Chapter 7
“Ihope it’s alright I did your washing, dear. Thought you might want to pack clean clothes and not have to fuss with it at Greyson’s apartment.”
Instead of instant gratitude, I’m flooded with embarrassment—heat rising from my chest to the part in my hair.
“Thank you,” I say quietly, unable to look at her and see pity written on her face.
“Greyson will be here any minute to pick you lovely ladies up…”
Cecelia’s words are drowned out by the mortification flooding my ears. What must they think of me? How am I supposed to face Greyson, let alone live with him? I nod and hope my inattention isn’t blatantly obvious.
A double check of our backpacks reveals exactly what my initial check did five minutes ago, clean and neatly folded clothes I didn’t have to wash.
The girls skitter into the family room, where I’m awkwardly waiting for my new boss to take me and my daughter back to his house. This is the most bizarre situation I’ve found myself in but is infinitely preferable to the life I fled.
“Where’s Daddy? I’m hungry.” Harper hugs Cecelia’s leg, who caresses her granddaughter’s hair.
“Should be here any minute, love.”
From what I gather, Greyson and Harper aren’t biologically related to the Andersen family but are treated the same as any blood relation. For all intents and purposes, Cecelia and Walter are Harper’s grandparents.
Truck tires pull up the gravel drive, sending a metal rod through my spine. I can’t fill my lungs around Greyson—but not in the same way I held my breath around Carter. Around him it’s from anticipation, not dread; and I don’t know what to do with it.
The front door swings open and I tense, heart beating double time.
“Daddy!” Harper runs into her dad’s arms, not a hint of hesitance.
I worked tirelessly to ensure Everly wasn’t exposed to Carter’s cruelty—but I think a part of her knew. Because never once did she run into his arms like this. She’d hug him briefly if he initiated but always kept a healthy distance from him.
“You girls ready to go home?” The rod in my spine vibrates with recognition Everly and I are included as the girls he’s referring to, and the home is now ours.
I gather the backpacks and hold my hand out for Everly to grab.
“Where’s your luggage? I’ll toss it in the truck bed.” Greyson looks around the family room to find no such thing.
“This is all we came with,” I say flatly.
His thinly veiled anger burns me, but the heat dissipates when he tears his eyes away. I get the feeling he’s not mad at me, but for me.
“Alright ladies, load up.” Greyson claps loudly, making me flinch. People’s eyes crawl over my skin like spiders, the sensation nearly drives me to madness.
To shake the spiders off me, I force my legs to move and walk with Everly out the front door into the stifling summer heat.
Not for the first time, I wish I could ask Charlie what to do.
The sun seems to set later in the mountains, as if we’re on the jagged edge of the earth right before the sun drops into the dark abyss.
As Greyson’s truck crawls down Main Street, it sinks in that he literally lives above the hardware store. He pulls his truck down a small alley between his store and the next. Behind the buildings, the small alley turns into a hidden street, where shopkeepers can park their personal vehicles.
Looking up, all the stores on Main Street are two story with apartments above each business, I presume.
Greyson parks the truck and climbs out to unbuckle Harper. I follow suit and unbuckle Everly from the second car seat he somehow had time to install during his work day.
He gathers up our backpacks in one hand and follows a bounding Harper up an intimidating flight of stairs to the second story. I shuffle Everly ahead of me so I can bring up the rear and be there to catch her if she slips.
Each step closer to Greyson’s front door clouds my vision with unwanted memories. Charlie and I didn’t have a conventional childhood. We had the type of childhood where we lived month-to-month, our parents jumping from one temp job to the next.
I lost count how many “new homes” I had over the years, and life only became more unstable and unbearable after Charlie died.
My parents kicked me out the day after graduation. Something about finally being burdenless and free of their parental responsibilities. I couldn’t hear much over the roaring terror in my ears.
The fear of finding a safe place to sleep was suffocating, until he came along.
When I married Carter, a substantial factor in my decision was stability. I was eighteen when I married him, desperately seeking safety. In retrospect, living in one house, with one man, with the same routine, day in and day out appealed to the lost little girl inside me.
“Hey, you alright?” Greyson’s deep baritone rips me from the past.
“What?”
“Been waiting for you to come in, but you’re glued to the landing.” He gives me his back and retreats into his apartment.
It’s bigger than I imagined, for being above the hardware store. The front door opens to a lovely, combined living room and eat-in kitchen. Harper skips ahead, holding Everly’s hand.
