When the beeping of her alarm woke her, Shayna turned over and reached out to grab her phone from the nightstand to turn it off. Flopping back on the bed, she lay for a moment with her arm bent over her eyes, praying that the shadow of an ache behind them wouldn’t blossom into something worse.
Knowing that Timothy would be expecting them to leave right at noon, Shayna dragged herself out of bed and into the small bathroom the two of them shared. After downing a couple of headache pills, she took a quick shower, hoping that it would wake her up more. It did help some, but only makeup would cover the dark smudges beneath her eyes.
Though they were only going to look at the show home and were in no way prospective buyers, she still felt the need to at least dress like they could possibly afford one of the cheaper designs. She pulled on a pair of black pants and paired them with a pastel floral short sleeve fitted blouse that had a peplum waist. After brushing out any tangles in her hair, she French braided it then tucked the end up. Keeping an eye on the clock, she quickly applied her makeup.
When she felt as if she was as presentable as she could get considering the time she had, Shayna went downstairs to find Timothy. It didn’t take long to locate him sitting at the table in the small dining room at the back of the townhouse. He had a glass of milk cupped in his hands.
“I’ve given him lunch,” Lisa said from where she stood at the sink. “I figured it would be one less thing to have to stop for while you’re out.”
And one less thing to spend money on, though Lisa would never say that.
“We just had a grilled cheese sandwich and cream of tomato soup.” Lisa gestured to the stove. “Do you want some?”
Shayna glanced at the clock and shook her head. “I’ll just have a granola bar for now.”
Lisa frowned at her. “You need to eat more than that.”
Shayna waved off her concern and went to the cupboard to grab a granola bar. “I’ll eat more when we get back. Do you want me to pick up something for supper? Chicken?”
Lisa hesitated then nodded. “A rotisserie chicken would be nice. I’ll make some potatoes and a salad to go with it.”
“Sounds good. We shouldn’t be too late.”
Timothy got up from the table and brought his now-empty cup to the sink. As he handed it to Lisa, he said, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, sweet Bug.” Lisa leaned over to press a kiss to the top of his head. “You have fun, okay?”
Timothy nodded vigorously, his loose dark curls flopping around. Before she or Lisa could say anything more, he began to spout off all the details he’d learned about this particular style of home. He’d become obsessed with it while watching his favorite science channel on YouTube.
They’d been discussing ways to reduce a person’s carbon footprint, and tiny homes had been mentioned as one way. When Timothy had seen an advertisement about a local tiny show home, he’d been determined that they should go see it.
It didn’t take too much to convince Shayna. She always tried to indulge his insatiable curiosity about things, and since it cost nothing but a little gas, it had been a no-brainer to agree to take him. Of course, that had been before she’d worked the night shift.
At least the nap and shower had taken the edge off the exhaustion, and she felt like she would be okay for however long it took to drive to and from the show home.
After saying goodbye to Lisa, the two of them headed downstairs to the lowest level where the garage was located, then headed out to the small driveway. She hadn’t bothered to park her car in the garage when she’d gotten home earlier since she’d known they’d be going out again.
The entire way out to the site where the show home was located, Timothy continued to give his mom all the information he’d researched on tiny homes. She knew that if he had his way, they’d be buying one that day and moving into it ASAP. They’d had a few discussions about it, and one of the things he’d had to understand before she agreed to take him to the show home was that they couldn’t afford to buy one, so they definitely wouldn’t be moving into one.
Though Timothy was quite brilliant—and who he got that from, neither she nor Lorne had ever been able to determine—he didn’t always understand practicalities such as income earned and mortgage expenses. All he was likely to see was that it was even smaller than where they currently lived, so surely it was cheaper.
As they neared the section of land north of the city that had been earmarked for the tiny homes, Shayna found herself intrigued by what lay ahead of them as they turned off the highway onto the narrow road leading to the show home. Already dozens of trees had been planted, lining the entrance to the tiny home village.
They were still small, but in time, they’d create the perfect barrier between the highway and the homes. A large sign had been erected that said Sunset Tiny Village: Small homes with big hearts.
“There it is, Maman,” Timothy said, excitement clear in his voice. “Let’s go.”
“We have to go to the office first, I think, Bug.” Shayna guided her car into an empty spot in the parking area in front of a small building a short distance from the show home.
“Okay. But hurry.” Timothy knew enough to wait until she’d turned off the car before undoing his seatbelt. But the moment he could, he was climbing out of the car, his excitement clear as he bounced from one foot to the other.
She held out her hand, smiling down at him as they made their way from the car to the narrow sidewalk that led to the office building. Though pain still lingered because of Lorne’s absence, Shayna felt joy when seeing Timothy’s excitement. It was such a small thing to put so much happiness on his face.
