He nodded with a seriousness that made my stomach seize. Though he didn’t understand what was happening, though I’d managed to avoid telling them anything concrete, he was unofficially taking on the role of man of the house. I could see it there in his golden eyes.
“We’ll be fine.”
“I know. I’ll be back soon,” I promised, walking out the door without another word.
As I passed the living room where Mom was sitting and drinking her morning tea, I lifted my hand with a passing wave toward her and kept moving. She lowered her mug. “Where are you off to so early?”
“Work.” I refused to stop long enough to talk. “I’ll be back in a few hours. The kids are still sleeping.”
“Don’t they have school?”
“No. I told you, they’re on fall break.”
I pulled open the door and stepped outside, releasing a heavy breath as I made my way toward the car. For the entire car ride—twenty minutes longer than it would’ve taken me from home—I rode in silence, making a list of everything I needed to do that day.
Work was at the top of my to-do list, though not because I was planning to return just yet. I still had a week of my vacation left, and I needed to make the most of it.
I walked into the branch just after they opened; the familiarity and utter coolness of the place were in perfect juxtaposition, just like the house had been. It’s like that sometimes. When the place you’re visiting hasn’t changed a bit, but you have. When you’re so different from who you were the last time you were there—be it a day or ten years ago—that nothing feels right or normal or familiar anymore.
“Well, hey. I didn’t think you’d be here until next week,” Tara said, hand on the pronounced bump under her blouse.
“Oh, I’m not here,” I told her. “Not officially. I’m just running a few errands.”
Brendan walked out of the vault with a cupcake in his hands. Upon seeing me, he froze, and I watched him contemplate hiding the dessert.
“Hey…” he said softly, keeping his distance.
“It’s okay. I’ve already seen it.” I didn’t have time to remind them I didn’t like for them to eat behind the counter in front of customers. “I need to make a large withdrawal.”
Tara passed me a slip as Brendan moved closer.
Finally at his station, he hid the cupcake and turned his attention to me, a too-bright smile on his lips. “How was your trip? Looks like you got some sun.”
“Yeah, a little bit.” I scribbled down my signature on the slip and passed it back. “I want to leave twenty-five dollars in each account. Transfer everything else into this account and then withdraw it all except for the twenty-five in there, too. I’m not sure how much that is exactly.”
Tara stared at the slip, then began signing into her system. Once she’d pulled up our account, she stared at me strangely, then turned to Brendan. “How much do you have in your drawer?”
“Not much. Mrs. O’Leary cleared me out. How much do you need?” He leaned over to check the screen. “Yeah, I don’t have that much. I can give you a thousand, maybe.”
“I just took in the deposit from Leo’s, but it’s mostly twenties.” She looked back at me. “Do you want this in hundreds or…”
“Yeah, as big of bills as you can do it, please. I don’t mind a few twenties, though.” It wasn’t as if we were talking about massive amounts of money. Even with our savings accounts, it would be less than five thousand.
“We’ll have to get into the vault for it,” she said, wincing.
“That’s fine. I can wait.”
She nodded toward Brendan, who grabbed his keys and jogged to the back.
“How are you feeling?” I hated making small talk when I had so much else going on, but it felt rude not to at least ask.
She seemed to relax at the question, rubbing her belly again. “Growing by the hour, it feels like.” She laughed, then raised a brow. “You aren’t leaving us, are you?”
“Hm?” The question caught me off guard.
“Taking all your money out and hitting the road.” She chuckled awkwardly.
“Oh.” I sighed. “No, not at all. Just a big expense. Hey, Peter hasn’t been in, has he?”
She looked worried then. “I don’t think so.”
“Just making sure. He said he’d let me know if he made it by before I had the chance, but I hadn’t heard from him. I guess if the money hasn’t already been withdrawn, that answers my question.” I waved off the question. “Anyway, I have a few things to take care of in my office. Will you let me know when you have the money ready?”