“They’re not?”
She shook her head. “Your mom took some boxes. She said she wanted to organize them because I looked overwhelmed. When I asked for them back, she said I was accusing her of stealing.”
I stood so quickly the chair scraped the carpet.
Emily flinched, and I hated that my anger made her afraid even when it was not aimed at her.
I sat down again. Slower this time.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
She reached for me. “I know you’re not angry at me.”
“I should have known.”
“How could you? You were working all the time.”
“That’s not an excuse.”
“No,” she said softly. “But it’s a reason.”
The distinction hit me harder than blame would have.
I did not sleep much. Emily managed a few hours, curled on her side with a pillow under her belly. I sat in the armchair by the window, watching rain gather on the glass, reading every page of the notebook until the words blurred.
At 6:30, I called my supervisor.
Marcus answered on the second ring, his voice rough with sleep and concern. “Kane? Everything okay?”
“No.”
I told him enough. Not everything, but enough.
He listened without interrupting.
“Take the day,” he said when I finished. “Take two if you need.”
“I can’t afford—”
“You’ve covered half this warehouse for three months. I’ll put in emergency leave for today, and I’ll talk to payroll about the rest.”
The kindness almost made me defensive. I was used to help coming with hooks. Marcus offered it plainly, then let silence do the rest.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Take care of your wife,” he replied. “The pallets will survive without you.”
When Emily woke, sunlight had turned the curtains gold. For a few minutes, we pretended the world was small. She ate toast from the hotel breakfast bar and laughed when our son kicked the paper plate balanced on her lap.
Then my phone rang again.
This time, I answered.
My mother did not say hello.
“You embarrassed me last night.”
I looked at Emily. She set down the toast.
“You embarrassed yourself,” I said.
There was a pause. My mother was not used to doors that did not open when she pushed.
“I don’t know what that girl told you, but she’s always been dramatic.”