Page 33 of Brother in Law with Benefits

I leave around nine. Grant walks me to my car and kisses me goodbye like we're a real couple and not two people negotiating the terms of their own uncertainty.

When I get home, there's a text from Patty.

Patty: Whatever you two are working through, I'm rooting for you.

I stare at the message for a long moment.

Me: Thank you. I love you.

Patty: Love you too, honey.

I set my phone down and look at the succulent.

Still alive. Still holding on despite my best efforts at inconsistent watering and complicated emotions.

Maybe Grant is worth the risk.

10

Grant

David Kowalski's number is open on my phone and my thumb still not moving. I've been staring at this same screen for forty-five minutes. I've done more decisive things in active conflict zones.

I set the phone down.

The sun is barely up, painting Oak Street in that grey-gold light that makes Copper Falls look almost soft. The Ramirez kid two houses down is shooting hoops in the driveway, going through the same motion over and over. Normal people doing normal Friday things.

I've mowed the lawn six times. Fixed the porch railing. Replaced three fence posts. Learned which nights Mom can eat a full dinner and which nights it's crackers and ginger ale. Learned what Sophie's tired laugh sounds like versus her real one.

I'm supposed to call David Kowalski this morning and commit to leaving in eight weeks.

My thumb won't move.

I go downstairs and make coffee and sit at the kitchen table with my laptop like a man who has a plan.

The plan is to research what staying would actually look like. Be systematic. Run the numbers. Approach this like any other logistics problem.

I open a browser tab.Construction project manager jobs central Illinois.

Springfield: $85K-$95K. Peoria: $78K. Champaign: $75K. All of them are at least $100K less than what I'm making.

I close that tab. Open another. Cost of living Copper Falls IL.

Lower than overseas, obviously. No hazard pay, no per diem, no end-of-contract bonuses. But also no malaria medication and no driving past checkpoints.

I look at home prices. Three-bedroom in a good neighborhood: $180K. The house Sophie and I could—

I close the laptop with a snap before I start spiraling.

Mom wakes up shortly after, so I go make her breakfast.

She takes her pills and eats slowly.

"Did you make the call?" she asks.

"Not yet."

"When?"