Chapter 12

In the morning, bright sunlight slanted through the curtains. At quiet voices downstairs, I eased from Krista’s embrace. With a soft murmur, she curled tight, and I tucked the blanket over her before slipping from the room.

“Is mommy okay?” Ella said as I appeared at the foot of the stairs. “She was screaming a lot last night.”

“Yes, sweetie.” I gulped. “Um, she had a Charlie horse, that’s all. She’s, uh, sleeping in.” While heading for the kitchen with her beside me, I tussled her hair. “We can make her a nice breakfast, though.”

“Oh, that would be fun. Pancakes?”

“Sure, pancakes it is.” While pulling out pans, I smiled at my daughter.

Low-carb diet and all, Krista probably wouldn’t eat them, or only give ‘em a taste, but we would. As would Ben, who followed us into the kitchen, yawning and scratching the tousled mop on his head.

Thus, our Sunday began as normal.

When Krista made it downstairs wrapped tight in a thick robe, I handed her a mug of coffee. That got me a long kiss and soft press of her frame. Then a brief blaze in those eyes before they softened when she shifted into mommy mode. Soon, all of us were laughing around the table about the usual goofy things.

With a smile on her glowing face, my low-carb wife devoured three pancakes. Plus, a healthy portion of scrambled eggs with a pair of sausages. Along with two glasses of orange juice and two mugs of coffee. To say I was amazed was an understatement, but she only chuckled after catching my expression.

As I cleaned dishes, they piled into the family room to practice the alphabet and play simple math games. Yep, normal in every way. When I got the chance, I checked, but there was nothing from Antigua. Not that I’d expected anything over the weekend. But with less than a week remaining, we were cutting it down to the wire.

Harrison had emailed. He liked the Averill plan. So, yippee. A twenty-thousand-dollar bonus would soon head my way. With what I earned a month, plus Krista’s salary, that left us with only 470k to finance.

Only.

“Fuck,” I murmured while clenching the mug in my hand so hard the coffee splashed. “Come on Antigua.”

With the weather glorious, the kids dashed into the office to give me hugs. From over the top of the couch, Krista smiled.

“Daddy, could we play in the sprinkies?” Ben asked. He meant the toy sprinklers that shot water out over the backyard.

“Mommy says you could grill for lunch,” his sister added with that endearing, heart-melting smile. She got that from her mother.

“Sure,” I replied before nodding at my wife.

There was nothing I could do to force the bank to reply. Nor had a single person responded to the emails. So, after changing into swim trunks, I went outside to prep the grill while Krista changed the kids into swimsuits. Just as I’d finished setting out the garden hose, the rear door opened.