Erick came back the following Tuesday. I saw him through the peephole before he knocked — standing in the hallway with another plastic bag, checking his watch like this was an appointment he was squeezing between other obligations.

I opened the door but kept my body in the frame.

"Kaiya's at daycare."

His smile faltered. "What time does she get back?"

"Four."

He glanced at his watch again. "I can wait."

"No."

Something flickered across his face. Annoyance, maybe. Or surprise that I'd said it out loud.

"Raelynn, I'm her father. I have a right—"

"You have the right to call first. You don't have the right to show up whenever it's convenient for you and expect her to drop everything."

He shifted the bag to his other hand. Through the plastic I could see a coloring book. Crayons.

"I'm trying here. I brought her something."

"You brought yourself something. A chance to feel like a good father for twenty minutes before you leave again."

His jaw tightened. "That's not fair."

"Leave the bag. I'll give it to her."

I held out my hand. He stared at it. For a moment I thought he might argue. Then he set the bag in my palm and stepped back.

"I'll call next time."

"Do that."

I closed the door. Locked it. Set the bag on the counter and stood there until the sound of his footsteps faded down the hall.

---

When Kaiya came home that afternoon, I gave her the coloring book. She opened it. Flipped through the pages. Set it on the floor next to the pink bear that still faced the wall.

"Daddy came by?"

"Yes."

"Is he coming back?"

I crouched down beside her. Smoothed her hair. "I don't know, baby."

She picked up Bun and held him against her chest. Her fingers found the re-stitched ear and traced the crooked line of thread.

"It's okay, Mama. Bun doesn't like him anyway."

Something cracked inside me. I pulled her close and pressed my face into her hair so she wouldn't see.

---

Erick came back again the next week. This time he called first. I told him he could have thirty minutes on Saturday afternoon.

He arrived exactly on time with a toy kitchen set still in the box. Too big for our apartment. Too expensive for a man who'd handed me a twenty-dollar bill three weeks ago and told me to be reasonable.

Kaiya sat on the floor and watched him assemble it. He talked while he worked — cheerful, animated, performing fatherhood like a role he'd rehearsed.

"See, sweetheart? You can pretend to cook just like Mama."

Kaiya didn't answer. She held Bun in her lap and watched Erick's hands snap plastic pieces together.

When he finished, he stood back and grinned. "What do you think?"

She looked at the kitchen. At him. Back at the kitchen.

"Thank you."

Her voice was small and polite. The voice she used with strangers.

Erick's smile dimmed slightly. He glanced at me. I kept my face blank.

He crouched down and touched her shoulder. "I'll come see you again soon, okay?"

Kaiya nodded.

He stood. Walked to the door. Stopped.

"She'll warm up. Kids just need time."

I said nothing.

After he left, Kaiya walked over to the toy kitchen. She opened the little plastic oven. Closed it. Opened the cupboard. Closed it.

Then she walked away and didn't touch it again.

---

Across the city, Kataleya Garza sat at her new dining table with her datebook open. The table was cherry wood. Eight chairs. Wedding gift from her father.

She clicked her pen and wrote in the margin next to Saturday's date: *Gone 2–5 pm. Said factory inventory. Came home smelling like children's shampoo.*

She stared at the words. Clicked the pen again. Closed the book.

Erick walked into the room. "You ready for dinner?"

She looked up. Smiled. "Almost."

He kissed the top of her head and walked toward the bedroom.

Kataleya opened the datebook again. Turned back three pages. Read the entries she'd made over the past two weeks.

*Tuesday — phone face-down on counter. Screen lit up. Turned it over before I could see.*

*Thursday — said he had a work dinner. Came home at 9. No food smell on his clothes.*

*Sunday — asked about 'your cousin Raelynn.' He paused half a second before answering. Said she went back to Tennessee.*

She tapped the pen against the page.

Half a second. Most people wouldn't notice. But Kataleya had spent her whole life watching her father negotiate contracts across boardroom tables. She knew what a tell looked like.

She pulled out her phone. Opened a browser. Typed: *Private investigators Seattle.*

Thirty results appeared.

She scrolled through them. Clicked on the third one. Read the services offered: *Background checks. Surveillance. Asset searches. Infidelity investigation.*

Her finger hovered over the phone number.

From the bedroom, Erick called out. "Kataleya? You coming?"

She closed the browser. Set the phone down. Stared at it.

Then she picked it up again and saved the number under a contact labeled *S. Reeves — Catering.*

She stood. Smoothed her skirt. Walked toward the bedroom with her datebook tucked under her arm.

Erick was changing his shirt. He smiled at her in the mirror.

"Everything okay?"

"Everything's fine."

She smiled back. Set the datebook on the dresser. Watched him button his cuffs.

And made a mental note to check his phone the next time he left it unattended.

Mrs. Kowalski knocked on my door on a Wednesday evening. I was washing dishes. Kaiya sat at the table drawing a house with too many windows.

