One, the main garage door was open. And two, the box truck that had been parked in my driveway yesterday was gone. In its place was Gabe’s black Ford truck.
“What’s he doing here?” I wondered aloud.
I mean, I had a good idea what he was doing—working on the cabinets, but I was surprised he wasn’t at his shop doing work that he’d actually get paid in full for. Not that I wasn’t paying in full, I reminded myself. It was just going to take time.
I parked in the driveway in order to not obstruct Gabe’s path from the cabinets to the house. After getting Jake from his car seat, we went inside through the front door.
Poking my head through the plastic barrier to the kitchen, I paused to take in the sight in front of me before announcing our presence.
Gabe, wearing his black-rimmed glasses and a pencil tucked behind his ear, was concentrating on the level he’d lined up against the wall. It was such a benign scene, yet my heart skipped a beat looking at him.
“Hey! We’re here!”
He broke out into a big grin when he saw us standing in the doorway.
“Hi, guys!”
After making a quick mark on the wall, he lifted his glasses onto his head, and came over to kiss me on the cheek and offer a high-five to Jake.
“How was your day?”
“Really good, thanks. And thank you again for making my lunch. I wasn’t expecting anything more than a sandwich.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied with a wink. “Didja get my note?”
I couldn’t hide my smile.
“I did. That was sweet.”
Sweet was putting it mildly. It’d made my whole afternoon.
“Britt said I had to put a note in her lunch, so I thought I’d add one to yours, too.”
“Well, I hope she appreciated hers as much as I did mine.”
“I’m glad you liked it.”
We stood grinning at each other for a beat until Jake broke the spell, asking, “Mouse, mama?”
Gabe made a quizzical brow, so I explained, “His favorite game on the tablet is ABCMouse.”
“Ahhh.” He directed his attention at Jake. “Why don’t you go get your toolset and help me finish up while your mom does a few things.”
My son’s eyes got wide, and he wiggled his body until I had no choice but to set him down. The minute his feet hit the floor, he took off running toward his room.
“Are you sure you’re okay with him ‘helping’ you?”
I used finger quotes when I said “helping”.
“Of course. We got to get him started young.”
We do?
I didn’t ask that, just said, “Let me go pack a few outfits. It shouldn’t take me long.”
“Take your time, sweetheart.” His mouth turned up in his signature wicked grin. “Maybe pack some lingerie if you have any. And don’t forget the baby monitor.”
“I don’t think you want me to bring any lingerie. The only things I have are what Troy gave me.”
