Episode 1223: Long Time Gone

The little girl bounced on her seat on the sofa, a big grin on her face. “I can’t wait for sledding! Do you think we’ll see any mooses or deers?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Ryley replied as he added a few more logs to the crackling fireplace. He joined his daughter, settling an arm around her and she cuddled close. “The animals might be taking shelter from the snow when we’re out there, so don’t be too disappointed if you don’t see anything and if you do, you only look, right? No touching, we keep our distance, we respect them, right?”

“Right?” Miranda emphatically agreed. “I would just look at them, that’s all. I love them and I would never hurt them. I really, really hope we see some.”

“You’re going to have a blast sledding either way. So, as for the rest of tonight, how about while we wait for your mom to finish putting Russ to bed, I fix some hot chocolate and snacks while you set up the game board? By the time you and I are ready, your mom probably will be, too.”

At least that was what Ryley had figured since Addie had already been absent quite a while, tucking in their little guy and reading him stories. But when Ryley set down the tray of hot chocolate and salty and sweet treats beside Miranda’s carefully laid out game, Addie still wasn’t there.

They wait waited another ten minutes before Ryley decided to go see if Addie needed any help, like so many kids, Russ wasn’t immune to putting up a fuss occasionally at bedtime.

When Ryley opened the door, Russ wasn’t fussing, he was sound asleep, his mouth agape, one chubby arm marking his spot in a board book. Meanwhile, Adria, the person who was supposed to be reading to Russ, sharing quiet quality time with her son, she had her phone out studying what turned out to be charts and graphs tracking tickets sales for the theater’s spring season. She was working again, on New Year’s Eve, when she’d led him to believe this was about time with their kids.”

Episode 1224: What's Going On