tomorrow night.
My shoulders eased, and as pathetic as it seemed, I was relieved she had nightmares too. Because tonight was the first time since Natalie had died that I felt less alone.
Chapter 11
Becky
The next morning, I was up early before the girls to make breakfast and pack their lunch. Patty had given me a schedule of when the girls got up and what time they had to be out of the house, so they weren’t late for school. I’d functioned on schedules with Eleanor and her meds, so Patty’s detailed directions had put me at ease.
When I stepped downstairs, Charles was already there, standing by the coffee machine, dressed in a dark navy-blue suit, all ready for work.
I staggered to a stop and stole a moment to take him in, as his back was toward me, his head downturned, watching the coffee brew.
It seemed as though it had only been hours since I’d last seen him. I doubted he ever slept if he had frequent nightmares. I didn’t like that the similarity bonded us, but it did.
A deep cough escaped him, a very dry cough, and it startled me from my stalking-fest.
I approached slowly. “Are you getting sick?”
He turned to face me, his eyes widening. For once, I’d startled him. “No. There’s no time to get sick.” He poured himself a cup and reached for another mug. “Coffee?”
“Yes, please. Just black.” I leaned against the counter.
He stared at me for a second too long before pouring me a cup. “I’ve never met a woman who liked her coffee just black.”
“Black like my soul.” I smiled, reaching for my cup as he handed it to me.
He laughed. It was a quick chuckle, but I drank it all up because even after knowing him for only a week or so, I’d only heard it a couple of times.
I sipped from the cup and smiled. “Usually, sickness doesn’t pick a time.” I lifted a finger. “Actually, it picks the worst time to take you down.”
He nodded his head. “Yeah, which is why I take a ton of vitamins. There isn’t a cold I haven’t killed yet in a few days, tops.”
“Lucky.” I made my way to the fridge, self-conscious as he leaned against the counter, ankles crossed, just staring at me.
This time, I wore a gray sweatshirt over my white tee. I wasn’t making the same mistake that I’d done last night.
“Sarah is up,” I said, matter-of-fact.
“Yeah, she’s usually up before her alarm. She’s my organized child. Mary …” He shook his head and took another sip of his coffee. “Good luck waking that kid up. She’s a whiner until we’re almost out the door.”
I laughed. “I have to look at their schedules to see what time they get out of school.”
“Three thirty.”
I knew from what Patty had said, as it was a private school, they didn’t have bus service, and I’d be picking them up daily.
“I’ll be in the carpool line at three.” That was a great amount of time at home. I mean, besides the girls’ laundry and getting dinner ready, there wasn’t much to do. “I know that Patty said you didn’t like her tidying up, but I like doing stuff like that, and there is so much time in the day, so …” I smiled before I took another sip of coffee.
“No,” Charles said, his answer firm with a rich timbre of his voice. It wasn’t even a soft no. It was a hard no means no. “We have a cleaning lady. Your main priority is taking care of the kids, helping them with their homework, doing activities with them.” His fingers tapped against his mug. “You’re up early, and you most likely won’t sleep before ten. After dinner and homework and baths and getting ready for the next day, it’s a lot.”
I blinked at him, tightly holding my hot mug. “But I won’t even know what to do with myself.” Maybe it was embarrassing to admit, but I had no life beyond my job. And I preferred it that way because keeping myself busy with my job kept my mind wandering into the past, to memories I never wanted to revisit. Plus, my job kept me inside, avoiding the possibility of being found.
“Relax,” he said, his voice gentler this time. “When they’re home, you’ll be busy.” He lifted his eyebrows to bring his point home.
I placed my coffee cup against my lips, taking a sip. “Honestly, there is only so much TV I can watch.”
He studied me for