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He said the first thing that came into his head. “Kauai. ” Katie had loved it there. They’d always meant to take the kids.
Margie peered up at him through her new rimless eyeglasses.
“Runnin’ away doesn’t change a thing,” Bud said gruffly.
“I know that, Bud. But I’m drowning here. Everywhere I look…”
“Yeah,” his father-in-law said.
Margie touched Johnny’s arm. “What can we do to help?”
Now that Johnny had a plan—however imperfect and temporary—he felt better. “I’ll go get started on reservations. Don’t tell the kids. Let them sleep. ”
“When will you leave?”
“Hopefully today. ”
“You’d better call Tully and tell her. She’s planning to be back here at eleven. ”
Johnny nodded, but Tully was the least of his concerns right now.
“Okay,” Margie said, clapping her hands. “I’ll clean out the fridge and move all the casseroles to the freezer in the garage. ”
“I’ll stop the milk delivery and call the police,” Bud said. “Just so they know to watch the house. ”
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Johnny hadn’t thought of any of those things. Kate had always done all the prep work for their trips.
Margie patted his forearm. “Go make the reservations. We’ve got you covered. ”
He thanked them both and then went into his office. Seated at the computer, it took him less than twenty minutes to make the reservations. By 6:50, he’d bought airline tickets and reserved a car and rented a house. All he had to do now was tell the kids.
He headed down the hallway. In the boys’ room, he went to the bunk beds and found both of his sons on the bottom bunk, tangled up like a pair of puppies.
He ruffled Lucas’s coarse brown hair. “Hey, Skywalker, wake up. ”
“I wanna be Skywalker,” Wills murmured in his sleep.
Johnny smiled. “You’re the Conqueror, remember?”
“No one knows who William the Conqueror is,” Wills said, sitting up in his blue and red Spider-Man pajamas. “He needs a video game. ”
Lucas sat up, looking blearily around. “Is it school time already?”
“We’re not going to school today,” Johnny said.
Wills frowned. “Cuz Mom’s dead?”
Johnny flinched. “I guess. We’re going to Hawaii. I’m going to teach my kids how to surf. ”
“You don’t know how to surf,” Wills said, still frowning. Already he had become a skeptic.
“He does, too. Don’t you, Dad?” Lucas said, peering up through his long hair. Lucas, the believer.
“I will in a week,” Johnny said, and they cheered, bouncing up and down on the bed. “Brush your teeth and get dressed. I’ll be back to pack your suitcases in ten minutes. ”
The boys jumped out of bed and raced to their bathroom, elbowing each other along the way. He walked slowly out of the room and down the hallway.
