Chapter 42
Forty-Two
“I’m not sure I have ever been this tired,” I groan, falling onto the couch.
It took a couple of trips to the landfill and one to the thrift shop, but my former home is now completely empty and smells much better than when we arrived hours ago.
Ryan offered to hire professional cleaners to go in and give it a deep clean.
I told myself it was something I should do on my own, but I am too mentally and physically exhausted to argue.
Besides, I’m trying to accept help when it’s offered.
It’s going to be a learning curve, trusting that I don’t have to do everything alone.
He lowers himself at the end of the couch and places my aching feet on his lap. He uses his thumb to massage the arch of my foot. “God, that feels good.” I moan, closing my eyes and sinking farther into the cushions.
“You have had a long day. How do you feel?” he asks, switching to the other.
“So many things. Relieved that this part is finally over. That my bank account has a chance to get out of the red for the first time in months.” Opening my eyes, I meet his. “Grateful for you and our friends for helping me today and supporting me always.”
Before I can say more, there is a knock on the front door.
My forehead furrows, and I swing my leg to the floor and sit up. “I wonder who that is?”
As I begin to rise, Ryan rests his hands on my thigh. “I’ll check. You stay put.”
He crosses the floor and opens the door to find Aunt Maggie on the other side.
Without a word, she shoves a couple of bags and a box of goodies into his waiting arms. She quickly removes her warm outerwear and sweeps past him to come to sit beside me.
Her colour of the day is orange, and she smells like cinnamon sugar.
“Hi, Maggie.” He repositions everything in his arms and pushes the door closed. “Nice to see you,” he snickers. “I’ll take these to the kitchen, I guess.”
He dips his head and tries to suppress his grin before leaving the room.
“Hi, Ryan,” her voice trails after him.
“How are you?” she asks, leaning in to give me a quick hug. “I hear you’ve had a busy day, so I brought you dinner and a treat.”
I told her about my plan to meet Jade this morning but haven’t had a minute to catch her up to speed about everything else that has happened.
“Very busy, but great,” I say reassuringly. “Sorry I didn’t call you. How much do you know?”
“You remember where we live, right? There isn’t much going on in this town that I don’t know about. You were spotted the moment you rolled into town in the truck. I know what you donated and approximately how many bags went to the landfill.” She laughs.
“Why am I not surprised?” I roll my eyes, adjusting myself so I can face her. “Your little birds have been busy.”
“Everything went well, though?” she asks, pushing her glasses up her nose with her index finger. “Did you get the information you needed?”
“Yes, Jade was very helpful,” I admit. “She filled in some of the missing pieces on what Braden has been up to over the past few months.”
If it weren’t for her, I would still be sitting here wondering what he’s going to do next. For the first time in years, I feel in control.
“Do I even want to know?” She lifts an eyebrow.
“Nope. It’s irrelevant now.”
“So that’s it then.” Clapping her hands together, her eyes crinkle in the corners. “You are free.”
“Not quite, but soon,” I say with a sigh, sinking farther into the couch cushion. “I packed up his clothes. I’ll reach out soon so he can pick them up.”
“You’re good to keep anything for him. I would burn it all. Or at the very least cut it into tiny pieces before giving it back,” she scoffs.
She isn’t a fan of Braden on a good day, but coming onto her property uninvited, then vandalizing my trailer was the final straw.
“You can leave them with me at the bakery if you want to,” she offers. “You don’t need to see him.”
“I think I do. It will help me get some much-needed closure.”
“Promise me you won’t meet him alone.” She places her hand over mine.
“Promise. I’m not sure what I want to do yet, but I will make sure I won’t be by myself,” I reassure her with a smile.
Leaning back to better look at me, she asks, “Have you considered giving him an invoice for all the money he owes you? It’s not right that he gets to walk away and not pay his debt.”
“Honestly, it’s not worth it. Sure, it would be nice to recoup some money, but you know as well as I do, he won’t give me anything willingly. If I’m lucky, he will be so happy in his new life he will forget all about me.”
Ready for this conversation to be over, I glance past her towards the kitchen and ask, “Are you going to stay and eat with us? It looks like you brought a lot.”
“No.” Her short blonde bob swings as she shakes her head. “That is for the two of you to enjoy. But I also came to tell you something.”
“Okay…” I drawl out. “Should I be worried?”
She squeezes my hand gently and searches my eyes before saying, “I fear I may have overstepped, but I was just so angry.”
“What did you do?” It could be anything; not much will surprise me.
“I called your father.”
I retract that. I’m surprised. Like me, she has a challenging relationship with her brother. They are too different to find much common ground.
“Tell me more,” I encourage, tilting my head.
“It’s just the more I thought of it, the angrier I became.”
“Auntie, what are you talking about?”
“All of it. How they treat you.” She scowls. “He continued to speak with Braden even after you broke up and you explicitly told him not to. I even threw in a few unresolved issues I’ve had with him over the years. I was on a roll.”
“And how did that go?” I ask with concern. My father doesn’t like to be questioned—or criticized.
“Surprisingly well. At first, I thought he must have hung up on me because the line was silent, but he was listening and processing what I was saying.”
“First time for everything, I suppose,” I mutter, looking down at my hands.
“My thoughts exactly, but then he shocked the hell out of me when he apologized.”
My head pops up, and I narrow my eyes. I didn’t know he knew how to say sorry.
“Pretty well knocked me off my chair.” She laughs to herself. “Anyway, I think I surprised him when I told him what an ass Braden had been over the last several months. Of course, he had no idea. Took everything he said as fact instead of asking you what was going on.”
Her shoulders drop, and she sighs. “He would like to talk to you, but I told him to wait and that you would reach out when you were ready. I hope that was the right thing to say.”
“That’s fine. I’m glad you told him, but I’m not ready to talk to him yet.”
“I understand.” She pats my hand. “You take all the time you need. He can wait.”
“Thank you,” I say softly. “You’ve always had my back, and I really appreciate it.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Sunshine. I’ve always loved you like you’re my own.”
I let her words sink in, my throat tightening with emotion. “I love you too.”
“I’m going to get out of your hair and let you eat your dinner. If you want to talk, you know where to find me. I’m proud of you, Sunshine.”
She rises, gives me a quick kiss on my forehead, and gathers her outerwear and leaves as quickly as she came.
I let the warmth of her words sink in. A quiet reminder of how lucky I am to have her in my life.
When the door closes behind her, Ryan emerges from the kitchen.
“Is everything okay?” he asks, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Yeah, I think so.” I scratch the side of my head. “She called my dad to tell him off.”
“Oh?” He furrows his eyebrows. “I’m having a difficult time imagining her being angry at anyone. Except with Brian.”
“Everyone gets angry with Brian, though,” I say, yawning. Fuck, I am tired.
“How about we have something to eat, then I can draw you a bath? If you aren’t too tired, we can watch one of your documentaries,” he suggests, running his hand over the back of my head.
“That sounds like a perfect evening to me.” I stand and loop my arms around his neck. He dips his head and captures my lips in a slow, tender kiss. Maybe we can skip the documentary and go straight to bed.