4. Ian

4

IAN

I an paused at the front door with the key in the lock, steeling himself for inevitable disaster.

“How bad could it be?” Olivia teased him. “Darius didn’t text us in a panic, so everything’s probably just fine.”

“You’ve met my daughter,” Ian said in despair. “The chance of everything being just fine is nearly null.”

“Well, the house isn’t on fire,” Olivia pointed out. “We’d be hearing the smoke alarm by now, if it was.”

Ian turned the lock and went in, knocking to announce himself.

“Daddy!”

Lucy was dressed in pajamas, and Ian had only a moment to observe her cuddled on the couch with Darius, Seltzer, and a whole pile of her books before she was slipping down to the floor and hurtling herself at him. “Daddy! We read books and ate noodles abble deeber watt …” her speech got so fast that it was all complete nonsense and impossible to follow.

Olivia collected Lucy’s second hug. “Was she good?” she asked Darius as Lucy bounced back to Ian and begged to be lifted up.

Darius and Lucy exchanged a long knowing look that suggested good was not the theme of the evening, but the boy diplomatically shrugged. “No problem.”

Ian lifted Lucy with one arm and used the other to dig into his wallet as she put her arms around his neck and snuggled close. “The place looks great,” he said, and it did. It wasn’t burnt up at all. The faint smell of smoke would probably never leave the house—there was no way he would ever get his deposit back—but it didn’t seem to be fresh. He fished a few twenties out of the wallet and handed them to Darius. “Oh, did she chew on your brace?” The brace had distinct rodent teeth marks and some of the fabric hung loose from the plastic core.

Darius looked at the brace like he didn’t recognize it for a moment. “Just a little…teething,” he said, taking the money. “Squirrels, like any rodents, need to gnaw regularly on hard objects to keep their incisors from getting too long.”

“No fires?” Olivia asked.

“No fie!” Lucy said firmly. She was clutching Ian’s collar and had her cheek against his. “Ah good. Score!”

“No fire,” Darius agreed, stuffing the bills into his pocket and pulling on his coat. His brace snagged briefly in the sleeve, but it didn’t seem to pain him. “She was great. We had fun.”

“We’ll have to do this again sometime,” Olivia said cheerfully. “Let me get my keys, and I’ll drive you home.”

Ian thought Darius looked faintly appalled at the idea of babysitting again but did a good job of covering it up, and Ian wondered what he wasn’t telling them. But Olivia looked satisfied, so instinct wasn’t kicking up a fuss, and Lucy was happy and unharmed. Nothing had burned down, and no one had died. It was about as much as Ian could hope for. He shook Darius’s hand before the boy left with Olivia. “Thanks for watching her.”

Darius mumbled something polite that was between “My pleasure,” and “Anytime,” with a hint of “Not on your life.”