Page 15 of Sparrow

“Bye, Mamaw! See you tomorrow!”

My parents babysit Cadence while I work forty-plus hours a week at Kane Security. To say they are a godsend is putting it mildly.

“I’ll have her there at the usual time in the morning,” I inform her as we walk toward the front door.

“I’ll be waiting. I hope you enjoyed your night off.” She then whispers something I’ll never forget her saying, “I hope you got some tail.”

“Oh Jesus, Mom. Just...no.”

“What? I’m old. Not dead. I know what it is and you’re too cute to NOT get it.”

“Uh...thanks...I think?”

***

Our Sunday passes by in a flash and before I know it, I’m tucking Cadence into bed with our usual triple read through of The Little Mermaid, her favorite.

I close the book when her breathing becomes even with sleep.

“Goodnight, Cadence,” I whisper as I stroke her head. “I love you.”

I tiptoe toward the door as quietly as possible, pulling it to a crack once I’ve successfully cleared the threshold.

I grab a beer from the fridge and plop down onto my sofa, pulling my phone from my pocket to scan my email and look at my schedule for the week as of now.

Bright and early tomorrow morning, I have a home security installation out on Tybee Island for a Mrs. Allen. I open the folder to see a more detailed description, and my heart leaps into my throat.

I know this address. It’s less than one hundred feet away from the beach in a quiet area I know well. It has blue siding and a large, white wraparound porch. It’s a dream beach home.

It was Amelia’s dream home, once upon a time. She always made a point to admire that house every time we made our way to the island when we were kids.

We even had our first kiss on the steps of that house before the owners caught us and ran us off.

I laugh to myself at the memory.

Fuck. I miss her.

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