Isla got breakfast for the kids, and when they were settled in to watchPaw Patrol, she began working on the packet that Julian had dropped off.Every time she thought of him, her skin tingled with awareness, as if he were still sitting across from her, looking at her with those gorgeous, compassionate brown eyes.Her soon-to-be ex-husband was probably getting arrested at the place they used to call home while she completed the initial paperwork to file for divorce, and what was she thinking about?
Her divorce attorney and how cute he’d been while telling her about the history of the house and sharing his knowledge of the Laurel Canyon rock ’n’ roll scene that’d launched the LA music industry.She’d lived in and around LA her whole life and had never once given a thought to how the city’s vibrant music scene had gotten its start.
Denny texted to check on them, and she updated him about the latest with Gabriel.
I was thinking I might have a chat with him.Any objections?
No, that’s fine, as long as you aren’t unkind to him.He’s obviously ill or addicted or something, and he should be treated as such.
I’ll talk to the cops about what we can do to get help for him.
That’d probably be more productive than talking to him.Thank you.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
She sent a thumbs-up, appreciating that he’d take time he didn’t have to help her—and Gabriel, whom he didn’t even like.But he was doing it for her and the kids.The sooner they got Gabriel into treatment, the sooner he could work on reclaiming his life.And it was in the kids’ best interests for him to one day have a relationship with them.
Mila brought her favorite pink blanket with her when she crawled into Isla’s lap, pushing the papers aside as she went.
Amused by her daughter’s ability to get what she wanted without saying a word, Isla wrapped her arms around Mila’s sturdy little body and gave her a squeeze, incredibly thankful to be with her babies in a safe place, without the grinding fear of worrying about Gabriel coming home to ruin their peace.
Mila’s soft blonde hair brushed against Isla’s chin as she rested it on Mila’s head.
Theo was transfixed byPaw Patrol, as always, running one of his character cars along the coffee table as he watched the action play out on the screen.
“Mommy,” he said during a commercial.“When is Daddy coming over?”
Isla had been waiting for him to ask about his daddy, whom Theo loved despite the fact that he was sometimes afraid of him.“Come sit with me.”She held out an arm to him and put it around him when he’d relocated to the sofa.“You know how I told you that Daddy is sick?”
He nodded while Mila sucked her thumb, listening but not really understanding.
“He’s probably going to the hospital to get better, and that’ll take a while.”
“Like a week?”
“More likely a few months.Do you remember how long a month is?”They’d studied time in his preschool class that he could no longer attend out of fear of Gabriel trying to sign him out.Isla couldn’t imagine letting either of them out of her sight, unless they were with Denny or Mrs.V.
“Thirty days, but some are more and one is less.”
“That’s right.”Her little guy was so, so smart.He remembered everything he learned and was well ahead of his age group in development.“But it could be three or four months, which is like ninety or a hundred and twenty days.”
“That’s a lot of days.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Won’t he miss us?”
“He’ll miss us very much, especially you and Mila.But you can make some pictures for him that we can send to him.That’ll make him feel much better.”
“When we had to hide in the closet…”
Ugh.“Yes…”
“Was that because of Daddy’s sickness?”
She wanted to lie to him, but everything she’d read about situations like theirs encouraged telling even the youngest kids as much of the truth as the parent felt they could handle.“Yes, honey.”
“He broke our stuff.”
