Free Love by the Yard by Gail Sattler Page B

because it was cut out for the garage and consisted of her office, another small room, a small bathroom, and the main entrance foyer where the stairs accessed the living area.
    Before walking up, he peeked to his left, around the corner to see what she had done with the other room he’d never seen.
    It appeared to be a makeshift family room with inexpensive carpeting laid on top of the cement floor. A worn, color-dated sofa and an old television lined the walls, and the floor was strewn with the children’s and Boffo’s toys. On the other side of the room there was a small work space with the washer, dryer, and a laundry sink, all of which butted up to the bathroom wall, for the functionality of keeping the plumbing centrally located. Next to this was another door opening, which led to Shanna’s office at the rear of the house. The setup wasn’t pretty, but it was functional, and mostly, it worked.
    He walked up the stairs, where he found Matthew sitting on the living room floor surrounded by plastic bricks, half his attention on the television and half on what appeared to be the beginnings of a boat. Ashley was curled up in one corner of the couch, hugging a stuffed bear, her gaze glued completely to the television.
    â€œHi, kids,” he said, making his best attempt to sound cheerful.
    They both nodded, but neither spoke or broke their attention away from their show.
    Beside him, Boffo wagged his tail and pressed his cold, wet nose into Brendan’s hand.
    One big, happy family. It almost made him want to call out, “Honey, I’m home,” but there was no “honey,” and it wasn’t his home. He didn’t belong here, but he couldn’t leave. He could only stare at the children. Outside, in the backyard, he could keep them busy. Here, in their home, he didn’t know what to do. So he sat on the couch and watched the cartoon with them.
    He wasn’t quite sure how or when it happened, but an hour later, Ashley had wiggled over and was lying with her head in his lap, hugging her bear, fast asleep. Matthew was on his other side, leaning against him, holding a now fully made boat limply in one hand, also sleeping. Boffo lay in front of him, on top of his feet. Not only was Boffo sleeping, but he was also snoring. Brendan wondered when he’d become so boring.
    Instead of spending the evening being used as an oversized pillow, he steadied Matthew, wiggled his feet out from underneath Boffo, and shuffled sideways on the couch so he could slip away from Ashley without waking her. Assured that she was still sleeping and that she wouldn’t fall off the couch, he carried Matthew into the hallway. The first door on the left was a bedroom done in shades of pinks and purples, so he kept going. The next door on the right was definitely an adult bedroom, although he did see some clothes on the floor and the bed wasn’t made.
    The next door was the bathroom, and after that, a bedroom painted with bright primary colors, spotted with posters of racing cars and monster trucks. Scattered on the floor was a variety of cars, trucks, and miscellaneous action figures. A well-used stuffed bear lay haphazardly on the bed.
    Brendan pushed the covers down, then very gently laid Matthew on the bed.
    He stood straight and looked down. He didn’t want to wake the child, but he didn’t think he should leave Matthew fully dressed on his bed. But then, Matthew wasn’t his child, and he didn’t want to do anything that might frighten the boy, which probably included tugging off his clothes.
    Brendan arranged the blankets over Matthew loosely, thinking that if Matthew woke up in the middle of the night, he could change into his pajamas by himself.
    He hurried back to the living room, but neither Ashley nor Boffo had moved. He did the same with Ashley as he had done with Matthew, thinking it was probably even more important to leave Ashley to dress herself.
    When he returned to