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She dropped her hand and met his gaze. “I don’t think I can do that. So next month will be our last month.” At least she wouldn’t have to pay rent. But how she could ever come up with another deposit was a topic she couldn’t even approach yet.
“You mean this month.” His lips thinned out in a smile.
“I paid the rent a few weeks ago. I paid the last month’s rent when I moved in.” She ticked off the facts, knowing that Mr. Snyder wasn’t being reasonable, but still hoping that this wasn’t happening.
“Remember, the new owners want another deposit. Without it, you’ll have to move at the end of this month.”
Not even three weeks to find another apartment, to save up the money, to prepare the girls. Sabrina couldn’t think past the gibbering fear in her head. She turned on her heel and made her way to the stairs. The blood pounding in her ears muffled Mr. Snyder’s last words.
She trudged up the stairs, unseeing. Mrs. Guzman was watching Gabby and Kassey until she got home, probably letting them watch one of the telenovelas on the Spanish cable channel. A lot of shooting, crying, singing and kissing went on. Mrs. Guzman thought they were fun entertainment, nothing harmful. Sabrina thought they were tacky and sent a terrible message, especially to young girls, but nothing she said could convince Mrs. Guzman to turn it off when the girls were there. Just one more place in her life where she didn’t have control.
She stopped on the landing and closed her eyes, leaning against the wall. Mr. Snyder was gouging the residents on the rent. He’d promised to give her a letter that showed the owner’s change in the rental policy, but never had. What could she do to fight it? She didn’t even know where to start.
“Are you okay?” A woman’s voice cut into her thoughts and she stood up straight.
“Sure, just tired.” She tried to smile a little, hoping the pretty blonde newlywed from downstairs wouldn’t think she was crazy. Angie and her husband had moved in a few months ago and seemed to be wonderful tenants. Young professionals who had a dinner party or two, nothing too loud. They were friendly and polite, always saying hi.
Angie’s husband followed her out their apartment, his brown hair smooth and tidy. “Hey, there. I saw your girls going upstairs today. They were giggling up a storm.” He grinned, showing perfect teeth.
“Sounds like them.” Those girls could wake the dead with their giggling fits. “What do you think of the rent changes?”
Angie looked at her husband. “Chad, did you hear anything about rent changes?”
“No. Nothing since we arrived.” His brow was furrowed. “We signed a year lease, so I don’t think they can change the terms.”
“So did I. Mr. Snyder just said, on top of the electrical and the courtyard fee, there’s a new deposit and a rent increase.”
A long silence followed. Chad exchanged a look with Angie, then cleared his throat. “We don’t have those fees. And I just saw him this morning and he never said anything about a new deposit.”
Sabrina felt the blood rushing to her head. She swayed on her feet and put out a hand to steady herself against the wall. “Wait, the new fees, you don’t...” She couldn’t finish her sentence.
“I can ask him,” Chad said, his expression serious. “There must be some explanation. You shouldn’t be paying fees that we aren’t.”
Her shoulders slumped. No, she shouldn’t, but it was very likely that she was. In Mr. Snyder’s world, people like Sabrina didn’t live in apartment buildings like his. People like Angie and Chad did, though.
“Sure, you’re right.” Her voice held no conviction. “I have to go pick up the girls. I’ll see you two later.” She pulled her lips up in what she hoped passed for a smile and moved back toward the stairs.
She’d had a bad feeling when Mr. Snyder had made a new sign for the front of the apartment building. The old green sign reading Park Plaza had been reworked into something sleeker, more upscale. A bronze plaque attached to the building was understated and elegant, a visible marker of the changes the building was going to make, inside and out.
Mrs. Guzman had bemoaned the new fees but had already mentioned how she wanted to move in with her son and his family. Since Mr. Guzman passed away, she hadn’t liked living alone. She wasn’t the world’s greatest babysitter, but she enjoyed the girls’ company and appreciated their happy energy. Sabrina groaned. She hadn’t thought of finding new child care, too. Moving would be hard enough, but who would watch the girls after school? Her working hours would be cut down even further. Sabrina had brought them to work a few times, to places like the mission, but it just wasn’t appropriate to be taking them across the city on different jobs.
Oh, Lord, please help me take care of them. She fought back a wave of despair. How had everything gone so wrong, so quickly?
She tried to think logically. They had always made it through before. It would be tight for a few months. She’d have to pick up as many repair jobs as she could in the next few weeks. Her mind raced. Besides the amount of money she’d need and the few weeks she had to find a new apartment, it also had to be the sort of place the judge would think was good for the girls.
Pausing before she knocked on Mrs. Guzman’s door, she inhaled deeply and tried to look as if everything was perfectly fine. Gabby and Kassey didn’t need to carry this burden. She would have to find some way to prepare them for the move, but at the right time, when she was calm. There was a lot to do before then.
The first item on the list would be finding a place for them to live.
* * *
“Thank you for picking me up, Jack.” Grandma Lili squeezed his hand.
“My pleasure.” Jack smiled down at the older lady who seemed to adopt anyone within ten feet of her. He was thrilled that his sister, Evie, and Gavin had fallen in love and gotten married, but he hadn’t realized that he’d get a grandmother out of the deal.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t offer to serve?” Grandma Lili gazed around at the packed cafeteria. Tables were pulled into squares and covered with white tablecloths. The centerpiece on each one was a cheery bouquet of paper daffodils and tulips, obviously made by the mission kids. The place echoed with laughter and snatches of conversation. “There are so many people waiting.”
“Grant said they had more than enough servers when I asked on Friday. As for the line, I think they’re going to have us go one table at a time.” Jack pointed at the corner, where a group had started lining up for the Easter brunch. The smell of mashed potatoes, biscuits, ham, green beans and pie was making his stomach growl. Breakfast had been hours before the church service and it was nearly noon already.
“Should we find a seat?” Grandma Lili started toward the far side of the gymnasium, but Jack put a hand on her arm.
“Evie said they had already staked out a place for us. We just need to find them.” How they were going to find anybody in this crowd was beyond him. And he had to admit that he wasn’t focusing completely on looking for Gavin and Evie. He hoped to see another guest here, someone who had weighed on his mind for the past few days.
“Over here, you two!” Gavin waved an arm, catching their attention from across the room. He looked like his usual self, ready for a day at the office, except for a tie patterned with Easter eggs. Evie smiled at them from a table populated by a few older folks and a young couple. As the editor of a local paper, her work attire was often a black suit, but today she’d exchanged it for a light flowered wrap dress. Jack couldn’t help but smile at the happiness that radiated from her face. His sister had carried a heavy burden for years, and Gavin’s love had convinced her to lay it down. Jack would never get tired of seeing her like this, absolutely in love with life.
Grandma Lili and Jack made their way through the crowds to the table at the far wall. “You made me an Easter basket?” Jack leaned over Evie’s shoulder and inspected one of the two white baskets. “I don’t see a lot of chocolate in here. You know I love those little pastel eggs with the candy shell.”
“Not for you, silly. These are for Sabrina’s two girls. Didn’t you say she had kids?”
“Nieces, but they live with her.” He gave Evie an extra tight hug and kissed the top of her head. He hadn’t even thought of bringing something for Kassey and Gabby. “And that’s why you’re my favorite sister.”
“Better be for more than that, buddy.” But Evie looked pleased that he approved of the baskets. “Gavin picked out the toys. He said we should only fill them with sugar if we want her to hate us.”
“My grandson is right.” Grandma Lili settled into the chair across from Gavin, adjusting the cuffs of her light pink silk shirt. “No mom likes what happens when the sugar high wears off.”
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