Seven Minutes to Noon

contagion that had wiped out most of the neighborhood’s old-timers since Alice and Mike had first arrived.
    The next house was better than the first, but still depressing. Alice came away from her first bout of house hunting feeling flattened. She walked along Court Street with Pam, hearing a pep talk that must have been well worn by now.
    “See you later,” Pam said, pumping her fist in the air. “Upward and onward. The next one is much better, I promise you. Kiss those gorgeous shoes hello for me.”
    “I will,” Alice promised. It was after eleven, already late to open Blue Shoes. But Alice had something she needed to do first, something she just couldn’t get off her mind. She needed to make a quick stop by Tim’s apartment to find out what was going on, if it was true that he was leaving.

Chapter 18
    Tim hesitated a moment before telling Alice, “Come on up,” and buzzing her into the building. That catch in his voice was the first bad sign. The next was the stack of bulging plastic garbage bags accumulated in the hallway outside his front door. Lauren’s front door. Was he throwing out her things?
    The door was cracked open, so Alice walked in. Austin was playing on the living room floor in his pajamas. She bent to kiss the top of his head.
    “Where’s Daddy?”
    “In the kitchen.” He didn’t break his gaze from his toys to look at her. She wondered how long Tim would keep him out of school.
    In the galley kitchen off the living room, Tim was in the midst of an excavation of appliances, dishes, pots and pans. The mini food processor Alice had recently given Lauren as a prebaby present — for pureeing baby food — was in a pile on the counter, still boxed. Tim stood in the middle of the kitchen looking enervated, beyond exhaustion.
    “What are you doing, Tim?”
    “I was going to tell you and Mike tomorrow.” Tim reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out his pack of cigarettes. He slipped one out and was about to light it.
    “Tim,” Alice said, “I’m pregnant. Please don’t.” She was surprised by her own assertiveness. They had crossed a boundary: she had caught him at something;he was no longer to be pampered so gingerly. He laid the cigarette on the counter and slid the pack back into his pocket.
    “Sorry.” He opened his hands beseechingly. “Alice, I am sorry. I don’t want to go. I don’t want any of this. I don’t want it! But I can’t go back to work and I can’t stay here.”
    “We’ll help you, Tim. Please let us—”
    “You don’t understand.” He moved to the sink and brusquely turned on the cold tap, rinsing his hands and drying them on his shirt. “It isn’t about money. I can afford to stay home in terms of money. I just can’t be here. Do you understand? I can’t be here anymore.”
    Yes, Alice understood. How could she not understand the desire to flee the places that resonated with Lauren? Every minute of every day Lauren shimmered around her. She knew. But there was more than just herself to think about; she had a family. And so did Tim.
    “What about Austin?”
    “He’ll be fine. We’ll take a break, go somewhere new.”
    “You’re taking him out of school?”
    “It’s kindergarten, Alice. He’ll be fine.” In a burst of irritation, Tim picked up his unlit cigarette, twirled it in his fingers, then put it back on the counter. “We’ll be back, I’ll get a new place, I’ll go back to work, but nothing will ever be the same.”
    “Where are you going?”
    Tim shrugged deeply and with such finality that Alice knew it was a question he couldn’t answer. But how could she just let them leave? How could Austin, especially, be taken from the people he’d known as family his entire life?
    “Out west probably. For the winter. We’ll come back in the spring.”
    Alice nodded slowly. “How will we reach you?”
    “I’ll call you when I have an address, okay? Alice, we won’t forget any of you. We’re not leaving you. We’re just... leaving.”
    Alice thought of something she had to ask, even if it pained him. “What about the investigation? Do the police know you’re going?”
    “I cleared it with them. They’re done with me, Alice,” he said with such bitterness that she knew, she just knew he believed she no longer trusted him. He picked up his cigarette and abruptly lit it. “Listen, I’ve got movers coming in two days. All this stuff’s going into storage. I’ve got to get back to packing or...” He didn’t