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now.
    He’d never envisioned himself as a “Mr. Mom” kind of guy, but he found that he was enjoying his time with Oliver. They were establishing their own morning routines, which usually included sitting down in front of the television every morning at 10:00 a.m. to watch Coffee Time with Caroline . Though they didn’t see Harper on TV, it was fun to view the end product of her work.
    The first fifteen minutes of the show were spent on casual banter between Caroline and her headline guest/cohost, which was followed up by various segments with other guests. Sometimes they were celebrities on tour to promote one thing or another; other times the guests provided a more local flavor.
    Every Monday, there was an SPCA spotlight to show some of the cats and dogs that were available for adoption at the local shelter; the Tuesday program included a trivia game with contestants chosen from the audience; Wednesday offered some kind of cooking segment—either the chef of a local restaurant or tips from moms for quick healthy meals; Thursday there was a “book chat”; and Friday focused on home improvement and decor.
    Today’s guest was Ryder Wallace—of the locally produced reality series Ryder to the Rescue —demonstrating the proper way to lay floor tile. Ryan thought his cousin Lauryn should get her husband, Rob, to watch the program, because God and everyone else knew that Rob couldn’t even hang a picture straight. As Ryder explained the intricacies of grout application, Oliver’s eyes grew heavy, and by the time the end credits rolled, the little guy was asleep.
    * * *
    Ryan knew that Andrew didn’t like to spend more than a few hours every day in his office at Garrett Furniture, so he was grateful when he stopped by the following Monday and found his cousin was there. He poured himself a cup of coffee and settled into a chair across from the desk. “You’re keeping more consistent office hours than I am these days.”
    “Not by choice,” Andrew assured him.
    Although his cousin’s official title was VP of research and design, he still considered himself a carpenter and preferred working with wood to pushing paper.
    “Yours or mine,” Ryan agreed.
    “No one objects to you taking whatever time you need to adjust to your life being turned upside down.”
    He nodded, grateful for the understanding. Of course, that was why he’d come to see Andrew—because he knew that he would understand. Several years earlier, his cousin had experienced something similar when Nina—his first wife—died suddenly and unexpectedly, leaving him a widower and a single father to their young daughter.
    “How did you get through it?” Ryan asked him now.
    “I honestly don’t remember,” his cousin said. “I lived in a fog for a long time after Nina’s death, just going through the motions of every day—and I only managed that much for Maura.”
    Ryan sipped his coffee and considered the question that niggled at the back of his mind. He’d come to Andrew for information and advice, but he didn’t want to appear insensitive. Although his cousin had moved on with his life and was married to Rachel now, he didn’t imagine it was easy to talk about the loss of his first wife—or the impact of her death on their daughter.
    But he finally ventured to ask, “Does Maura remember her mother at all?”
    “I’m not sure. She was only three when Nina died. There are pictures of her in Maura’s room, and we talk about her at appropriate times. And, of course, her maternal grandparents are always telling her how much she looks like her mother and reminding her how much Nina loved her.”
    “But she calls Rachel ‘Mom’ now, doesn’t she?”
    Andrew nodded. “That was her choice. I think because all of her friends have moms, it meant a lot for her to have someone in that role, too.”
    “Oliver still doesn’t say very much, so what he’s going to call me and Harper in the future isn’t really of concern right