Page 4

Marie

__________

I haven’t been home in two days. After meeting Alex and staying at the office until eleven that night, I booked a hotel.

I had Alyssa and Caroline bring me a bag of clothes and toiletries before they went to school on Friday and I’m letting them use my car to get to and from school so that James doesn’t have to worry about it.

He never has to worry about anything. Story of our lives.

He’s been texting me and calling me off the hook, but I can’t handle it. I can’t handle seeing his face, his body wrapped around her, or Alex in general, thank you very much.

The girls told me that he has a surprise for them this weekend and I can’t stomach what he’s going to be telling them.

Was he even going to tell me if they didn’t have to come to the clinic?

What would happen if I wasn’t at the clinic that day for his exam?

The girls and I were just going to be blindsided with the auburn-haired, gorgeous woman strolling into our lives like it’s totally fucking normal to do so.

Was he truly just going to move another woman into the house while I lived there? I mean, come on. How is that logical?

I picked out that house, I even decorated it. The girls and I have made it a home for the past five years.

Well, if the universe was going to give me a sign that I was right about never telling him about the baby, then here it is. And her name is Alex.

My phone starts vibrating along the nightstand again and I roll my eyes when I see James’s face popping up on the screen. I ignore the call and get ready for my day. I don’t have to be in the office until this afternoon, so I’m ready to see the hopefully new house to see if it’s a good fit.

It’s a five-bedroom, one story house with six bathrooms. There’s an unfinished basement that I can use for storage, a jacuzzi in the backyard, which even has a space for a grill. A gorgeous yard with plenty of grass for a child to run around in.

It’s in a gated community and the schools seem decent. Plus there’s room for Caroline and Alyssa if they ever want to stay with me. It’ll be perfect.

It might be too large for just me, but it was the only house that the realtors could find that’s available so soon, and in a gated community.

Since I’m still close with the team, I imagine I’ll have them over for barbecues and they need their privacy.

There are only six houses on the street, plenty of space between the neighbors. It’s quiet.

After I get ready and leave the hotel, I have an Uber take me to the property to meet the owners. They’re an older couple, maybe in their late sixties. They both smile as I walk up to them when they open the door. Looks like they’ve been expecting me.

“Are you Marie Edwards?”

I nod and shake their hands. “Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Evans.” I look around and smile at the large white house.

The door is painted a light blue, it’s perfect so far.

There are shutters around each window, a three-car garage, and a nice sized-driveway.

There’s even plenty of grass and two trees on the front of the property. This is adorable.

“Come on in, dear. Tell us about yourself. Will you be living here alone?”

I sigh internally as I follow them into the empty house.

I’ll have to go furniture shopping, too, it seems. I start making a mental checklist on everything I need to do.

Alone. The walls are painted a bright white, the flooring is a nice tan tile, maybe travertine.

No appliances. So I’ll need some of those, too.

“Not for long. I just found out I’m pregnant…

But my little sisters might be staying with me every now and then, they’re sixteen and live with their brother about ten minutes away.

I’m a physician’s assistant, but outside of that, I truly live a boring life.

” I chuckle and they smile so brightly at me.

Their eyes light up and they fawn all over me and offer me a water bottle and some cookies. “Wonderful! We were looking for a family to move in. We downsized recently and our son told us to rent it out instead of buying… But if you’re interested…”

I shrug and chew on my lip. “I looked at the comps in the area. I wouldn’t be able to buy it for a couple of years, probably depending on the price, but we can figure that out down the line.”

“What sort of clinic or hospital do you work in?” Mrs. Evans asks as they take me out in the backyard and show me around the different gardens and fruit trees that are somehow thriving in the Minnesota climate.

I smile. “I’m in sports medicine. I work with Dr. Patterson, if you’ve heard of him.”

_______________

It’s moving day… It took less than twenty-four hours for Mr. Evans to call and tell me to meet him and his wife at a local coffee shop for me to sign the paperwork and hand over an insane amount of money for me to move in… It’s worth it though.

I still haven’t talked to James, but I’ve been in contact with the girls. I didn’t tell them everything, but they know I’m moving out.