Tristan sat back in his chair, his feet propped up on the desk. In his lap was his tablet with the latest numbers his partner, Jackson Brandt, had sent him for their company. He was pleased to see that income was still high and holding true to their projections for the quarter.
He and Jackson had met as teens playing online games, and then together, they had begun to mess around with designing a game of their own. They’d ended up designing several different kinds of games, releasing them mainly to their circle of gamer friends.
When Jackson had suggested trying for something a little more mainstream, Tristan had hesitated. After all, his primary career was designing homes at C&M Builders, his family’s business. It was a job he loved, but he hadn’t been able to deny the excitement that had filled him at the idea of designing a game for the masses.
In university, neither of them had studied anything that would help them in their quest. Tristan had studied architecture, and Jackson had gotten a business degree, but they’d both done what they could to educate themselves in order to take their game design to the next level. They wanted to be proud of what they released, not embarrassed by sub-par design and execution.
In the meantime, they’d saved up money, and when they finally decided to move forward with their ideas, they’d set up their company. Because of his degree in business, Jackson had insisted on that. They had done what work they could themselves, then they’d hired others to help with what was outside their areas of expertise.
That had been three years ago. When they’d first released it in beta form, they had contacted some gaming streamers on YouTube to see if they’d play it and give it some exposure. From that point on, there had been no looking back. When they’d opened it up for a limited beta, they’d been flooded with requests for keys.
It hadn’t been long before they’d been able to release it wide. Who would have known that a cartoon-style game with a mix of wild west and futuristic features would be so popular?
Their company had quickly expanded as they tried to stay ahead of the curve, and in the process, it had made both Jackson and Tristan very wealthy men. By hiring a slew of experienced programmers and designers, they’d continued to release better and more exciting content for the game. Though it was free to play, they offered the opportunity to purchase in-game items which was where they made their money as the game’s popularity continued to grow.
Tristan had taken some of his money from the game and used it to fund his other current passion: to build a community of small and tiny homes. When he’d first broached the idea with his dad, he’d hoped that they’d be able to garner enough interest to sell all the plots on the piece of land he had purchased.
After he’d come into more money, Tristan had changed his approach to the project. He still wanted to sell as many tiny homes as possible, but now he was going to pay the cost of building the rest himself, and then he’d see about renting them out. Give people a chance to try the lifestyle before making a full commitment to it.
Hearing the sound of the front door of the office opening, Tristan dropped his feet and leaned forward to place his tablet on the desk by his laptop. Holly, one of the real estate agents they worked with, was also in the office to talk with people about the homes and the community.
She knew enough about them to answer most questions people had, but Tristan liked to be available in case visitors had more detailed questions. With that in mind, he had changed his schedule to spend Saturdays at the show home which was when most people seemed to stop by.
He usually waited for Holly to come get him if she needed his help answering questions, but when he heard a young boy’s voice say, “Did you know that the actual definition of a tiny home is one that’s under five hundred square feet?”, Tristan’s curiosity got the better of him, so he got up from his desk and headed down the short hall to the main part of the office. His steps briefly faltered when he spotted a familiar figure.
As Tristan walked into the area, Timothy turned around, his eyes going wide when he saw him. “Tristan!”
“Hello there, Timothy. You out looking for a house to buy?” Tristan asked as he held his hand out, palm up.
Timothy gave it a smack then grinned as he glanced over his shoulder at the woman standing with him. “Nah. Maman said there’s no way the three of us could fit in something so small.”
“Yes. Most of the five hundred square foot floor plans might be a tight squeeze for three people.” Tristan looked up at the woman and gave her a quick smile, recognizing her as the one who’d come to pick Timothy up from the children’s worship. “So you’re just here to have a look?”
“We don’t want to waste your time,” the woman said quickly, her arms crossing over her waist as if expecting him to object to their presence. The slender gold band on her left hand glinted in the overhead lights, and Tristan wondered why Timothy’s father hadn’t accompanied them on this little excursion. “It’s just that he’s been so curious about them.”
“You’re not wasting my time at all. I’m kind of passionate about these homes, and I’d love to share that with Timothy.” He held out his hand. “I’m Tristan, by the way. I teach Timothy’s Sunday School class.”
“Shayna.” She took his hand and gave it a gentle, yet firm, shake. “He’s talked about you.”
“He’s a smart boy,” Tristan said as he grinned at Timothy.
Shayna ruffled her son’s dark curls. “Too smart sometimes.”
“Well, how about I take you over to our show home, and he can have a look at it.” Tristan pulled the door open and waited as the two walked out ahead of him. As he led the way, he said, “And feel free to ask any questions. If you have some.”
