“And more importantly, I won’t have Austin coming down these stairs every day wondering if his father is packing another cardboard box to send him off.”

“Where in the world am I supposed to go, Claire?” he asked desperately.

“You can stay with your brother Luke over in Dayton, or you can find a cheap studio apartment near the plant, but you can’t stay under this roof right now,” I said firmly.

“What about the twins?

What about my kids?” he cried, his voice breaking in anguish.

“You’ll come over every single afternoon at two to look after Mason and Hailey while I work, just like the schedule says,” I told him without flinching.