Free Finding Focus by Jiffy Kate Page A

“hey, it’s Dani. I, uh . . . I thought maybe I’d hear from you by now. I mean, if it were me off on a vacation all by myself , you’d be pissed I hadn’t checked in by now. For fuck’s sake, you’d probably have the FBI hot on my trail.” The more she talks, the angrier her voice sounds. “Listen, just call or text me and let me know you’re all right. I hope you’re having fun . . . or whatever it is you went there for.” She pauses, and for a second, I think she’s hung up her phone, but then she starts talking again, her voice quieter and sadder. “If you’re there with someone else . . . if you’re with someone else, I wish you’d just tell me. I think I deserve that.” Her sigh is loud, and I look around the corner to see her staring out the window. “We really need to talk when you get back. Call me . . . bye.”
    I hear the phone hit the table, so I peek back into the dining room. With her head resting on her arms, her shoulders move up and down. I refrain myself from bolting out of the house. The tears of a woman will always be my undoing, but no tears have ever made my heart squeeze like the tiny sobs coming from Dani. Without much thought, I’m moving toward her, needing to comfort her in some small way. My hand itches to soothe her with its touch, but I stop myself, afraid I’ll startle her.
    “Dani . . .”
    She turns her head to look at me and quickly begins wiping the tears off her face.
    “I’m sorry,” she says, trying to cover up the emotions.
    “What are you apologizing for?”
    “I don’t know. For crying, I guess?” she says, laughing through the few tears still running down her cheeks.
    She takes a deep, cleansing breath, collects herself, and continues on her exhale. “I’m apologizing for allowing personal matters to interrupt my work. This is very unprofessional of me,” she says, standing up from her chair.
    “Well, first of all, you wouldn’t need to apologize to me anyway. I’m not your boss,” I reply, giving her a half smile. “Second, I think it’s quite all right for you to have a personal moment, if you need one.”
    We stand there for a moment, me looking at her, her looking out the big picture window, avoiding my gaze.
    “Want to talk about it?”
    “I wouldn’t know where to start,” she replies, letting out a deep breath and rolling her eyes.
    “Maybe the beginning?”
    “Everything’s so fucked up. Honestly, we could be here all day, and it’s really not the way I planned on spending the day,” she says, her demeanor starting to shift back to the Dani I’ve come to know. “How about you show me some of the house I haven’t seen yet? Help me get my mind back on my work?” She puts her cell phone in her back pocket.
    “I can do that,” I tell her, smiling. The idea of spending the day showing her around again is music to my ears.
    I point to a picture of my grandparents on the wall, but before I can speak, the doorbell rings.
    “Lemme go get that. I’ll be right back. Did you eat breakfast yet?”
    “A little, but I could use some more coffee.”
    “All right. Well, go help yourself, and I’ll see who’s at the door.”
    It’s Tuesday, and my mama has been in party planning mode, so I assume it’s another delivery of some sort. Opening the door, I see it’s not a delivery or the taxman—either of those would’ve been better than the person standing in front of me.
    “Hey, Val.”
    “Hey, Micah,” she purrs as she closes the space between us and launches herself at me. I have no choice but to catch her or the sheer force of impact will knock me over.
    “What the hell?”
    “I missed you! Didn’t you miss me?” she asks, giving me a pathetic pouty lip. I hate that.
    I turn around and try to shake her off. “ Sure , I missed your clingy ass,” I say, hoping she picks up on my sarcasm and takes a hint. She’s so damn manipulative sometimes, always thinking a turn of her lips or a bat of her eye will get her what she