When he cast a last look back as the children raced for the front door, he caught her dashing a tear from her cheek, and his heart ached. When they returned an hour later, her office was empty.
He hadn’t been back in the apartment for more than ten minutes when he discovered why. Grete took him aside, her eyes shining with compassion. ‘Ezz asked if she could take time off. I thought it best to agree.’
Mats felt winded. ‘From now? Till when?’
She made a rocking motion with her hand. ‘Maybe the twenty-eighth. She tells me almost all the work that can be done before the year-end is complete, and she’ll catch up … later.’
‘Shit,’ Mats muttered. He knew most of the preparation for year-end was done, because he’d helped her do it.
‘Shit,’ Walter shouted happily. ‘Uncle Mats said shit.’
His mother demonstrated her sympathy for his unhappiness by refraining from telling him off for swearing in front of the children, but giving him a hug instead.
