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“You’re doing a good job coloring in the lines.”
Evie rolled her eyes. “Duh. I’m in kindergarten.”
“Evie, don’t be rude,” I admonished, a little embarrassed. “And we don’t say duh.”
Max clapped his hands together. “I’m glad you stopped by for dinner. If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”
When he left, I said, “I’m sorry about Evie. I don’t know what got into her.”
“She’s not going to be perfect all the time. I know that. She’s human.”
“I know. It’s just—”
Leo leaned over and lowered his voice. “I know Evie will have moments when she’s upset or cranky. We all do. I’m not expecting everything to be perfect all the time.”
I realized I had been worried that Evie would act out, and Leo would decide we weren’t the right fit for him. My shoulders relaxed at his words.
“What was wrong with the houses you saw today?”
I sighed. “They needed a lot of work.”
“Which ones did you see?”
I pulled the sheets out of my purse and smoothed the creases from being folded.
Leo took them from me, carefully examining each one. “I didn’t know you were looking in this area.”
“I didn’t intend to, but Juliana said these were the only ones that fit my budget.” I hated admitting that.
Leo gave me a sympathetic look. “I’m sure something else will come up.”
“She said she’d send me something if it came on the market, but I’m not getting my hopes up.”
“We’re not getting a house?” Evie cried as her gaze lifted to mine.
“I thought we could get one we’d like, but the ones on the market right now need a lot of work.”
“Leo hired a construction worker.”
Leo chuckled at her oversimplification. “I hired a construction company to handle all the work.”
Evie pointed her crayon at Leo. “So. Do that.”
“It’s not that simple, Evie. I won’t be able to hire a contractor. We’d need to do the work ourselves.”
“I can help you,” Leo began.
“You don’t have time to work on your own house,” I gently reminded him.
“This is different,” he said stubbornly.
“It’s not just the state of the houses. I don’t like the school district.” That was something a little easier for Evie to understand. “I’d like to keep you in the same school.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to leave,” Evie said with a nod and then returned to her coloring.
Leo reached over to squeeze my hand. “The right thing will come along.”
“I hope so. For the time being, we’ll have to stay where we are.” Every time I admitted that to myself, my stomach knotted tighter.