"You busy Saturday?"

I dried my hands. "Not really."

"Good. There's someone I want you to meet."

I must have made a face because she held up one hand.

"He's quiet. Decent. Brings groceries to Mrs. Chen on Tuesdays without being asked. That's all I'm saying."

"Mrs. Kowalski—"

"One coffee. One hour. If you hate it, you never have to see him again."

I looked at Kaiya. At the toy kitchen in the corner that she never touched. At the pink bear still facing the wall.

"Okay."

"Saturday. Two o'clock. That café on Fifth."

She left before I could change my mind.

---

I arrived five minutes early. Sat at a corner table with my back to the wall. Ordered black coffee and wrapped both hands around the mug.

The door opened. A man walked in. Tall. Broad shoulders. Work boots. He scanned the room and his eyes landed on me.

He crossed the café and stopped at my table.

"Raelynn?"

I nodded.

"Grady Carpenter."

The name hit me like cold water. Erick's coworker. I'd heard the name a dozen times over the years. Never met the man.

Grady pulled out the chair across from me and sat down slowly, like he was giving me time to object.

"Mrs. Kowalski didn't mention my last name, did she?"

"No."

"Figured." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I work with your—with Erick. At the factory. If that's a problem, I can leave right now. No hard feelings."

I studied him. His hands were large and scarred. His face was weathered. He looked tired in a way that didn't come from missing sleep.

"Stay."

He nodded. Ordered coffee when the waitress came by. We sat in silence for a moment.

"Mrs. Kowalski says you have a daughter."

"Kaiya. She's four."

"What's she like?"

Most men asked about my situation first. My plans. Whether I was still married. Grady asked about my daughter.

I told him. About the way she lined up her crayons by color. About Bun. About how she was learning to read and sounded out every sign we passed on the street.

He listened without interrupting. When I finished, he was quiet for a moment.

"Sounds like a good kid."

"She is."

"Must be hard. Doing it alone."

I looked down at my coffee. "I manage."

"I'm sure you do."

He didn't say it like a compliment. Just a fact.

We talked for an hour. He told me about his first marriage. How he'd worked seventy-hour weeks and come home to an empty house. How his ex-wife left a note that wasn't angry, just tired. How he still thought about that note sometimes.

He didn't make excuses. Didn't try to rewrite it. Just told me what happened and let it sit there between us.

When the hour was up, he stood and pulled on his jacket.

"I'd like to see you again, if you would."

I wrapped my hands around my empty mug. Felt the warmth fading.

"I'll think about it."

"Fair enough."

He left a ten on the table and walked out.

I sat there for another twenty minutes. Thinking.

---

Three days later, I called him.

"It's Raelynn."

"I know."

"I'd like to see you again."

"When?"

"Sunday. Kaiya and I go to the park at ten. You could meet us there."

A pause. "You sure?"

"Yes."

"I'll be there."

---

Grady showed up with a thermos of coffee and a bag of bread for the ducks. Kaiya watched him from behind my leg.

He crouched down. Didn't reach for her. Didn't smile too wide.

"You must be Kaiya. Your mom says you're good at drawing."

She nodded.

"What do you like to draw?"

"Houses."

"Yeah? What kind of houses?"

"Big ones. With lots of windows."

"That sounds nice."

He stood and handed me the thermos. We walked to the pond. Kaiya threw bread to the ducks. Grady stood beside me and didn't try to fill the silence.

After that, he started coming by. Not every day. Not without calling first. But regularly.

He fixed the hinge on my apartment door one afternoon while I was at the grocery store. Didn't mention it. I only noticed because the door stopped sticking.

The next week, I found a bag of groceries outside my door. The right groceries. Milk. Eggs. The bread Kaiya liked.

I called him. "You don't have to do this."

"I know."

"Grady—"

"I'm not keeping score, Raelynn. I'm just helping."

I didn't know what to say to that.

---

One evening, Kaiya fell asleep on the couch holding Bun. Grady was sitting at the kitchen table. I made tea.

He looked over at Kaiya. At the rabbit's torn ear with my crooked stitching barely holding.

"You have a sewing kit?"

I pulled it from the drawer. Watched him thread a needle. His hands were too big for the work, but they moved carefully.

He walked over to the couch. Lifted Bun gently from Kaiya's arms. Sat back down and bent over the rabbit's ear.

I watched him work. Small, even stitches. Patient.

When he finished, he set Bun back in Kaiya's arms. She shifted in her sleep but didn't wake.

Grady rinsed the needle in the sink. Put the kit away.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

He nodded. Put on his jacket. Left without another word.

---

The next morning, Kaiya woke up and examined Bun. She ran her fingers over the re-stitched ear. Looked at it from different angles.

She carried the rabbit to the kitchen where I was making breakfast.

"Mama, who fixed Bun?"

