14. Kiley
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
KILEY
“Mommy, where we going?” Zander asks from his car seat in the back of the car.
I quickly glance at him before concentrating on the road and putting on my turn signal. “Do you remember when I said we’re going to help Jax out by watching his daughter, Chloe, and sometimes we’ll have to sleepover at his place?”
“Yes.”
“That’s where we’re going right now—to meet Chloe and her mom.”
When Jax texted me asking if I would stop by this week to meet Gretchen, I was a little surprised to learn she was in town without him being here.
For some reason, I wasn’t thinking that I was going to meet his ex-wife, but it makes sense that she would request to meet the person who’s going to help take care of her child for the next five months or longer.
“Does Chloe’s mom live there too?”
I’m half listening to him and half listening to my navigation telling me where to turn next in a mile. “No, she doesn’t.”
“Kinda like how my daddy doesn’t live with us?”
My eyes widen, and I peek at him in the rearview mirror.
He’s looking outside the window, paying attention to our surroundings.
I was not expecting that kind of question from him.
He rarely asks about his father, so this is like a punch to the gut.
I try to think of how I should answer and decide to just be vague.
“Something like that.”
I quickly change the subject before he can ask me any other questions. Am I setting him up for daddy issues? Maybe, but I’ll deal with that later.
“Look, Zander.” I point to the very tall, white building we are coming upon. “This is where Jax and Chloe live. Isn’t that cool?”
“Wow,” he whispers in astonishment. “That’s so cool. I can’t wait to go inside!”
“Me too,” I respond as we pull into the building’s entrance. I follow the signs to the valet, impressed that his building offers it, but then I remember he is a multi-millionaire, so of course he would live in a fancy condo building that offers valet service.
I stop the car at the attendant’s station and get out. A man in uniform with a tablet approaches me. “Good afternoon, Miss. Who are you visiting today?”
“Jax Morrow,” I tell him and he nods. He asks for my name and driver’s license. I grab my purse from the passenger seat, pull out my wallet, and hand over my license.
He types my name and then hands back my license.
“Ah, yes. Mr. Morrow has put you on the permanent guest list and has paid for a parking spot for you. I’m going to give you an electronic key card that will give you access to the garage and all doorways in and out of the building.
” He walks back over to his station, grabs a card and starts typing on his tablet.
I get back into my car, roll down the window and wait for him.
After a couple of minutes, he comes back. He points to a driveway leading to a garage door. “Drive your car through that garage door; your designated parking spot is 802. Here’s your keycard. Please don’t lose it.
“Yes, sir.” I take the card from him. “Thank you.”
“You’re most welcome. Once you park your car, you’ll see a set of elevators that will take you up to the forty-ninth floor. Do you know what apartment number Mr. Morrow is in?”
I scrunch up my nose and close my eyes, trying to recall what he told me. “4903?”
He smiles. “Yes ma’am. My name is D’Andre and if you and the little man back there ever need anything, just let us know.” He waves at Zander, and after we thank him, he walks away.
We slowly drive toward the parking garage doors. I wave my card at the keypad, and the doors rise.
“Whoa.” I look back at Zander, and his eyes are as big as saucers while he watches the door go up. “Are we going into the bat cave, Mom?”
I laugh. “No, it’s just a fancy garage.” Zander isn’t used to parking the car in an indoor garage since we mainly park outside at home and at school.
We find our designated spot and park the car. I get Zander out of his car seat, and we make our way to the elevator. We get in and I let him push the button to Jax’s floor. He stares at the many buttons, and I see a glint in his eyes from wanting to push all the buttons to see them light up.
“Don’t even think about it,” I warn.
He widens his eyes and giggles. “Mommy, you read my mind!” He takes his index finger and pushes on his forehead.
“I sure did.” I grab his finger and hold his hand. “I need you to listen to me, buddy. We can’t run down the halls and be loud because there are people in their apartments who can hear you. Inside voice, okay?”
The elevator dings, signifying that we’ve arrived on our floor. “Okay, Mommy.”
Once the doors open, we walk out and follow the signs to apartment 4903. It’s all the way at the end of the hallway, which means it’s one of the bigger units. We reach the end, and the hallway opens up to three doors. Jax’s door is on the right and seems to be a corner unit.
I take a deep breath, give Zander an encouraging smile and knock on the door. “Here we go,” I mutter.
