Bruno backed most of the way to the door as Clarice gave a shy little wave goodbye.
He walked along the sidewalk and was amused to watch her wrap her arms around herself and twirl once in place, probably unaware that he could see her through the windows; it was dark enough now that she would only see her own reflection. Bruno had to resist the urge to stay and watch her.
Gil greeted him at Tiny Paws with protests. “I DON’T WANT TO GO!”
“I know, kiddo, but don’t you want dinner?”
“Is it hot dogs?” Gil said hopefully.
“I cannot feed you hot dogs every single night,” Bruno reminded him. “How about pizza?” He remembered that Clarice liked to cook, and how much she had loved the first kitchen.
Gil made a show of stroking an imaginary beard thoughtfully and then agreed. “OKAY.”
Alan, juggling a baby and weighed down with two kids clinging, giggling, to his legs, gave him a nod from across the room as Gil vaulted over the gate and went to find his boots.
By the time that Gil was dressed in his winter clothes and had gathered all of his things (which required removing his boots and climbing over the gate to get his lunch box and again to get his water bottle and AGAIN to get his art project), the light at the realty office at the far end of the block was off and Clarice’s car was gone.
“I only shifted with my CLOTHES on today!” Gil said eagerly, as Bruno buckled him into his car seat. “STOP! I can do that MYSELF.”
“I know you can, kiddo,” Bruno agreed. “But I can do it faster and I’m getting hungry. You don’t want me to get hungry. I might eat YOU!”
Gil was happy to laugh at that idea and let Bruno finish securing him. Bruno ruffled his hair before he closed the door. Gil was a great kid. High energy, sometimes reckless, but Bruno couldn’t imagine his life without him now.
And now, to his surprise, he was actually imagining addingsomeone elseto that life.
13
CLARICE
Clarice floated through her morning. Veronica came in late, so she had the office to herself until nearly lunchtime.
She kept remembering how nice and fun it had been to show houses to Bruno.Bruno, whose name meant armor. She googled her own name and found out that it meant “bright” or “clear.” She looked up Gilbert (bright pledge) and Horatio (timekeeper) before guilt drove her back to updating her binders. She placed an optimistic “Sale pending” sticker on the Beech Street property and put it up in the window. Veronica had done the same with less certain sales.
She took a few phone calls, and was glad to be on the phone when Veronica showed up, looking like she’d spent the morning at a salon. She waved cheerfully and pointed at her earpiece as Veronica went into her office and shut the door with the barest nod of acknowledgement.
Her lunch was a sandwich at her desk. She always brought her own meals because she often worked through lunch, and it was always something cold. Veronica had amicrowave in her office, but Clarice was never sure if she would sigh and seem put out about Clarice asking to use it, or warmly gracious. It was easier just not to ask. A day like this would have been nice for soup, she thought wistfully.
As the day went on, her hope that Bruno would come by grew fainter. She told herself that dealing with banks could be time consuming, and Bruno undoubtedly had a job, and it was ridiculous to think that he’d rush right back to her.
She stayed open a little bit late, just in case, and then sadly closed up and went home to Horatio. She drove past the day care and watched bundled up parents hurrying their bundled up children to cars. Were they just a little more wrapped up than the weather required? It was chilly, but notthatcold.
“Your name means timekeeper, Horatio,” she told her cat when she got home.
He yowled, clearly unimpressed, but he hadn’t thrown up anywhere that she could find, and he tolerated a few ear scritches while he was eating.
The following day, Veronica got to the office before she did and Clarice had to check her phone in alarm. She wasn’t running late.
Veronica was in one of her magnanimous moods, apparently, because she greeted Clarice cheerfully. “Clarice, I just love what you’ve done with the front window!”
Clarice rotated properties through the window displays, trying to keep a good mix of high end pie-in-the-sky mansions and affordable family homes. She made sure there was something new on the market featured, and could usually find something that was in closing to help drive urgency with asoldorsale pendingsign.
“Thank you?” she said cautiously to Veronica. She’dbeen doing the window that way for several months, even though foot traffic past at this time of year was quite minimal.
“It’s very appealing,” Veronica said approvingly. “You’ve proven to be such an asset to this office. I know I don’t say it enough. I can be such a… well, you have to put up with me at my worst entirely too often. You’re a dear not to hold it against me.”
Clarice warmed. “Well, none of us are our best before coffee,” she said kindly.
“Oh, I grabbed you a coffee while I was at the bakery!” Veronica exclaimed, pointing to a drink holder on the counter. “Skinny mocha with cinnamon sprinkle, right?”
