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While Summer put away Jackson’s clothes and toys, Allison loaded her and Peter’s things into the large closet. His shirts and suits hung next to her more casual clothes, as they always had. She smoothed her hand over a row of ties, wondering how long before he was back with her.
Her hand stilled. Wait. What was going to happen when he was finally released from jail? Where would he go? She couldn’t imagine Erica’s generosity extending so far as to allow her ex-husband to live there with his new wife.
A question that was destined to go unanswered, she thought grimly. At least for now. Currently her biggest priority was putting everything away so she could pick up Jackson.
She worked as quickly as she could, ignoring her back pain and exhaustion. It only took an hour to put everything away. Summer continued to help until Allison firmly told her to stop.
“You’ve been so sweet to me,” she said. “Now go live your life.”
“Knock, knock.” Mara entered Allison’s room. “How’s it going?”
“I’m unpacked. The house is beautiful and Summer’s room is lovely.” She glanced at the teen. “I wish you hadn’t given it up for me.”
“Oh, she wanted to,” Mara said easily. “We all talked about it and she insisted. Summer can be stubborn.” Mara smiled. “I wonder where she gets that from.”
Her gaze returned to Allison. “I think we’d all feel better with a plan for the rest of the day. You have to be uncomfortable with all the changes, and it will take time for us to adjust.”
“I need to go get Jackson,” Allison said. “But first I’d like to know where the baby gates are so I can corral him.”
“I can show you,” Summer said eagerly.
“Don’t you have homework?” Mara asked. “And dinner with your friends?”
“I was going to cancel that.”
“No!” Allison and Mara said together.
Allison turned to the teen. “You’re not responsible for me. I’m grateful, but I’m fine. Keep your plans, please.” Erica had been right, she had been leaning on her stepdaughter too much. Starting now, that had to stop.
“Let’s do this,” Mara said. “Allison, you would probably like to take a long, hot shower. Why don’t you do that? I’ll make us a snack. After that, you can go get Jackson. When you get back, we’ll take a tour of the house. I’ll show you the baby gates, give you the Wi-Fi password, explain how to work the TVs. Then you can rest.”
She pointed at her granddaughter. “You will do your homework, then go hang out with your friends.”
“But I want to be here,” Summer whined. She brightened. “Oh, I know. I’ll invite Avery to dinner. That will be fine. Is that okay, Grandma?”
Mara looked at Allison. “Are you up for company?”
Not really. All she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for three days. But that wasn’t an option.
“That sounds great if it’s not too much trouble. The dinner part. Or I can cook.”
“I’ll show you where everything is so you’re comfortable,” Mara said. “We’ll figure out how we’re going to work meals as we go. You’re welcome to use any food you want. We keep a running list of what we need. The weekly cleaning service also does the grocery shopping.”
“I’d want to pay for my food.”
“You can take that up with Erica.” Mara smiled. “She’s the businesswoman in the family. All right. We have a plan. Summer, you can help me with the food after you finish your homework and text Avery. So we’re set.”
They went their separate ways. Allison walked up the wide staircase, telling herself she would be fine. She had a place to stay, Jackson was safe and hopefully over the next few days, she could relax enough to sleep. She needed to appreciate this unexpected miracle. Which she would, just as soon as she could shake off her sense of looming disaster.
“I want to believe you’re working diligently, but my guess is you’re hiding.”
Erica looked up from her computer to find Killion in her office doorway. It was just after seven on Saturday. The last clients were being checked out and most employees had already left. Normally she would have headed home an hour ago, but she’d already told Summer and her mother that she would be late tonight.
“You think you know everything, but you don’t. I’m not hiding. I’m avoiding. There’s a difference.”
“Semantics,” he teased, setting a bag of takeout on the small conference table along with a bottle of Peter Michael Chardonnay and a black picnic bag.
She crossed to him. He pulled her close, then kissed her. She let herself lean into him for a moment before straightening.
