See you around. It sounded so innocuous, but still. What’s wrong with you? Work got you spooked? Between the driver and Sherry, he was starting to think his imagination was getting the better of him. He envisioned one of his former coworkers, Charles Davis, laughing at his paranoia. “Zack, my man, you need to re-lax.” Uh-huh. Easier said than done.

At least he was alone to deal with the issue at work. Without Ethan and Addison running wild in the house, he’d be able to focus on the problem at hand.

Once he’d returned the mail, he walked back up toward his house, watching the Amazon delivery van pull up the street and stop two doors past his. Just a guy doing his job. Nothing more. He compartmentalized his concerns, something he was exceptional at doing.

A minute later, he walked up the driveway to his single-family home, his personal oasis from work and other pressures.

A two-story, modern home, the six thousand square feet—without the finished basement, he reminded himself every time—comprised a three-car garage; an upstairs with a master bedroom and four other huge bedrooms and a balcony overlooking the main, two-story family room; a formal dining room; a living room; his office; and a kitchen that seamlessly connected to the spacious family room. A sunroom with a back wall of eight extra-wide, tall windows jutted out of the back of the kitchen and opened onto the screened-in back porch, which only added to the footprint of the house. While more than two-thirds of Hidden Refuge had pools, his backyard contained a sixty-foot-long pool complete with a diving board and curved slide for the kids. A huge play set was set back behind the pool. Beyond the play set, at the back of the property, the woods served as a natural barrier, providing a sense that they were close to nature, although not too close.

Zack was grateful for the material aspects of his life, but he knew they were fleeting, like all things, which only heightened his appreciation for them.

He longed for the hugs that welcomed him every day when he returned from work, yet knew he’d have to wait until Monday afternoon, when his family would come home. He once again inhaled the crisp air of fall. It might have been his imagination or a romanticized longing, but he was certain that the air was cleaner the farther he was from the capital. It’s good for your soul too, no doubt.

“What’s up with the Amazon guy, Mr. C?” Samantha Hawkins asked from her front porch next door in her typical dry, direct manner. A seventeen-year-old junior at the local public high school—one of the top blue-ribbon ones in Virginia and ranked nationally—Sam was an anomaly, as well as their babysitter. “Trying to take over our neighborhood the way they’re taking over the world?”