Page 14 of The Home Game

His Aunt Sharon hadn’t come up with any places in his budget and when he’d politely told her that the ones she was sending him were impossible, she’d apologized but said she’d run out of options.

He’d found a few on his own and she’d arranged showings for them, but as nice as she was about it, she clearly thought they were below her standards.

She specialized in high-end real estate so that was fair.

Especially since the one place needed massive renovations. Not just because it was ugly—though it was certainly that—but because it wasn’t safe for the kids to live in. It was at the top of Antoni’s budget anyway and he didn’t have the kind of money he’d have to pour into it to make it safe.

And every day they inched closer to the move-out date on the rental.

Antoni had hardly slept in the past few days, his head whirling with anxiety as he wondered what the fuck to do.

This was crazy.

How could there not be a single affordable house or apartment in Toronto?

He expanded his search area, wondering if a cheaper place farther out was the answer. Maybe he could hire a nanny to run the kids around? Maybe the savings in the mortgage would make up for what he’d have to pay them?

But no matter how many times Antoni crunched the numbers, they didn’t add up. He was still coming up short.

Maybe Matty was right. Maybe he wasn’t the best person to take care of the kids …

Not that Matty had been trying to be cruel when he said it. He didn’t seem to have a mean bone in his body.

But Antoni had done plenty of soul searching since that weird hour he’d spent at a stranger’s kitchen island spilling his guts out to the man with kind brown eyes.

Antoni kept circling the problem, going around and around until his head spun.

He put on a cheerful face for the kids whenever the subject came up but Alexis was suspicious about why they didn’t have a place yet and Antoni didn’t know how much longer he could pretend that this would all work out.

Now, Antoni’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he held his breath, hoping it was his Aunt Sharon with some miraculous house that would solve all his problems.

But no, it was his mother. He accepted the call and lifted his phone to his ear.

“Hi, Mom,” he said, glancing at the clock to be sure he wasn’t late picking the kids up. Nope, he still had time. “Everything okay?”

“Yes, sorry to worry you. Just wanted to ask if you were going to eat lunch here. The kids have already eaten.

“Uhh, probably not.” He still had a few things left to do around the classroom. Mostly cleaning up.

“Oh, well, I’ll pack some food up for you to take home,” she said cheerfully. “Any luck on the house front?”

“No, not yet,” he said.

“I still can’t believe Sharon was showing you those ridiculously overpriced houses. She really has no touch with reality, does she?” his mom said, making a little tsking noise.

“Not really,” Antoni admitted.

But why would she? Antoni’s Uncle Vince had made a fortune in house flipping and Sharon was certainly doing just fine on her own with her real estate commissions. They had no kids and, well, they’d never had to budget the way Antoni did.

“It’s fine,” he continued. “I’ll keep looking.”

“I wish our place was bigger,” his mom said. “You know I’d love it if you stayed with us, even just for a year or two.”

“Yeah, but we’ve talked about that,” Antoni said, pressing his phone between his shoulder and his ear as he threw away some trash. “It’s too small, we’ll disrupt Dad’s work, and you don’t need that kind of worry.”

She sighed but didn’t argue. His dad mostly worked from home and reducing stress was one of the biggest ways his mom managed her condition. Having four kids and Antoni always underfoot wouldn’t help.

“Okay, I’m gonna have to let you go so I can finish up here,” he told her. “I’ll see you in about an hour, okay?”

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