He made a thoughtful sound. “I’ll send a message to VP, see if he’s heard anything on his end. I know he’s been monitoring their movements. Pretty sure he’s got Mojave feeding him updates too.”
Smart. Mojave was prior military and suspicious of everything. He’d notice anything out of the ordinary before anyone else, easy.
“Thanks, man. Saturday?”
“Sure thing. I’ll bring Flash, you pick up Xanny. We’ll meet at the mall.”
The older woman whose bathroom light fixture I was working on poked her head into the room right when I hung up. “Are you taking your kids to the arcade? You’re such a good daddy to do that. I hope they appreciate it.”
Huffing a laugh, since I knew she was the nosy type and wasn’t surprised she’d been eavesdropping, I shook my head. “Not my son. My cousin. He’s thirteen. He took initiative to make my day better when I was struggling. I want to show him some appreciation.”
Her smile was reassuring. I was a little worried my workload would lighten considerably with all the shit going on. Cut or not, people could tell what kind of crowd I ran with. I worried people would stop calling me and pay the fee for a guy in the city to come out to avoid me. Thank fuck that hadn’t been the case yet. None of my customers seemed bothered by me, despite a few giving me side eye when I first showed up. Doing the work well helped a lot.
“You’re a good cousin, then. How’s it going in here?”
Putting the cover back on the outlet, I said, “Let’s find out.”
After turning the breaker back on, I came back to the bathroom, flicking on the light switch first. I tested the outlet with my voltage tester, and when the numbers came up exactly where I wanted them, I plugged in her hair dryer and turned iton. She beamed when it turned on without issue and patted my arm.
“Oh, that’s wonderful. Thank you so much. I’ve been struggling with that outlet for months. My granddaughter finally got tired of me complaining and called you. I’m so glad she did.”
“So am I, ma’am.”
I cleaned up my tools and the mess I made on the counter, making sure everything was back to how I found it. I was heading for the front door when she stopped me, holding out a few crumpled bills and a paper plate with cookies on it.
“Here’s a tip for a job well done.”
There wasn’t a chance I was taking cash from an old lady. Her granddaughter paid the deposit and asked me to send her the invoice when I was finished. That was enough for me.
Shaking my head at the bills, I told her, “You keep that. I’ll take the cookies though. I’ll share them with my cousins. Thank you.”
Unlike the last customer, this one was happy to watch Isla while I was working. I’d planned the job for nap time so Isla wouldn’t be too much of a troublemaker, and she was asleep in the portable crib in the living room like she didn’t have a care in the world. She barely opened her eyes when I scooped her up, and thanks to weeks of practice, I could fold up the portable crib with one hand and get it in its carrying case without having to put her down. Getting her into the carseat was also becoming old hand, the buckles no longer rocket science. When she blinked up at me, she didn’t immediately start screaming like a banshee. She smiled, accepting the pacifier and her favorite stuffed animal as recompense for waking her, and gave her attention to the little toys with the numbers on them that Jasper had insisted we buy to attach to her car seat. I chuckled, tickling under her chin before closing the door quietly.
My phone rang as I slipped into the front seat and cranked on the air for Isla. Tucking it under my ear, I answered distractedly while writing out the issue the old woman had and how much would be on the invoice.
“Yeah?”
“Mr. Fletcher? It’s Rachel Clark. Is this a good time?”
Sucking in a breath, I sat up. It’d been over a week since I last heard from the social worker. We’d been so busy, I’d forgotten about her.
“Yeah, sure. Now’s good,” I answered a little anxiously. I’d been chaotic as a guardian thus far, but now that we’d found our groove, I didn’t want to give her any reason to think I wasn’t good enough for the kids.
“Perfect!” she said cheerfully. “So, how are things going? Have you made any progress with Jasper?”
Blowing out a breath, I felt a smile tug at my lips. “Honestly? Things are going pretty well. Isla’s been sleeping better, Jasper’s doing well in school. Even got bumped up a grade in math because the kid is smart. A lot smarter than me. I feel like we’re doing good.”
“That’s amazing,” Rachel exclaimed. “I’m so glad things are moving in the right direction. Like I told you before, it takes time for kids to get settled and feel safe in a new environment. I know things were tough at the beginning, but now that the kids are more settled, you’ll see more and more improvement because they know they’re safe and cared for.”
That was the goal. I knew I’d never replace their parents, I never wanted to, but I wanted to make them feel secure. I wanted my place to feel like home. Which reminded me, I’d need to stop at the old house soon and do some yard maintenance. Maybe now that Jasper was in a better place, I could broach the subject of working on it together. It might make him feel good to maintain the place that would be his eventually, the place hismoms left him so he’d be taken care of. Maybe I’d bring it up to Simone. She was like the teen guru. She’d be able to tell me when to tell him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
SIMONE
It was becoming a habit to head to Elias’s home on the weekends. As the sole guardian of two kids, he was a busy man and it was easier for me to come to him than to expect him to find a babysitter so we could go on a proper date. I found I didn't mind it so much. Dates were nice, and I was sure we’d do that kind of thing eventually, but I enjoyed spending time with him and the kids. Watching Elias play with Isla, walking Jasper through our plan to teach Isla and what she’d learned over the week. It was very domestic, and I liked it.
An unfamiliar car was parked in front of Elias’s house when I arrived, and a woman with honey blonde hair and a cheery smile stepped out as I came up the path to the front door. I wasn’t familiar with her, and for a split second I worried that Elias was more of a biker than I expected. Why else would a woman be at his house so early? But before I could get too worked up about it, she introduced herself with a friendly smile.
