Page 30 of Just a Number (Magnolia Row #2)

MICAH

L ast night with Rhodes was the most amazing experience I’ve ever had with a man.

Not only did he know exactly what he was doing, but I finally felt comfortable enough to let him see me.

All of me. No leaving the bra on, no covering my stomach, no turning the lights off so he doesn’t see my cellulite.

I’ve never been with someone who made me feel this beautiful. This wanted. This secure.

Garrett certainly never came close, nor did any of the ones before him. I didn’t know men like Rhodes existed. He’s mature, he’s confident, and he makes me feel like an absolute goddess.

We make plans for me to go back to Magnolia Row and stay with Sistine while he looks for a place for us to live, but the day before he’s supposed to drive me back, I get a call from an unknown number.

I answer, and an older woman is on the other end.

“Micah Bonaventure?” she asks when I answer.

“Who is this?” I ask.

“Allette Aspley,” she says with no further explanation, which is not needed anyway since I know exactly who she is. She and her husband are the two most prominent lawyers in Magnolia Row. They’ve had an office downtown for ages.

“Yes! Mrs. Aspley. How can I help you?”

“Honey, I should ask you the same thing. I’ve been waiting for you to call me.”

“Why?”

“About your grandmama’s will, of course. I heard a rumor your mama is living in her house, but the property belongs to you, honey.”

“What? My mom showed me a will that left everything to her.”

“She did? What was the date on it?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Okay, honey. Let me check on this. I’ll call you back.”

We hang up. Rhodes is in the shower, so I sit on the bed and wait for him to get out. When he walks out in nothing but a towel, it’s all I can do to not get distracted and rip it off.

“What?” he asks with a sly grin, catching me staring.

I blush and shake my head. “I got a call from a lawyer in Magnolia Row. She seems to think Nana left everything to me.”

He raises his eyebrows in surprise. “Well, this is good news.”

“I told her about the will my mom showed us, but she said?—"

And just like that, the phone rings again from the same number.

“Micah, it’s Allette again. I called the courthouse, and your grandmama only ever had one will with probate.

I wrote it and I can guarantee your mama ain’t getting a dime or a blade of grass from the estate.

I dare her to try to produce something else or challenge it.

Barbara was very clear on how she wanted her estate handled.

There’s no way she left your mama a single red penny. ”

I feel an enormous weight lift from my body. “Thank you, Mrs. Aspley. I’ll be in touch.”

After I get off the phone, Rhodes and I talk and decide the best plan of action is to call the police.

We’ll let them handle getting my mom off the property as soon as possible, so she’s not there when we return home.

I honestly never want to see her ever again.

She’s never been a constructive part of my life, and she’s made the entire process of grieving Nana exponentially worse by trying to take away everything I have left.

That’s not what a mother does. That’s what a monster does.

The Magnolia Row PD calls when we’re south of Montgomery to let me know she was escorted off the property without incident, but she was upset about some of her things still being in the house.

While I’m still on the phone with them, I get a barrage of texts from her.

Most of them are about her clothes, shoes, and a computer, but sprinkled in are the expected degradations calling me a brat, ungrateful, horrible child, and even a delightful message saying she wished she’d aborted me.

Rhodes clenches his jaw as I read them to him from the passenger seat and shakes his head, and it’s honestly the only appropriate response. There are no words for how low she’s willing to go.

“You don’t have to worry about her anymore,” he finally says when there’s a break in the phone dings. “Like Patsy told you, you have a tribe. You don’t need anything else. None of the garbage she’s saying has anything to do with you.”

He’s right. Those are her issues, not mine.

“I love you,” I say, holding his hand.

“I love you too.”

I can’t get enough of saying it. No matter how my anxiety spikes or what I’m worrying about, every time he says he loves me, a sense of calm washes over my body and spirit. Everything will be okay as long as I have him by my side.

When we get home, I pack all my mother’s things I can find and leave them in garbage bags by the mailbox. I text her to let her know they’re there, and Rhodes stands on the front porch watching her when she pulls up to make sure she doesn’t get further than the edge of the yard.

Once we’re sure my mother isn’t coming back, we check on the store.

Luckily, it doesn’t look like she so much as drove to Bonaventure Antiques, so that’s one less thing to worry about.

Rhodes goes online and orders security systems for both the house and the store in case she returns, but we end up not needing them.

My mother never comes back to Magnolia Row, and Rhodes and I pick up the pieces of my grandmother’s beautiful life and irreplaceable soul.

Slowly, we begin to make a new home for ourselves, and I start to envision the life my nana wanted for me all along.