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“Come on, let’s go to my place.” We head out and I take him home with me, where he meets Sullivan and they play until Lydia finally calls me back.
She was quite upset about the situation and said she’d talk to Krystal and Darrell about it as soon as she hung up with me. I told her we’d grab pizza and meet her at her place.
Dinner with the little family is exactly what they all needed.
CHAPTER7
LYDIA
For the last couple of months, Maverick has been coming over at least once a week to have dinner with the kids and me. I want to hate it, but I’m liking it. This weekend I told him it just needed to be the three of us. I even gave Krystal the day off.
The kids are practically bouncing in the back seat as I pull up the long driveway of our new home. The house is set back from the road, giving us a sense of privacy. I turn along the circle and bypass the garage area. We exit and move to the back of the car where the sleeping bags are loaded. Tonight we are camping out in our new home. Furniture deliveries will start bright and early in the morning. Krystal is also coming in the morning. She’s bringing all of our bags and boxes that are packed up from our temporary home.
My divorce still isn’t finalized, but I’m hoping it will be at our next meeting in a couple of weeks. Colton hasn’t shown up for the last couple court appearances. His attorney keeps buying him time, and me and my attorneys are getting tired of it. Even the judge has had enough, especially when he found out Colton hasn’t exercised any of his visitation. He’s going to lose custody and will have to pay child support because of it. He has to maintain some kind of visitation and won’t have to pay me because, according to his attorney, I make more money than him.
His attorney has stated he’s been put on leave from Kant Holding International. I don’t know anything about that as Colton hasn’t tried to reach out to me through my attorneys, and I haven’t seen Deedee either. Both have been keeping a low profile.
We climb the steps up to the large wraparound porch. The wide columns remind me of old-time plantations. I admire the intricate design in the frosted panes of the double doors before sliding the key into the lock. An alarm starts beeping as soon as I open the door. Asher’s nephew Jax installed the alarm system for me and said he’ll help keep it updated. I couldn’t believe how the whole family has stepped up to make me feel welcome and a part of their family too.
I punch the code into the panel, and it stops beeping.
“Can we go, Mom?” Micah asks as he jumps up and down.
“Yep, go ahead.”
He drops his sleeping bag and takes off through the house. Michelle isn’t far behind him. They first run upstairs to check out their bedrooms. Asher had their rooms painted in the colors the kids wanted.
I can’t wait until all the new furniture I ordered gets here tomorrow. It cost me a pretty penny, but I had to replace everything that was destroyed in our last house. We still don’t know what happened, but it’s looking more and more like Colton did it. Jax said he’d look into it as Maverick wasn’t finding anything going through the legal means.
I look around me and can’t believe this is my place. On my right is a set of double doors that lead into the room that will be my office and a library. Behind the double doors on my left is the living room, which connects to the dining room. I move through the rotunda area with its large circular staircase, hearing the kids running around upstairs. They each have their own bedroom with their own bathroom attached. There is another bedroom and a media room upstairs. I plan on setting up desks in the media room so the kids can have a dedicated space to work on homework and other crafts.
There is an attached four-car garage that I’ll never fill, and a detached garage with an apartment over it for Krystal. She’ll have her own place. I gave her the option of staying in the spare room in the main house with us or out there. She wanted the outer place, and I can’t blame her. It’s all hers.
I continue over the hardwood floor to the carpeted family room. Arches and beams separate the breakfast nook from the family room. I step into my soon-to-be favorite room, the kitchen. I can’t wait to cook. My wrist is healing, but I know kneading some bread will be good therapy for it.
The smile doesn’t leave my face as I move upstairs to the master suite. I picture my large four-poster bed against the wall across from the fireplace and the chairs I picked out near the windows. There will be a bench at the foot of my bed. I move through the room to the bathroom. My mind wanders for a moment as I imagine Maverick and me in the large oval garden tub. I shake my head because I can’t go there yet. He admitted he did kiss me, but I don’t remember it, so that means it doesn’t count. Right?
I take a deep breath and then call in our pizza order for pickup. Tonight is just us three together. No television. No computers or game systems. Just us talking and having fun. I can’t wait.
* * *
Maverick
I pull up the long driveway that circles around in front of the house. She has so many garages, she’s never going to fill them up. I’m faced with the fact we are from two different worlds when I look at this huge place. But I have to admit it doesn’t look as ostentatious as the house she shared with her ex. There is a furniture delivery truck parked out front and a crew unloading things, as well as a moving van. She had told me Krystal was going to bring their stuff in her SUV, but after more consideration they decided to hire a moving company.
Another SUV sits by the garage, and I wonder whose it is. I grab the two bouquets of flowers and Star Wars model I got for Micah from the passenger seat and head in. I can’t wait to see them. It’s been a rough week. We finally were able to close in on several of the key players in the animal trafficking ring. Today we had a huge operation where we arrested them all. Now they just need to interrogate them to find out who is the leader of the ring.
I move up the porch and see a box containing a porch swing sitting there, needing to be put together. She told me for weeks she couldn’t wait to sit and swing, watching the sun set or rise. She said she’d cuddle under a blanket and just swing. I imagined myself sitting there with her, my arm wrapped around her shoulder and her cuddled into me. It’s an image I can see now as I move through the wide-open doors.
Chaos is what I hear when I step inside. Voices are raised and people are talking everywhere.
“You must be Maverick,” a petite woman with long blond hair says as she steps out of the center room with the massive circular staircase.
“I am.” I glance at the small baby in a carrier strapped to her chest. “You must be Mrs. Boseman.” I move the flowers to the same hand holding the boxed model and shake her hand.
“I am. Call me Daphne, and this is Araya.” She smiles. “Lydia is upstairs arguing with the movers. They damaged one of her dressers, so she’s raising the roof. Want me to put those in water?” She points to the flowers, and I offer her the larger bouquet.
“This one is for Michelle.” I hold up the smaller bouquet.
