4:33 Aftermath

With Cara and the girls gone, Andy put all of his time and energy into work. The park was almost finished. They had already started work on his sister’s house. He already had another job lined up for after the park was complete.

He stayed at the office working long after everybody else had left. It beat going home to an empty house.

Weekends were spent with the girls. If he only got to see them two days a week, he was going to spend as much time as possible with them.

He sat watching the girls play in the yard. The dog was running around trying to catch them. He couldn’t help smiling as he watched.

“Daddy, is lunch ready yet?”

Andy checked the food on the grill. “Almost. Why don’t you help Nakusa get cleaned up?”

Shelby took her little sister inside to wash their hands while Andy got the food off the grill. He went inside to get a drink for everybody. He sat the drinks on the table when the girls came running back outside.

He waited for Nakusa to sit down then handed her a plate of food. He smiled as he watched her start to eat.

He sat down at the table with Shelby. “How is school?”

“It is okay. The work is really easy. Can you believe there are kids in my class who don’t know how to read?”

Andy pretended to be shocked. “Really? I guess you are very lucky to have a mom who was able to stay home with you and teach you how to read.”

“And my ABCs and to count. Some kids don’t know that yet either.”

“I hope you are being a good friend and helping them.”

Shelby nodded her head. “I am. Except one boy. He won’t let anyone help.”

Andy listened to her talk about school and her friends and couldn’t help being sad that he was missing out on these conversations during the week.