Apparently their ‘surprise’ over the weekend was two matching red Mercedes SUVs to sweeten them up to Alex when he brought her over for dinner and announced they’re dating. And that she’s moving in.

The girls said that she was rude, wouldn’t talk to them at all… She kept complaining about the décor, the furniture, and not having enough space or any ‘help’ in the house.

And then they joked about moving in with me.

I told them there’s plenty of room and I’ll make sure they have rooms with me whenever they’d like to stay with me.

I can’t imagine them staying there being treated poorly.

I won’t allow it and neither should James.

I wonder if he’s being blackmailed or drugged.

Why now? He’s had ample time to be in a serious relationship over the past several years.

I took the week off from work and am sneaking into my, actually, James’s house along with a team of movers to get this done quickly.

The company helps you pack up, box up everything, and even move it to the destination.

I had to pay extra for the help to unload everything and for them to put together furniture around the house that I had delivered today.

Thank goodness for overnight delivery.

The girls are at school, James is at practice, and we’re in and out of the house in six hours. No sign of Alex, so all in all, it was simple. Easy. Heartbreaking, but still easy with so much help.

I took everything that I bought, aside from furniture.

My kitchen gadgets, my smoker in the backyard… All of the décor that I used my personal money on that was around the house. Since Alex doesn’t like it, I’ll just take everything.

After pulling up to my new house, I unlock the door and tell the guys to relax and take a break. “Anyone want pizza? My treat.”

Marco, the owner of the company, nods and pats my shoulder. “Sure. We’re easy. Pepperoni, please. Is there anything to drink here?”

I frown and shrug. “Not sure. I know the appliances were delivered today and Mr. Evans let them in for me while we packed up the other house.” I shuffle to the kitchen and smile at the gleaming stainless-steel appliances.

I might have charged it all to James’s card out of spite, not that he will notice.

And the furniture. And my new décor… It’s not like I ordered from anywhere expensive. Mostly Target and Ikea. I’m not a high maintenance person.

But my appliances? Top of the line. I smile, a real smile for the first time in what feels like months. It feels good to be petty sometimes.

I shrug as I pull open the fridge and grab several bottles of water.

I could kiss Mr. Evans and his wife right about now. My fridge, freezer, and pantry are stocked. There’s also a sweet note on the island thanking me for renting from them and they can’t wait to meet my baby.

Maybe they can just adopt me and I’ll be their new family. Maybe their son is nice, too.

I smile as I meet the crew in the living room and groan when I see all of the boxes up against the bright white walls. “Well at least we don’t have to put the couches together.” I sigh as I sink down on the comfortable dark gray cushions and hand out the waters.

“I’ll order the pizzas now, no other requests?” They all shake their heads and talk about the plan for the rest of the day. They’re dividing up who’s going to unload the truck and unpack, while some others do all of the furniture…

Only three of the bedrooms are being furnished right now. I want to wait until I know the gender of the baby before I start to buy anything, and I don’t want to jinx anything.

I also bought some outdoor furniture for the front and back porches. I snicker to myself as I stare around at all of the boxes. Serves James right. Not that I could make a real dent in his bank account, regardless of how much I spent.

Unless I decide to buy a yacht.

I’ll give the card to the girls the next time I see them to give back to him. At least I was able to finally pick up my car today. No more wasting money on Ubers.

The doorbell rings and we all settle back down in the living room after they help me bring in all of the food. I pass out boxes of pizza and wings, more bottles of water, and paper plates. I’m able to choke down a slice and sip on my water while the crew scarfs down six whole damn pizzas. Six.

I snort into my water and shake my head. If James was here he would probably eat two whole pies by himself. The girls and I usually share a veggie pizza and still have leftovers.

Speak of the devil, another text popped up from him five minutes ago.

I open up the thread of our conversation and scroll up to the top… I haven’t read any of them since he came into the office and dropped a nuclear bomb on me.

James: What time will you be home tonight?

James: I’m leaving for practice, will I see you at home tonight? You never sleep in. Are you feeling okay?