All three of the figures were facing a television, which was playing an old VHS recording of Ghost, one of Patty’s favorite movies. The walls of the otherwise empty room were decorated with the generic framed artwork that she sometimes used to spruce up ugly houses that she was trying to sell.

Patty had run up behind him. “It’s not what you think.”

He didn’t know what he thought. This was so crazy that he was unable to form a quick opinion. He did think that the girls needed to be kept as far away from this as possible, and he was grateful to see that at least Patty had had enough sense to keep them in the foyer by the front door and out of this room.

But there was no way he could trust her with Sue and Jillian anymore. Those days were over. Beyond that, however, he didn’t know what he was going to do. He certainly couldn’t watch the girls all the time, not with everything that was going on, and a sense of panic welled within him as he considered his very limited options. Could he farm them out to friends’ families? Once in a while, perhaps, but obviously not every day. Patty’s parents lived in Texas, so they were out of the question, but his parents had retired to the outskirts of Sedona, and while his dad probably wouldn’t come, he was sure he could get his mom over to stay with them and take care of the girls for a few weeks until he could figure out a more permanent solution.

But what about Patty? What was he going to do with her? Her problems went far beyond anything he could handle. She obviously needed professional help, although what that might turn out to be, he had no idea. He felt overwhelmed, and as he looked toward the window, he realized that when he and the girls had seen her, she’d been talking to the figures on the couch.

How many times over the past few weeks had she been late for something or other because she had to meet with the buyers of this house? How many times had she talked about them or described her contacts with them? Lies. They had all been lies.

“Did anyone actually buy this house?” he asked her.

She shook her head, wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“Daddy?” Jillian called from the foyer.

“I’ll be right there! Just wait a minute!” He turned back toward Patty, gestured around the room. “What would even make you think of something like this?”