The following weeks were full of nervous laughter, awkward sleep-overs, and a few too many sleepless nights spent replaying Jared’s smiles in my mind. More than once I’d woken up feeling like little more than a zombie, relying on caffeine to transform me back into a functional human being.

Losing a few hours of sleep was nothing compared to the relief of knowing I could trust somebody to watch my daughter, especially when I was stuck at work during odd hours. Though staying late was something that I wished happened less often, it was hard to avoid when I was building a business. It was true, my schedule was a nightmare of meetings, viewings, and open houses in between consults; not to mention drafting documents.

I sighed, rubbing a hand over my face as I contemplated my very long to-do list.

Abigail was the one person who made sure I wasn’t running in circles.

“Mr. Hayes!”

I looked up, suddenly dragged out of my daydreaming to find my assistant standing in front of my desk. Clearing my throat, I pretended to organize the papers before me and pretended I’d been paying attention. “Oh, Abigail, haven’t been standing there long, have you?”

“Long enough for the coffee to get cold,” she sighed with a knowing look before setting down the mug of coffee and handed me a folder. “The contract just closed on the Sheridan house. We sold for above the original asking price.”

“That’s great!” I flipped through the papers she had organized for me; appraisals and the final contract were all labeled and highlighted. The final offer made me pause, surprised. I looked up at Abigail to see her smug smile. “That open house really helped! I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Though it had Abigail flustered, my compliment was honest. Abigail had been the mastermind behind our most successful open house so far and I had no idea what I would do without her. Despite my desire to keep to myself when I had moved back to my hometown, I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere alone.

The thought drew my mind away from Abigail, to the other person who I couldn’t do without. As invaluable as my assistant was at work, she couldn’t compare to Jared. He was there for Maya every time I couldn’t be and it made all the difference; despite the number of daydreams it caused and the memories they stirred.

“Ah, Mr. Hayes… that’s not where you’re supposed to sign. There’s not even a line there!”

I jumped slightly as my thoughts were interrupted again, the pen in my hand skittering across the page and leaving a jagged line of ink through the middle of a block of printed text. Color flushed my face as I realized I had been trying to put my signature over top of a paragraph detailing who was responsible for the closing costs. “S-sorry,” I stammered out the word.

Abigail sighed, shaking her head and taking the papers from me. “I’ll reprint it. Just… try to pay attention, please. This isn’t the first time you’ve done this.”

“I’m sorry!” I held my hands up in defeat, hoping to ease her irritation with me. “It won’t happen again.”

The look she gave me was one of skepticism; she’d been right that it wasn’t the first time I made a stupid mistake, and we both knew it wouldn’t be the last. I had been more and more distracted with every impromptu sleep-over which resulted from Jared acting as a babysitter. But I did work harder every time she pointed it out.

For the rest of the day, I was the picture-perfect example of a real estate broker. My meeting with a client who was selling a townhome went just as planned and I knew we’d have another sale to markdown before long.

Unfortunately, my hard work kept me late again, showing a buyer different houses I had pulled up that would match their lengthy list of requirements for their ‘dream home’.

It was dark when I closed up the office, setting the answering machine to collect calls and making sure the door was locked. I rushed to my car to avoid being frozen by the bitterly cold wind, immediately turning the heater to full blast until it didn’t feel like the inside of my car was a block of ice.

The drive home was mind-numbingly familiar and I could feel myself growing tired behind the wheel; the strain of my jovial act always had me exhausted by the time I got home. It had me staying in the car even after I shut it off, resting my forehead against the steering wheel. I took slow breaths as I gathered the little energy, I had left to pretend to be normal for just a little bit longer.

Bear’s enthusiastic greeting when I opened the door made me smile, laughing a little as I leaned down to ruffle his ears. He bounced around my feet when I stood up to make my way to the living room. I paused again, leaning against the wall as I took in the scene in my living room.

Jared and Maya hadn’t noticed me yet, too focused on the Duplo blocks strewn across the floor between them. I’d been pleasantly surprised to find them when I came home one night; Jared had written on the oversized Lego blocks with a sharpie and was using them to help Maya with her counting. I was smiling as I watched Jared playing and teaching; he was so patient with her.

This wasn’t the first time I stayed quiet to watch them. It was amazing how good he was with Maya and seeing glimpses of the energetic little girl I knew warmed my heart.

Bear’s impatient whine ruined my attempt to hide and watch. I had to pretend I hadn’t been staring, hoping it seemed like I had just come home as I kicked my shoes off.

“Sorry, I’m late!” My voice was too loud, awkward, and nervous. I’d hoped I could get over that, but it never seemed to get any easier.

“Daddy!” Maya dropped the blocks in her hands and ran over to me, arms outstretched. I bent down to let her launch herself at me, hugging her tightly. “You’re home! Missed you! Missed you!”

I looked up, seeing Jared straighten the blocks before standing. His kind eyes were touched by his smile as he folded his hands behind his back, looking at me behind his large glasses. He looked as gentle as I knew he was, saying softly, “Oh, Simon… Welcome home.”