"Grady did. Last night."

She stood there for a long moment. Thinking.

Then she walked back to the table and sat down with her cereal.

She didn't say anything else. But that afternoon when Grady called, she was standing next to me. When I hung up, she looked at me.

"Is the man who fixed my rabbit coming over?"

"On Sunday."

She nodded. Went back to her crayons.

I stood in the kitchen and felt something shift. Something small but real.

Like a door I didn't know was locked had finally opened.

I saw Erick before he saw me.

Grady and I were sitting outside a café two blocks from the factory. It was Thursday afternoon. Kaiya sat between us with a cup of apple juice and a cookie, her legs swinging under the table.

Grady was telling her about the ducks at the park. Something about how they remembered people who brought bread. Kaiya listened with her whole face.

Then Erick walked past on the opposite sidewalk.

He stopped. Turned. Stared.

I felt it before I saw him — that specific pressure in the air when someone is looking at you with intent.

Grady noticed my face. Followed my gaze. His jaw tightened.

Erick crossed the street. Fast. His hands were in fists.

"Raelynn."

His voice was loud. People at the other tables looked up.

I stood slowly. Put myself between him and Kaiya.

"Erick."

"What the hell is this?" He jabbed a finger toward Grady. "You're sitting here with him? With my daughter?"

Grady stood. Didn't say anything. Just stood.

Erick's face was red. "You're using him to get back at me. That's what this is."

"No."

"Don't lie to me. You show up in Seattle, take my money, and now you're parading around with my coworker like some kind of—"

He grabbed my arm.

Kaiya made a small, scared sound.

I tried to pull free. His grip tightened.

"You should have stayed in Tennessee," he hissed. "Trash like you doesn't belong here."

Grady moved. Not fast. Not aggressive. Just steady. He stepped between us and his hand closed over Erick's wrist.

"Let go."

His voice was quiet. Flat.

Erick yanked his hand back. "You think you're some kind of hero? She's using you, man. She's using you to make me look bad."

"Let go," Grady repeated.

Erick's eyes darted between us. His chest heaved.

I crouched down and picked up Kaiya. She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in my shoulder. Her whole body was shaking.

I looked at Erick. At his red face. His clenched fists. The vein pulsing in his temple.

"You are nothing to me anymore."

My voice came out cold. Steady.

"Not my husband. Not my problem. Nothing."

He opened his mouth. Closed it.

"If you come near me or my daughter again without calling first, I will file a restraining order. Do you understand?"

People were staring now. A woman at the next table had her phone out.

Erick's face went white. He looked around. Saw the phones. The faces.

He stepped back. Pointed at Grady.

"This isn't over."

Then he turned and walked away. Fast. Like he was being chased.

I stood there holding Kaiya. Her breath was hot and damp against my neck.

Grady touched my shoulder. Gentle.

"You okay?"

I nodded. Didn't trust my voice.

He picked up Kaiya's juice cup. My purse. Waited.

We walked back to my apartment in silence. Kaiya didn't let go of me the entire way.

---

Across the city, Kataleya Garza sat at her dining table with a stack of documents spread in front of her.

Insurance papers. Bank statements. Old tax forms.

She was organizing. That's what she told herself. Just organizing.

She picked up a life insurance policy from two years ago. Scanned the beneficiary line.

*Raelynn Johnston.*

Not Clark. Johnston.

Her hand stopped.

She read it again. Checked the date. Two years before she'd met Erick.

She set the paper down carefully. Pulled out her phone. Found the contact labeled *S. Reeves — Catering.*

Dialed.

A woman answered on the second ring. "Reeves Investigations."

"My name is Kataleya Garza. I need a background check."

---

Four days later, Kataleya sat in Sandra Reeves' office on the third floor of a building downtown.

Sandra was fifty. Gray hair. Sharp suit. She slid a folder across the desk.

"Everything you asked for."

Kataleya opened it.

The first page was a marriage certificate. King County, Washington. Six years ago.

*Erick Alan Johnston and Raelynn Marie Clark.*

The second page was a birth certificate.

*Kaiya Lynn Johnston. Mother: Raelynn Marie Clark. Father: Erick Alan Johnston.*

The third page was a bank record. A wire transfer dated three weeks ago. The night of Kataleya's wedding.

*Transfer to: Raelynn M. Clark. Amount: $10,000.00.*

Kataleya stared at the pages. Her hands didn't shake. Her face didn't move.

Sandra leaned back in her chair. "Your marriage is void. He was already married when he married you. Bigamy invalidates the second marriage automatically."

Kataleya closed the folder. Set it in her lap.

"Thank you."

She stood. Paid. Walked out.

In the parking lot, she sat in her car with the folder on the passenger seat.

She didn't cry. Didn't scream. Didn't call anyone.

She sat there for forty-five minutes.

Then she started the engine and drove to her father's office.