He’d only knocked once when the door opened, revealing two women, standing side by side with sincere smiles on their faces.
“You must be Tyler and Rowan! Come on in,” one of them said. “I’m Sandra, and this is my wife Dotty.”
Tyler gave them a grateful smile and walked into their bright, comfortable living room. Sandra was broad-shouldered and tall, with an ample chest and shoulder-length blonde hair streaked with gray. Tyler immediately recognized pieces of Sully in her face.
Beside her, Dotty was a shorter Black woman with short hair and a beautiful, bright smile. A gold necklace rested around her neck, and she wore a crew neck sweatshirt with a big green fish on the front.
“Thank you so much for showing us the spot,” Tyler said.
“Well, aren’t you just the sweetest,” Dotty said, looking tenderly at Rowan. “Can you tell me who you have with you today?”
Rowan looked down shyly at the well-loved stuffed sloth he held. “This is Bunny,” he said softly.
Sandra looked delighted. “Bunny! Was there a mixup at the zoo on naming day?”
Rowan giggled. Tyler felt himself relax.
“No, this is Bunny for Bunny Wailer!”
The older women seemed to think about it for a second, before recognition dawned on Sandra’s face. “Bunny Wailer! Do you like listening to The Wailers, Rowan?”
Rowan nodded. “They’re my favorites.”
“That is too much fun,” Dotty said, shaking her head with a smile. “Well, let’s show you guys the place.” She led them back out to the front stoop, where there was a second door off to the side of the small porch. “This is a separate entrance for the apartment.”
Tyler had trouble keeping himself from staring as they guided him through the attic apartment. It was small, sure, but there was a complete kitchen that opened to a living area, and two small bedrooms with a shared bathroom off the hall. It even had a tub and shower combo.
There were plenty of windows, and mid-morning light streamed in. The wooden floors were scuffed, the fixtures dated, but it wasperfect.
A few minutes later, they sat in the living room downstairs. Sandra had made them all tea, and, after checking in with Tyler, had offered Rowan a plate of sliced apples, cheese, and some rolled turkey lunch meat.
“Any questions for us?” Dotty asked, settling onto the couch next to her wife.
“I don’t think so,” Tyler said, his head reeling. “The place is beautiful, and the rent is incredibly affordable.”
Sandra shrugged, looking at Dotty with a soft, tenderness in her eyes. “We don’t need the money. With Jamie’s generosity and our pensions, we aren’t trying to do more than cover taxes.”
Tyler frowned. “Jamie?”
“He probably introduced himself to you as Sully, didn’t he?” When Tyler nodded, Sandra rolled her eyes. “His name is Jamie. Jamie Sullivan. The nicknames are a hockey thing. They all call him Sully.”
Jamie. His name was Jamie.
“Got it,” Tyler said.
“We’d love to have you and Rowan stay here,” Dotty said gently.
Tyler felt his eyes burn, and he pressed his teeth down on hisbottom lip. Just the thought of getting out of the boarding house, of being somewhere quiet and private, of giving Rowan more stability, felt like more than he could process at once.
“Thank you,” he started. “I want to say yes. Your place is beautiful, and it’s exactly what I’ve imagined for us. But I don’t know if I can say yes until I figure out childcare for Rowan. A roommate at the boarding house watches him for me while I work at the coffee shop. If I’m going to have to start paying more for childcare, I need to know before I commit to a new place.”
Dotty and Sandra looked at each other. They were obviously having one of those ridiculous, silent conversations people who’d spent years together managed to make look effortless.
Sandra was the first to look back at Tyler. “I have an idea, and I want you to know that my wife and I have reached a point in our lives where we don’t do anything we don’t want to do.”
Tyler felt himself smile at that. Rowan was fully occupied with his snack, munching away at an apple slice.
“We love kids,” Sandra went on. “If you’d like, we could watch Rowan while you get your feet under you.”
