I was sad that you didn’t make it back to the Eatery this weekend. :( I thought you might come in to see me again. My dad’s out in LA, visiting his new girlfriend. Now would be a great time to call me. Doesn’t matter how late.

Willow had signed her name, with a lot of X’s and O’s, as well as her number.

“Damn. And now I have to deal with this,” he groaned, carrying in the plate.

He was sitting at the kitchen table with a tall glass of milk, eating one brownie after another while trying to decide how to let her down easy, when he heard a knock.

Who would be out this late? It was after one. My dad’s out of town…

“Oh, God,” he whispered when his mind snapped back to that part of Willow’s note. Surely it wasn’t her. Surely she hadn’t been waiting around for him to get home.

He thought about pretending he was already asleep, but all the lights were on.

The knock sounded again. “Tobias?”

It wasn’t Willow; it was Uriah. Tobias would’ve breathed a sigh of relief, except that hearing from his landlord so late wasn’t normal, either. Had something else happened with Carl?

Pushing the plate of brownies aside, he got up to see what was going on.

Uriah was dressed in his overalls, and he looked okay… “What are you doing up this time of night?” he asked as he stood back to let the old man in.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” he said as he crossed the threshold. “I was hoping we could talk without Carl around.”

Tobias scratched his head. “Would you like to sit down?”

“No, I’ll only be a minute.”

“Is this where you give me thirty days’ notice?” If so, why couldn’t Carl hear that? It was exactly what he’d been hoping for.

“What?” Uriah said. “I’m not going to give you notice. Where’d you get that idea?”

“Carl told me to pack my bags. Said he’d be moving in.”

“That kid.” He shook his head with a mixture of disgust and exhaustion. “If he wants to stay, he can live up at the other house with me.”

“If that’s the only alternative, I think I should let him have this house. Maybe that much separation would make it easier for the two of you to get along. At least you wouldn’t have to worry about him coming into your bedroom at night and rifling through your wallet.”

Uriah waved an age-spotted hand. “I’m not going to ask you to leave. I don’t want you to go. That’s what I came to tell you. Having Carl here doesn’t change anything as far as your housing situation goes.”