“I suppose,” she says.
“Look, I know you miss your mom, but things are going to be okay with just the two of us. I promise you.” It’s been a couple of years since Isla left, but I know it still crosses Aya’s mind constantly.
“I don’t miss, Mom,” she corrects me. “She left us. We didn’t leave her.”
Words from a seven-year-old have never sounded harsher. Isla had it coming. I should have seen it all coming, but it is what it is, and I have Aya—my life's lesson I wouldn’t give up for the world. “Okay. Well, I’m not going anywhere. It’s you and me, kid.”
“Except when you work,” she grumbles.
“I do have to make a living for us, baby girl. Otherwise, I can’t take care of you.”
“Yeah, yeah. What are you going to be doing for work?” Aya asks.
“Noa, my friend who found us a place to live, said he has a job opportunity waiting for me, but he didn’t say much else. I guess we’ll see when we get there.”
“Okay, but I get to pick out my new babysitter. Right?”
“Deal,” I tell her. Hopefully, it’s that easy. I’ve never had to struggle to find help watching Aya. Between Molli and some of the Marines’ wives, I always had my bases covered.
“So,” Aya continues. “The babysitter has to be pretty, smart, and funny. Oh, and she has to be a good cook, and like to clean.”
I shake my head. “Are you my daughter or a matchmaker?” I joke.
“A what maker?” She questions.
“Never mind, you goof. If you can find a babysitter like that, then you’re in charge of all things babysitter related. Sound good?”
“Sure does,” Aya agrees.
Chapter Two
Kai
“It’s the first day of summer vacation for most of the states. I think I might like to call out today. What do you think, Kai?”
Lea spoke my thoughts out loud before I had my eyes completely open. Work has been slow these last few weeks, but it was the calm before the storm of tourists arrives. “Why are you in my room? Can’t you tell I’m still asleep?” I whine.
“That’s why I’m in here. You’re still asleep, and we to go soon. Get up. Get up. Get up!” Lea tears my white down comforter off my body, dragging the sheets along with it. I’m left in my shorts and t-shirt, freezing against the overly air-conditioned air. “Yeah, that’s right. You screwed with the thermostat last night. Now you can pay for it, bitch.”
“I do pay for it, dumbass,” I tell her, rolling out of bed.
“Whatever. I’ll be able to start pitching in soon. I just need one more paycheck,” she says.
“Lea, you said that two weeks ago, and two weeks before that, and a month before that. You’ve been working with me for almost two months now. Where is all your money going?”
She shrugs. “I dunno. Somewhere.”
I scratch at my eyebrow, ignoring the dummy routine Lea enjoys playing. “You know, considering you’re about to spend the rest of your life with Noa, you should consider trying the whole responsibility thing.” The only part of that she just heard was the word “Noa.” I can see it on her face as she examines her engagement ring, waving her hand around to make the diamond shimmer against the sunlight.
“Eh, Noa is responsible enough for the both of us,” she argues.
“Of course, he is,” I reply with a look that reminds her how I feel about Noa’s responsible career choice.
“He’s a restaurant owner. There’s nothing irresponsible about that,” she continues.
I clear my throat and tear my covers out of her hands. “It’s not the restaurant part that is subpar in the responsibility realm. It’s the type of restaurant that bothers me. It’s disgusting and piggish.”
“He makes six figures a year, Kai. Let it go.”
