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“No! I was canceled. I was so ticked off. After rushing to get there, they were as dead as a funeral parlor. It was my turn to leave, and I did so with glee. I don’t have to be back there until Thursday, so I packed up my car, and here I am.”
He took her hand, holding it up to his mouth to kiss. “Does that mean…”
“Yes. I’m not quitting my job, but I can commute. I’m going to stay at your place if you can stand my clutter. I brought two boxes of books already.”
“Books are great.”
“Jake,” the nurse called, looking around the room.
When he stood up, she smiled and nodded toward the open door.
“I’ll be waiting,” Dawn said.
At five, Sandra had had enough. She’d visited the construction sites with the building inspector, where he signed off on everything that was up to date; had meetings with the construction managers afterwards, singing their praises; had a Zoom call with the gambling commission; and organized the work she’d need to take home. Making sure her office manager had everything she needed so Sandra could conduct business from home for a few days, hopefully she wouldn’t have to return to the city unless it was an emergency.
Looking at her watch, it was just after five. She wasn’t familiar with Andy’s hours yet. Hesitating, she didn’t want to bother him at his office, but she didn’t want to hang around there waiting for him to call. She sent Damon a text. They could take their time getting down to Andy’s office.
Hauling a file cart on a dolly, Sandra felt like a fraud in her expensive shoes and more expensive suit, pulling the thing behind her. Damon put his emergency flashers on and ran out to help her with the unwieldly items. That was when Andy stepped out of the car, grinning.
“Oh my God, are you kidding me?” She was laughing, too.
“I borrowed your driver and packed up a few suitcases of clothes. Do you mind if I move in?”
Damon tried to keep his resting bitch face in place as he made room in the trunk for Sandra’s files.
Sputtering, she was excited and surprised at the same time. “You can move in. After two days, yes, you can move in.”
Then, totally out of character for Sandra, she hugged him, waves of emotion flowing over her like a heartbeat. They let each other go, and he held the door open for her. She got into the back seat, into his arms, and they lay back on the seat, kissing each other, lamenting about the long day.
“Lunch was the best. I got so much done, too,” she said. “I have a ton of work to do at home, but I don’t need to go again for a few days.”
“Oh no! I’ll be so lonely there.”
“I’ll pretend I’m at work and put makeup on so we can do FaceTime.”
“I like your face naked,” he murmured, kissing her again.
“Damon, stop somewhere to pick up dinner, please,” she said between kisses. And then to Andy, “I’m tired of the nanny’s cooking, so she just cooks for Brent. If I eat, it’s takeout. Which accounts for my girlish figure.”
Andy held her, laughing, so glad she didn’t have a problem with food. “I’m glad you can eat.”
“Oh yeah, I can eat, as you might have noticed when I ate half a pizza on Saturday night.”
His phone beeped, and she pulled away, reaching for her briefcase. They’d both get caught up in work that night during the commute, Andy getting out his computer, handing noise-cancelling headphones to Sandra, and scrolling through documents with another prosecutor, while Sandra looked at schematics for the Two Bridges property, a seemingly never-ending process of going back and forth between inspectors and contractors.
By the time they pulled up to her house, they’d accomplished a solid hour of work.
“I’m shutting my phone off, or this could go on all night.”
“Ugh. I just want to get out of these clothes,” Sandra said, hauling her bags up to the door.
“Is it okay with you if I take my bags up to my room?” Andy asked, winking at her.
“Go for it. The sooner we get settled, the better.”
Carrying the food for her, Damon had stopped at an American diner, and they got sandwiches since they’d had fish for lunch. It was a typical work night, with Brent already in his pajamas, playing with Legos on the coffee table.
“Mommy!” he screamed, running to her.