A couple of seconds go by before the door opens. A beautiful, petite woman with long, wavy blonde hair is standing there with a tentative smile on her face. “Hi, I’m Gretchen. You must be Kiley.”
“Hi, uh, Gretchen,” I stammer because I was going to be polite and call her Mrs. Morrow, but I don’t even know what her new last name is since she’s re-married. “It’s nice to meet you. This is Zander.”
She glances down and smiles. “Hey Zander. Aren’t you just a handsome little guy? I like your Ashe.” She’s referring to the stuffy Jax gave him that he still carries around every chance he gets.
“His name is little black birdie,” Zander corrects her, and she laughs at his sassiness. Embarrassed, he hugs my leg and smushes his face into my thigh. He always gets shy around strangers.
“Hi Kiley!” Chloe greets as she walks up behind her mom. She looks down at Zander and smiles. “Hey Zander, how are you?”
Zander perks up immediately when he sees Chloe. “Hi Chloe.”
“Please come on in.” Gretchen moves to the side and waves her arm in.
We walk inside and turn around as she closes the door. “It’s so nice to meet the person who’s going to be taking care of my baby.” She nervously laughs. “Chloe, why don’t you give Kiley and Zander a tour?”
Chloe’s face lights up. “Oh, sure. This place is not that big, so follow me.”
In her eyes, the condo might not be big, but it’s definitely larger and much nicer than my current place.
We take a couple of steps inside, and the condo opens up to a spacious dining room with a kitchen and an island across from it. The walls of the condo are white, but it doesn't feel boring thanks to strategically placed pops of color with the furniture, lighting and artwork.
“Here is the dining room, and there’s the kitchen.
” Chloe waves each arm toward the direction of the rooms. The kitchen has white cabinets with white and gray marble countertops and backsplash.
It’s very modern looking, but not sterile.
The large island has the same countertop as the cabinets, with four black bar stools tucked underneath.
The dining room has a long, narrow black table with six chairs, but it’s the artwork that’s hanging on the wall that catches my attention. I walk closer to study it. It’s a beautiful painted piece of a coastal landscape.
“My dad had this custom made. It’s the view from his house back home,” Chloe informs us.
“This is Kelowna?” I ask, and when she nods, my gaze falls back on the painting. “It’s gorgeous.”
“Have you ever been to Canada?” Gretchen asks.
I shake my head. “Sadly, no. You would think since it’s so close that I would’ve gone when we were growing up, but we never made it across the border.”
“I want to go to Canada, Mommy.” Zander squeezes my hand and looks up at me.
“Maybe you can come with us back to Kelowna for a visit one day,” Chloe suggests, and I smile because that was very sweet of her to say, even though I doubt that will ever happen.
“Maybe one day we will.” I give her an encouraging smile to continue on with the tour.
“The best part of this place is the view from the balcony.” We follow Chloe through the dining room into the living room that contains a long, black L-shaped couch, a large TV on the wall, and a black console underneath it. The couch has colorful throw pillows to offset the black.
We come up to the balcony door and see that the view of Lake Michigan is breathtaking.
Despite it being winter, it’s a clear day outside with the temperature hovering around thirty degrees.
It’s easy to be hypnotized by the lake and wanting to go outside.
I’m immediately concerned about Zander trying to wander onto this balcony by himself when we’re here.
I look up and am relieved to see that there is a dead bolt on the top.
“My dad had that installed before we arrived to make sure Zander couldn’t get out unsupervised,” Chloe mentions, and my heart warms at Jax thinking about Zander’s safety.
“We instructed Chloe that she must always remember to make sure the door is locked. Jax added it to her chore list that is on the fridge,” Gretchen adds, giving Chloe a knowing look.
I smile at Chloe’s unamused expression. “Is there a designated chore day?” I ask.
“Sundays are chore days… if Chloe remembers them, which sometimes she conveniently doesn’t,” Gretchen answers with a laugh.
In typical teenage fashion, Chloe rolls her eyes at her mom.
“I won’t forget, Mom.” She looks down at Zander, who has his face pressed to the glass.
“Sorry, Zander, it’s too cold to go outside because it’s so windy with us being high up.
But guess what?” He removes his face from the glass and looks at her. “There’s a pool on the roof!”
His eyes widen in astonishment. He glances outside, looks up and back at Chloe. “No way,” he says in disbelief. We all giggle because it would be hard to believe at that age and not understand how a pool could fit on the roof.