Shayna laughed softly. “I’d be surprised if he has any questions left. He and Siri have had lots of conversations about tiny homes. And we’ve watched tons of YouTube videos. That’s where he first heard about them.”
“Yep,” Timothy said. “My favorite science channel talked about them one time.”
“So tell me what you know,” Tristan said as they walked along the interlocking brick path that ran between the office and the home.
He couldn’t help but grin as the boy began to rattle off facts about the homes. It seemed like he’d visited a lot of the same websites Tristan had when he’d first become interested in the tiny home movement.
“Sounds like you know quite a bit there, buddy.” Tristan went up the short flight of stairs to the door of the home and opened it. “This happens to be one of our five hundred square foot floor plans. We have several different configurations—plans—at this size as well as a few bigger and smaller ones.”
“Bigger?” Timothy asked, his brow furrowed. “But then they’re not tiny homes, right?”
“That’s correct. However, we figured that there might be some families that wanted to lessen their carbon footprint but who needed a bit more space than a tiny home would give them.”
Timothy gave a quick nod then began to look around the home. Tristan leaned his hips against the counter, crossing his arms as he watched the boy explore. He angled a look at the woman who stood just inside the door, her gaze on her son.
There wasn’t much room inside for the three of them. Usually, he and Holly tended to let people go inside on their own while they waited outside to answer any questions they might have. This time though, Tristan wanted to be there to watch Timothy explore. His enthusiasm was infectious.
The little boy didn’t ask too many questions, but when he did, they seemed to be centered around construction materials and building codes. Frankly, Timothy asked far more educated questions than some of the people who had gone on to buy homes in the community. Tristan was definitely impressed.
“He’s a wonderful little boy,” Tristan said softly as he watched Timothy climb the ladder to the loft area. “You and your husband must be very proud.”
When she didn’t respond, Tristan glanced over to see a sad expression on her face. She met his gaze for a moment before looking up at Timothy in the loft area. “I am, and I’m sure his father would be too. If he were still with us.”
“I’m sorry,” Tristan said, his heart rate having kicked up when he realized that he’d inadvertently brought up something painful. “I didn’t know.”
Shayna nodded. “Timothy doesn’t talk about it much.”
“Was it recent?”
“For me, it still feels pretty recent.” She glanced at him then back to Timothy. “For everyone else, it’s been three years.”
Tristan was at a loss for words, uncertain of what to say to ease the hurt he’d unintentionally caused through his comment. “I’m sure it’s been…difficult.”
The moment he blurted out those words, Tristan wanted to bang his head against the wall at the stupidity of them. Of course, it had to have been difficult. She’d admitted as much when she’d said it still felt recent to her.
“Some parts have gotten easier,” she said softly. “But yeah, some days it’s still really difficult.”
“Maman?” Timothy called out.
Tristan looked up to see Timothy peering at them from the loft.
“Are you sure we can’t buy one? Maybe one of the bigger ones so there’s room for Lisa too?”
“I’m pretty sure Lisa wouldn’t want to move into an even smaller space than we already have. Sorry, Bug.”
Bug? Tristan watched as the smile slid from Timothy’s face, replaced by a more resigned look. He gave a small nod and then slowly made his way down the ladder. He had no more questions or comments as he joined his mom near the door.
The three of them walked out of the home, but instead of going back to the office, Tristan accompanied them to where they’d parked. There was another car pulling into the small lot as they came to a stop beside an older model vehicle.
“Thank you for coming by today,” he said then held out his fist to Timothy. The little boy bumped his much smaller one against it. “I hope you enjoyed exploring the tiny home, Timothy.”
Timothy nodded, and for a moment, the smile returned to his face. “It was so much fun. Thank you for showing me around.”
Tristan thought about extending an invitation for him to return whenever he wanted, but then he figured that his mother might not appreciate that. “Will I see you at Sunday School tomorrow?”
“Yep. I’ll be there,” Timothy proclaimed with a vigorous nod. “Right, Maman?”
“Yes, Bug. You’ll be there.” Shayna held out her hand to Tristan, and when he took it, she said, “Thank you again for indulging Timothy’s curiosity. You were very generous with your time.”
“Anytime,” Tristan said and found that he really meant it. His heart went out to the young boy who no doubt missed his father. Three years ago put Timothy right around the age Tristan had been when his dad had first met Emily and her children. His stepmom and stepsiblings.
Moving back from the vehicle, he watched as Shayna backed out of her spot and steered her car down the road to the highway.
Back inside the office, he ignored the people talking to Holly and walked down the hallway to his desk. There was something that drove him to bring up a search page on his laptop, and after a moment’s hesitation, he typed in Shayna Timothy Caron. Then, he added Winnipeg just to narrow down the possible results.
All it took was for him to read the title of the first result for it all to come flooding back.
Local homeless advocate murdered.