Page 37 of Ashes of Us

Danica groaned as she woke up, rolling over and reaching for her phone to check the time, as the banging on her door that had woken her sounded again.

Who the hell was trying to get in her house at three-twenty in the morning?

There were no missed calls or texts, so no one was trying to get in touch with her and was worried that she hadn't answered her phone.

Getting up, she grabbed her robe and wrapped it around her, covering up Jasper's old Boston Celtics t-shirt that she was wearing as a nightdress and flicking on all the lights as she moved through the house.

If someone was about to attempt to break into her home, she was going to make sure they did it in full view of any neighbours who might be awake and looking.

When Alex dropped her off the previous evening, she had spent some time on the phone with Emilia, bringing her up to date with everything and telling her about her thoughts that Amy and Lucy might have her followed.

Emilia had promised to look into things from her end but had agreed with Danica that she had been right to come home and not stay at Alex's.

“I know you're not in the right frame of mind to even consider dating or what your future without Jasper will look like, but you're right, it wouldn't look good. Even if he had security cameras inside his place that showed you both going to separate rooms and staying put all night, Amy would probably have her lawyer claim the footage was tampered with.” She had then offered to arrange for her mother-in-law to come stay with Xavier and the kids so she could keep Danica company while she met with the funeral home in the morning, something Danica hadn't wanted to ask her to do, knowing how hard it was for her and Xavier to manage Gracie's attachment issues, but desperately wanted. Emilia had gotten a little upset with her relieved ”Yes, please” and reprimanded her for not asking for help when she needed it.

“Xavier and I discussed things, and we agreed that we will make things work with Gracie until you're on the other side of this. I can't read your mind, Danica, you need to talk to me.” She paused and then said, with a hint of pride in her voice. ”Besides, the new play therapy we're doing with her is working wonders; she actually played quietly for over an hour in the playroom by herself while I cleaned the kitchen the other day and is showing huge leaps in her independent learning and play.”

In the mudroom off the kitchen, she hit the light switch that lit up the driveway and outside the garage and cautiously pulled the blinds aside to look out and see who was so determined to speak with her.

Seeing Cecil standing on the step with an overnight bag in his hand wasn't the shock most people would have thought it would be.

She was surprised to see him standing there at three in the morning, but she had been expecting him to show up.

Cecil was much smarter than anyone gave him credit for, and Jasper had more respect for his father than anyone else.

She was a little surprised it had taken him this long to come around.

Opening the door, she stepped back and let him come in without saying a word.

Then closed it and led him into the kitchen.

“Spare room has clean sheets,” she told him quietly, turning and walking toward the living room and the stairs to the second floor.

“You know where everything is.” As curious as she was about what had been the final straw to make him leave Amy, she was too tired to listen right now. “We'll talk when the sun comes up.”

“Thanks.” He locked the door behind him and followed her through the house, turning off the lights behind them.

She could tell he was just as relieved that she hadn't demanded an explanation as he was that she let him in.

“Sorry, I woke you up. I didn't want to use my key and end up on my ass at the bottom of the stairs.”

That got a small smile out of her. She was a light sleeper when she was alone and would have woken up and waited at the top of the stairs for the intruder, armed with the baseball bat she kept in the corner next to her bed. “Smart. Night, Cecil.”

“Night, Danica.”

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The second time Danica was woken up, it was to the smell of bacon and fresh coffee.

She had a moment of confusion, wondering why Jasper was cooking breakfast, then everything came back and she had to blink back tears for a moment, before she got up, went to the bathroom, then pulled on a sports bra under the Celtics shirt and a pair of shorts before making her way to the kitchen.

Cecil was standing at the stove, transferring bacon from a pan to a plate with paper towels on the counter.

The toaster popped, and Danica walked over, took the four slices of toast, and began buttering them.

They moved in silence around each other as they prepped breakfast, and it wasn't until they were sitting at the table and halfway through the meal that Danica finally asked him what happened.

Cecil finished chewing his bite of peanut butter toast and washed it down with some coffee before looking at her.

“After we left the hospital yesterday, I brought Amy and Lucy home and then went for a long drive, something I've been doing quite a bit.

Talking to Jasper and just trying to make sense of what's going on.

I've been telling myself that Amy is grieving and I needed to support her through this, even if I don't agree with everything she's doing.

I never dreamed the judge would actually agree to the emergency junction we filed, but unlike Amy, Lucy and Ken, I did do my research about extracting sperm from someone who is, for all intents and purposes, dead, so when the judge gave us three weeks, I felt better about things because I knew they wouldn't be able to get a viable specimen.” He leaned forward and took another bite of scrambled eggs. “Then you fucked things up.”

Danica let out a soft huff, annoyed that he hadn't tried to get in touch with her about that. “Well, were you gonna pay the hospital bill?”

