CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

I ran away from work. I was a nervous wreck, so you would not blame me. I was shivering like someone who was diced in ice in the middle of Antarctica, and I knew I had to go. I left quickly, without seeing Cameron. I could not bear to see him again, not with how I was feeling. I could not trust my body not to betray me.

I went home first. Darby had taken the kids to the restaurant, and I noticed that she had begun to move some of the things. We were not moving with everything, though. I told her that. We would leave most of the second-hand things we got from the manager and the thrift store here.

Paula and Esther had insisted we meet for dinner, and I still had about an hour before I met them, and I still had to check on the kids. I took my bath and dressed quickly, then dropped by Darby’s restaurant to see the kids.

“How are the kids?” I asked as soon as I entered the kitchen—Darby’s favourite space. I found the kids on a makeshift mat. Darby used pillows to support their backs, an