Sunday. “Six weeks,” I said, and she thanked me several times.
The first two weeks were pleasant. I collected the kids from school three afternoons a week, cooked a few dinners, and listened to their accounts of soccer and classroom projects. Claire seemed relieved each time she got home and thanked me for taking something off her list. I believed we were all working toward the same end: a new child-care plan.
One Thursday she arrived after nine. Daniel was at a client dinner, the children were asleep, and I
