Page 152 of One Big Little Secret

My son is coming home.

My son and his mother, walking into my house as a family.

It’s strange as hell.

Stranger still that I’m a complete basket case over it.

I wipe the sweat off my brow, opening the door as they arrive, stuffing my phone back in my pocket after my security app alerted me they were coming.

Arlo stands on the front step wearing a dinosaur jacket, bouncing excitedly as he looks around.

“Wow!” he says, beaming up at me. “You reallyareBatman.”

I guess it is a big place.

Salem used the wordobscenewhen she first looked up my place.

Like Dex, I prefer the term ‘quiet elegance.’ I also think if someone gets this close to your house, they might as well know you’re rich.

And Arlo hasn’t even seen the pool out back yet.

“I don’t think any hero has this much glass,” Salem says as I usher them both inside.

The hall opens into a large open great room. Modern stairs lead up to the balcony on the second floor and the massive sofa curves around the glass table in the center.

The way she looks around and stops on me tells me she’s noticed the fresh flowers I had delivered today, hoping to impress her.

Judging by that sly little smile, mission accomplished.

“Lemme see your bat cave,” Arlo insists, but his eyes are wide as he takes everything in.

“No cave here, but I do have an impressive fish tank. Come see.”

His eyes blow up to golf balls and he flies on ahead of us.

Why does my heart jerk?

He’s sincerely excited over my big house. The cavernous house that, deep down, I’d love to have someone else living in.

No, not just someone. Salem and Arlo.

“Arlo, no running!” Salem calls with a giggle.

I thought she’d be more tense here, walking into my lair, but she seems more relaxed than ever in a cream sweater and jeans.

I lead the way to my study and the enormous aquarium that takes up the entire wall.

The subtle lights above and below illuminate the waters even when it’s dark, mimicking a natural glow that won’t disturb the creatures inside.

Sometimes I sit and watch my little creation at night, when my head aches too much to work and I’m in a mood to ponder these alien lives separated by glass, yet so intertwined with mine.

“What? It’s like the zoo!” Arlo runs right up to the glass and smushes his nose against it. “This. Is. Awesome.”

He isn’t wrong.

The aquarium has won me admiration and a mountain of shit from my family ever since I had it installed. Especially when I had the octopus flown in from Seattle.

“I can’t believe you called it a ‘fish tank,’” Salem murmurs, sending me a smile when I glance at her. “Show Arlo the cuttlefish. He just read about them in his ocean book.”

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