“Really?” he asks, almost shocked. “I want to do that job then.” He picks up the pie and puts it in the basket. By the time we leave, we have enough food for three weeks. I get him in the car and then look over at him. “Where are we going now?”

“To get flowers,” I say.

“For Mom?” he asks. “Because you like her?” I nod. “But it’s not her birthday.”

“That makes it even more special,” I say. “You always give them flowers just because.”

“But why?” he asks.

“So they know you are thinking about them,” I say. “So they know how special they are to you.”

“I want to buy Mom flowers,” he says. “Will you lend me the money?”

I want to laugh out loud. “You got it,” I say. When we enter the flower shop twenty minutes later, he walks straight to the woman. “I want some flowers for my mom,” he tells the lady, who smiles at him and looks at me. “Her favorite color is purple.”

“Is this for a special occasion?” the lady asks.

“No, it’s just to tell her that I love her,” he says, and I could swear I hear her swoon.

“Why, aren’t you the cutest?” she says and then looks at me. “You got yourself a special little boy there,” she says, and I suddenly beam with pride.

“He’s one of a kind,” I say, putting my hands on his shoulders and squeezing them.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Caroline

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” I puff out, almost running into the reception area, my hands still shaking from when I walked into my apartment.

“It’s fine,” Tamara, the daytime receptionist, says. “You have ten rooms to get done by three,” she says, handing me a clipboard with the room numbers. “I marked off the rooms that have already checked out.”

“Thank you,” I say, trying to get my heart to settle, but it’s not going to happen anytime soon.

“I’ll keep you informed on the rooms as they check out,” she says, handing me the walkie-talkie. I take it and walk out of the reception area, and the phone rings in my purse. I pick it up and see that it’s Justin, and I know that if I hear his voice right now, I’m going to start crying, and there is no time for that. When I don’t answer, he calls again, and this time, I just send him a text.

Me: I’m fine. I got to work five minutes ago, and I’m late. I’ll explain later. Is everything okay?

I walk into the employee room and store my purse in my locker and change into the uniform. I slip on my running shoes when the phone beeps, and I look down.

Justin: Everything is fine. Just worried.