“Hope it’s okay I made an executive decision.” He opens a door to reveal a small bedroom with a low-profile queen-sized bed, and a matching dresser and nightstand. I can’t help but run my hand across the light orange quilt. I’d be shocked if it wasn’t handmade.
Greyson sets our backpacks just inside the door, not setting foot inside, like I’m an animal likely to spook.
“Figured you’d feel the most secure sharing a room with your kid.” He figured right.
“And no offense intended, but I don’t know your situation and I don’t want Harper getting overly attached to Everly if they bunked together.”
I wish he didn’t see me as a flight risk, but it’s what I am.
“This is more than generous, Greyson. I’m thankful you have space for us at all.” I search his face for any hint of discomfort or regret. “If you’ll give me a minute to catch my breath, I’d be happy to make dinner for everyone.”
Greyson huffs a laugh, catching me off guard to why my suggestion is funny. “Once Cecelia and the girls found out you planned to stay, they stocked my fridge and freezer with so much food we won’t have to cook for days, if not weeks.”
He knocks on the doorframe, angling to leave me to my thoughts while the girls giggle and play down the hall.
“I’ve, uh, got a few tubs of clothes Harper’s outgrown. I’ll bring them up from the cellar tomorrow. Maybe some of it’d fit Everly.”
With that, I’m left alone in my new bedroom, in disbelief how different my life looks than just a few days ago.
Gleaming from the polished surface of the dresser is my new house key.
“Mia!” I whip around to find the source of my hollered name.
Greyson’s black truck is stopped in the middle of Main Street, uncaring about the line of traffic gathering behind him.
“Mr. Greyson!” Everly shouts, frantically waving her tiny hand.
“What are you doing?” he barks.
“Walking?” That part of me Carter broke has me panicked I’m doing something egregiously wrong.
“I can see that. You’re all the way across town, loaded down with groceries, at the hottest part of the day.”
One of the cars behind him grows impatient and honks their horn. Greyson stretches his neck to one side in irritation, his ear nearly touching his raised shoulder.
“Hop in, let’s get you back to the apartment.”
Not wanting to create any bigger of a scene, I hustle Everly over to the truck and get her buckled in, followed by myself, groceries at my feet. I tuck my hands beneath my thighs to stop them from tremoring.
We pull in behind the hardware store and silently head into the apartment.
“Mr. Greyson! I petted a dog and there was a yellow butterfly. I thought it was a bee, but it wasn’t a bee, it was a butterfly. Did you know the market has peaches? Mama loves peaches. But we didn’t buy any peaches, because peaches are ‘spensive.”
My little outgoing girl; I have no idea where she got that trait from, but I’m grateful for it every day.
Greyson’s eyes burn the side of my face as he takes in Everly’s account of the afternoon.
“When will Harper come home?” she asks.
“Her Aunt Olivia took her paddleboarding, they should be back any time,” he answers.
“Baby, why don’t you go play in Harper’s room while I put away the groceries.” I don’t want her to hear whatever conversation is about to take place.
“Okay, Mama!” She disappears down the hallway, unaware the anxiety throbbing in my chest cavity.
I busy myself shelving the cold items and nonperishables, not wanting to face Greyson.
“You have any plans on getting a car?”
My hands freeze on a box of dried pasta. “I honestly haven’t had a moment to consider it,” I answer truthfully.
“My truck sits out back all day while I run the store, you’re welcome to use it to get around town.”
“I couldn’t do that,” I rush.
“You could’ve asked for a ride if you’re afraid of driving the truck, I know it’s a big vehicle.”
“I’m not afraid to drive a truck,” I say obstinately.
“I need you to safely transport Harper to and from school, and anywhere else y’all go while I’m working,” he says, no room for argument.
“I understand. I’ll figure something out right away.” With what money? My stomach churns at the impossibility.
“Can you at least call me next time you need a ride?” he asks, exasperated.
With what phone?
He reads me like a large-print book.
“You don’t have a phone.” It’s not a question. It’s a bleak realization.
I shake my head, hair covering my flaming cheeks. I have no reason to be embarrassed for things that were out of my control, but I carry the shame all the same. I willingly married Carter. My situation is no one’s fault but my own.
“I wasn’t allowed to have one.” I’ve never said it out loud.
Greyson’s face turns murderous. Tiny muscles jump in his jaw beneath his stubble.
“Allowed?”
The one-word question hangs heavily between us.
All I can do is nod and hide beneath the curtain of my hair.