“I was going to offer to help.” He admitted after a minute, looking away from her.

“Even if I emptied our retirement savings, I wouldn't be able to do more than that.” He played with the food on his plate for a moment, refusing to look at her.

“And I've been mad about how you handled things with the money you got from your inheritance, because if you hadn't gotten it and put it in a trust, none of this would have happened, which is stupid and irrational, I know, but I needed something to focus my anger on, so I guess I saw it as fitting that you would end up using it all on Jasper's hospital bills and funeral.”

Danica took a deep breath, counting to ten so she didn't lose her temper at him.

“Maybe your anger should have been directed at the way your son handled things, not at what I did.” She told him coldly, making him flinch.

“I put that money in a trust so we would be able to retire early and live comfortably. Your son made plans to redo your garage and renovate your house to make it ours.”

“You're right.” He nodded and hesitantly reached for her hand.

“Jasper came around to things after you handed him his ass about his spending habits and he started taking the financial classes.

He even brought me to a couple of sessions that helped me with my financial issues.

But I've just been so angry at this whole situation, and I needed to direct that somewhere.

I was always taught not to speak ill of the dead, so I felt like I couldn't blame Jasper, Amy was a grieving mother, you were the grieving widow and well, I only found out about Lucy and that whole mess the day before we went to court, so I didn't know she was an option.”

Danica blinked in surprise. “Amy never said anything? She just unilaterally decided to do this?”

“Yep.” He nodded slowly, looking devastated and angry with the whole situation.

“She knew I would disagree, knew I would put a stop to things, so she stayed quiet and kept me busy at home, digging out all Jasper's childhood stuff out of the basement and attic to 'help her heal' while she handled things with you.”

“Well, that explains why no one was answering my texts and phone calls,” Danica murmured, shocked by how sneaky Amy was.

“Yeah,” Cecil nodded. “She was controlling the narrative and pulling strings together faster than I would have thought possible.

Anyway, when I got home last night, Lucy was still there.

After Ken told us they managed to find a viable sperm, Amy and Lucy got started on phase two of their plan.

They informed me that Lucy was moving in, and then they proudly showed me what they had been working on when I was out of the house.

They'd turned the spare room into a nursery using all of Jasper's old baby things.

It was too much, and I lost my temper. I'm not proud of the things I screamed at Lucy and Amy as I packed my bag, but I said what I thought they needed to hear.

The look on Amy's face when I said I was leaving almost destroyed me.

She didn't care. She just shrugged and told me to expect divorce papers.”

Danica felt her heart break for him as he ducked his head, and a tear dripped down his chin and landed on his shirt. “Cecil. I'm so sorry.” She squeezed his hand, all her frustration and annoyance melting away at his obvious despondency.

“Thirty-seven years of marriage, gone. Even if she comes around and begs for forgiveness, I don't think I can overlook her actions and take her back,” he whispered sadly.

“I think she needs help, I think this Lucy girl has completely manipulated her into believing her lies and delusions, but I need to put myself first now.”

Danica's ears perked up. She didn't want to ask right now, but she made a mental note to ask him more about Lucy's lies and delusions.

“Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you need to.” She smiled reassuringly at him, let his hand go and started eating again, feeling lighter than she had in over a week.

“Emilia will be here soon. Do you want to come to the funeral home with us to get things going for Jasper's funeral?”

Cecil nodded, wiping his eyes and giving her a small, grateful smile. “Yes, I would really like that.”

They quickly finished their breakfast and got ready.

Emilia didn't look surprised to see Cecil when she got there, so Danica figured news had already gotten out to the rest of the family about Cecil and Amy.

She gave him a long, tight hug and told him how sorry she was, without being specific, which Danica could tell Cecil appreciated as they walked to Emilia's Buick Enclave.

Danica climbed into the backseat and moved to the middle so she could lean forward between the seats and talk to them, looking around in surprise as they backed out of the driveway.

Cecil's Pontiac GTO was nowhere in sight. “Where's your car?”

“I had to leave it behind.” He muttered. “Everything is in Amy's name, and she threatened to report it stolen if I took it.”

“Oh.” Danica and Emilia shared a look in the rearview mirror, silently agreeing that Amy had clearly lost her mind.

“Well, Jasper finished the Charger if you want it.” Danica had been trying to figure out what to do with that car since she found it.

She didn't want it; it wasn't one of the cars she had on her dream list, but because Jasper had finished rebuilding it by himself, she couldn't bring herself to sell it either, and she knew in her heart he would approve of her giving it to his dad. “Jasper would want you to have it.”

That was it. Cecil completely broke down in the passenger seat, nodding but unable to speak.

Danica squeezed his shoulder soothingly, and Emilia opened the center console, pulling out a handful of napkins for him to wipe his face with.

They shared another look in the rearview mirror, but didn't say anything, just let him cry it out.