I shrug and offer him a smile.

“I bet it was a tough couple of days, but there’s no way to learn these things unless you’ve lived through them before.”

“I guess,” he mumbles, just sullenly enough to seem so much younger than he normally does. “They didn’t want to go to their skating lesson on Wednesday after they woke up from their naps because Mason couldn’t find Ottie, and then they couldn’t sleep in their room at night so they slept with me, then they didn’t want to do anything on Thursday either, and I just . . .”

He trails off, and I know what that must’ve been like for him.

It’s possible that he’s never had to deal with a multiple-day crisis with the boys before, not if they’ve never spent a long time at his place before they came to live with him.

“It’s tough, and it’s probably not the last time something like this will happen, but you’ll learn more each time.”

There’s more I should tell him to prepare him for what the boys’ acclimation to their new lives will mean, at least behaviour-wise, but I don’t think right now would be the best time.

He sits up, and straightens, almost like he remembered he’s supposed to look or act a certain way, and I can’t help but notice how his T-shirt stretches over his biceps and chest, how his carved jaw bunches, and his lips relax into a natural smile.

“You should take the time to settle in when we get home, relax.” He waves a hand around. “Don’t worry too much about what you’ll do with the boys before their soccer practice later.”

I frown. I already have the first few weeks of activities planned with the boys. I spent the last few days preparing extensively.

“I won’t be able to show you around the house since I have a meeting to get to, but Johnny can show you where everything is. I’ll be home around five this evening if everything goes to plan so I can have dinner with you all. After I get the boys to sleep, we can go through whatever questions or worries you might have.”

“All right,” I murmur.

I’ll wait for tonight, then, to explain what I have planned and see if he’s in agreement with me starting on some light reading lessons and general real-world lessons like how to cross streets, and to have fun in playgrounds a few feet away from adults etc.

“I’ll text you if anything changes.”

I realize then that we’re back.

Johnny claps Wes’s shoulder before stepping out, and I hurry to unbuckle my seatbelt.

“Uh, yeah, have a good day.” God could I sound any more awkward? “See you later,” I say quickly, then maybe run away. Maybe I just don’t want to hold up traffic.

No one will ever know the truth.

It was kind of genius to have my first day of work be a Friday.

Not only because kids usually love Fridays and it means they’re more inclined to go with the flow of meeting someone new who’s going to be spending a lot of time with them.

But also because it will be an easier transition for me. Though in the email he sent me Tuesday night with the signed contract, Tucker did mention twice that I’m more than welcome to stick around during the weekends, even if I’m not obligated to work at all, I don’t think that would be a good idea for the first three days of my employment with him.

The start of this job is probably going to be the easiest part of it—yes, even with this morning’s adventures. I’ll only have to entertain the boys from the moment I pick them up with Johnny at noon until four when they have soccer practice at the park. By five we’ll be back and Tucker should be home too, but if he’s not, then I’ll handle bathtime and the start of dinner.

I’m not sure what I’ll do if he’s not back by the time their bedtime rolls around, but I’ll figure it out.