“Annie, let’s go! The bus is coming!” Delilah stood at the door, ushering her six-year-old daughter forward.

Annie picked up her school bag and slung it on, then reached up on tip toes to kiss her mother goodbye.

“Bye bye!” she called out as she skipped to the end of the driveway.

Delilah waved back and picked up her purse as the bus pulled up. Annie got on, they exchanged waves through the window, and Delilah shut the door behind her. She hopped into her car and drove off, heading to work.

She hadn’t gotten much done that morning. As she sat at the kitchen table with Annie and her sisters, Annie had talked and talked, keeping Jennie entertained with her antics. They’d discussed in full detail if it was better to be a dog or a cat. Jennie said cat so that she could sleep all day. But Annie had a quality argument. Dogs got to go on walks, and also slept plenty. They went on car rides and to the park, and cats didn’t get to do that.

Of course, the conversation had turned to reasons why they should get a dog or a cat, and that was where Delilah had to stop things. Still. It amused her that Annie was such a cheerful and smart child. Her sisters loved her, her brother did, too, though at 13, he was more interested in video games than playing with his 6-year-old niece. She hadn’t been sure if not having a father would have affected her horribly, but she seemed to be well adjusted without him.

Delilah pulled into the art gallery and shut off the car. She walked into the building and excitement filled her. This happened often when she arrived at work. She was lucky to have landed her dream job. It paid well enough that she could provide for Annie and her sisters. Enough even that she was able to help pay for Rose’s college this semester. With her parents gone, it was all on her, and she did her best to make sure that her siblings didn’t feel the same pressure to work for the family as she had. Rose and Jennie both had part-time jobs and did contribute some, but their income mostly went to their own cars and purchases, and their contributions weren’t keeping the family going.

Something nagged at Delilah as she started going through the gallery, dusting and straightening the artwork. Annie, for the first time, had asked about her father last night at bedtime. Delilah hadn’t been expecting it.

Annie had looked up at her, freshly tucked into bed, and asked, “Do I have a daddy?”

Delilah had almost choked. “What?”

“Well, some kids at school were talking about their daddies. You had a daddy that died and that’s why he’s not here. Your mommy died, too, and she’s not here. But you are here. Is my daddy dead, too?”

Delilah took in a long breath and let her daughter’s words settle over her. “Well, no, he’s not dead.”

She hadn’t known how far to go, though. If she didn’t handle this well now, it could cause problems later. And the questions that came later would be more involved. She’d want more information as she got older.

“He had to go away,” Delilah said.

“When will he be back? I want to go to the father-daughter dance with him like Maddie is.”

Delilah clenched her jaw. She knew these events with kids and their parents were important, but they sure didn’t make it easy for kids who didn’t have a mother or father, or for their parents who had to navigate these conversations.

“I’m sorry, honey. I don’t think he’ll be back in time for that. I don’t know when he’ll be back or if he ever will.”

Annie pulled down her eyebrows. “Did he leave us? Logan said that his no-good father left them and that his mom is real mad about it.”

“No, it was nothing like that. He just had to go. And he left before he knew about you, so he couldn’t have left you.”

“Oh.” This seemed to make sense to her. “If he would have known, he wouldn’t have left.” It wasn’t a question.

“Exactly. Now get to sleep, okay? I’m sure that Hunter will go to the dance with you.”

“Okay.” Annie smiled and accepted this, to Delilah’s relief.

Rose’s boyfriend, Hunter, was a good guy. He was always happy to hang around and help out in the house, to entertain Annie and even babysit when needed. It helped that he had several younger siblings himself and was used to it, but she was still grateful for his presence in their lives. He was the only man Annie had to look to until Ethan grew up.

But Delilah would need a plan. Someone who could be that male role model to Annie. If only she had uncles or even cousins who lived nearby. There was no one, though, and it bothered her. Maybe it was time that she think about dating again. Find a decent man to be Annie’s stepfather.

As she considered this, her boss walked over to her. “We just had a commission come in,” he said.

“Oh?” Delilah stepped back to make sure the painting on the wall was straight.

“It’s a new client. He came in over the weekend. Nothing took his fancy, but he saw your piece and appreciated the artistry. His words.”

“Yet, he didn’t buy it?” She had several pieces on display in the gallery among the work of many other artists. Now and then she sold a piece, and it always thrilled her when she did.

“He wanted a custom piece. From you.”

“He’s paying quite a lot of money, so I want you to focus on this for a while. Leave the gallery details to one of the other employees.”

That was an unusual request. She worked on commissioned pieces before, but it was always in the off hours. The gallery got a cut and she took most of it, so her boss preferred she not take too much time from her work in the gallery and the work she did restoring pieces.

He handed her a piece of paper that had the commission details on it. The price listed was $100,000. No wonder he wanted her to focus. That was a nice chunk of change for them both and it would hopefully lead to more business from this client.

“Wow. I accept. Obviously.” She chuckled.

“I figured you would. He wants to come in today to meet with you.”

“Sure.”

When the time neared for her appointment with the client, she went to the studio and got things ready. She had her sketchbook at hand and her portfolio of work.

Her boss knocked on the door. “Your appointment is here.”

“Great. Send him in.”

She stood and smoothed her pants, then walked toward the door. She heard footsteps and her boss said, “Here we are.”

A man walked into the studio and when Delilah met his eyes, she almost fainted on the spot. “Christian?”