Through the kitchen window, Otto watched Carol and Ricardo. They looked so miserable; he wanted to interfere. But he understood that level of hurt came with steep emotion, and so he waited. When Carol walked in through the door, he didn’t move away.
She looked at him, tears in her eyes, and he pulled her in, closed his arms around her and dropped his chin atop her head. “You all right?” he asked after her long, shaky inhalation.
“No.”
Otto rubbed her back, said nothing. What could he say? He knew heartache well enough.
A loud bang came from the living room, Sam or Gabe squealed and Darlene admonished them.
Carol pulled away, wiping her cheeks on her sleeve. “I’m going to lock myself and the kids in the bedroom. Let me know when they leave.”
“And him?”
Carol glanced out the window, f
