She slowly nods. “Sure.”
She brushes past me and heads down the stairs. My uneasy feeling grows, but I push it away. Getting a background check and installing cameras will be enough. Noah has to be right. I’m overprotective and I need to loosen up. Skyler isn’t made ofglass. And I met this woman at church, for Pete’s sake. She can’t be that bad.
I sprint down the stairs and almost run into Micah, who’s on his way up. “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be heading to school?”
He grunts at me like a typical teenager. I honestly feel more like his father than his older brother. He was only seven when our parents died. I grab his arm, stopping him. “You were late twice last week. I don’t want to see any more tardies.”
He huffs and brushes his hair back. “I just have to grab my backpack. Lighten up. I’m not late.”
I see our father in his grey eyes, and it knocks me back a step. “All right. Get going.”
I walk into my office and plop down on my chair, unbuttoning my top button so I can breathe better. I have eighteen proposals to read through, and I know it’s going to take all morning. As I scan through my emails, I hear Skyler giggling down the hallway.
“You can’t catch me!” she yells. Footsteps cascade over the flooring, and I catch a glimpse of her running past. Then Kiki follows suit.
The dad part of me wants to tell them not to run in the house, but I can’t do it. I love listening to the giggles and shrieks coming from the other room.
“We should go outside,” Kiki says a moment later, and the dad side of me is satisfied. “Let’s play in the backyard.”
I try to concentrate on my work, but the window faces the backyard, which gives me a great view of Kiki running in the grass with Skyler, and I have a hard time not watching. Kiki looks like a whole different person. Her eyes are bright, and her smile is wide, and she’s quick to laugh. After a few minutes, I give up on my work and go to the window.
Skyler shows off by climbing up the side of the fort I built for her. Kiki stands close, ready to catch her if she slips. As I watchthem playing in the back yard together, my fears subside. Even though I don’t know the woman, she seems attentive to Skyler. I don’t know why I was so nervous. Everything is going to work out fine.
I push down the urge to join them. I need to get some work done. I close the curtains and go back to my laptop. I read through several of the business proposals in my inbox. Two are promising, and I flag them to go over in more detail later.
I work until one o’clock, and Violet comes in with a tray of sandwiches. “Thank you, ma’am,” I say as I grab one.
“Getting a lot done?” She wipes her hands on her floral apron. Violet has been with us for six years now. She’s a vibrant woman in her late 60’s. Her curly, silver hair is always impeccably styled. When she retired from teaching middle school, she decided she didn’t want to sit around her house, so she came to work for us.
“Surprisingly, yes.” I hadn’t realized how much I could get done with several uninterrupted hours.
Violet laughs. “So am I. I think I’m going to like that Kiki girl. Skyler sure has taken to her.”
“Oh?” I can’t help it. I want to know what they’ve been doing.
“Yes, she’s been talking Kiki’s ear off. They went down the hill to the beach and built a sandcastle. Then they set up a tea party in the sunroom, and I brought them crumpets.”
“Crumpets?” I raise my eyebrows.
“Vanilla cookies,” Violet whispers. “But don’t tell Sky. She insisted on crumpets.”
I laugh. “Thanks for playing along.”
“You get your work done. I’ll make sure Kiki takes good care of your little girl.”
My heart warms. “Thank you, Violet.”
She closes my door after leaving, and I get back to crunching numbers and sending emails. It feels good to get my work done,yet, I have to admit I miss the after-lunch snuggle and reading time with Skyler. I shove away the thought that she’ll be going into kindergarten in the fall, and our routine will once again change. It’s just a half day, but still. She’s growing up too fast.
At four o’clock my eyes are blurry from staring too long at my computer screen. I shut my laptop and leave my office. I hear music coming from Skyler’s bedroom, so I climb the stairs and walk down the hallway. When I enter her bedroom, I freeze.
Skyler’s wearing her princess Elsa Halloween costume from last fall, and dancing in front of her mirror. Kiki, on the other hand, is wearing Courtney’s wedding dress. The dress Courtney left behind along with me and Skyler. Kiki’s hair is pinned up with one of Skyler’s clips, and even though tendrils are spilling out of it, I can’t stop staring at her.
She doesn’t notice me. She’s dancing to Skyler’s radio, her cheeks flushed. She swishes the dress back and forth, and all I can think about is how wrong I was. Kiki doesn’t look homeless. She looks like an angel. I should be livid that she’s gone through my things and put on Courtney’s dress, but for some reason, I’m not. I’m shocked at her transformation.
“Daddy!” Skyler shouts when she sees me.
Kiki whips around, her eyes wide. Guilt colors her cheeks, and she folds her arms across her chest as if she could hide the fact that she’s wearing a wedding dress. “Tobias. We…uh…”
