I roused myself from my reverie. What Ace and I had was years ago. We were two kids who thought we could make something last that wasn’t supposed to.
Wasn’t it?I jerked at the question my subconscious quickly shot back at me. But I shook it off as wishful thinking. I’d made my decision when I walked away. If nothing else, the look I saw the night before in Ace’s eyes spoke of the betrayal and hurt I’d left in my wake.
“C’mon, Aiden. Time to get up.”
I shook him a little in the bed beside me.
“Morning, Mama,” he croaked out while rubbing his eyes.
“Morning. We have to get showered and changed so we can have breakfast before meeting with the lawyer.”
Aiden yawned but didn’t protest. I watched him pull himself from the bed and drearily pad his way to the bathroom. His curly, silky, almost-black hair was mussed and growing back from his latest haircut.
When we got back to Philadelphia, I would have to make an appointment with his barber. The thought of returning to the city where we lived caused my stomach to fill with dread.
I’d lived there for over a decade, but with the recent loss of my job and with Aiden’s birth father resurfacing, I couldn’t say I was looking forward to getting back to the city.
That feeling of needing to rebuild my life started to overcome me. Even as I showered and changed, ate breakfast with Aiden, and drove over to the lawyer’s office in the heart of Harlington, the feeling remained with me.
By early morning, Aiden and I entered the office of Jason Wolcott, my grandmother’s estate attorney. I checked in with his receptionist and took a seat in the lobby. We were the only two people waiting since it was first thing in the morning. I hoped we could wrap all of this up quickly so I could book our return flight for the next day.
“Mama, why are we here?” Aiden asked.
“Remember I told you that my grandmother passed away last year?”
He nodded with his copper eyes wide.
I tried not to keep secrets from Aiden. Unfortunately, he understood death better than most children his age.
“Well, she left what’s called an inheritance, and we’re here to talk to the lawyer about it.”
Though, I wasn’t sure how this would help. I didn’t even know my grandmother had enough money to be put into a trust. Hopefully, it was enough to buy me some time to find a job and come up with a plan.
I left the part out that I hoped whatever my grandmother left, I could use it to pay off the man who threatened to tell Aiden’s birth father about him. That was one secret I had to keep from my son.
“Ms. Greyson?”
I stood after a male voice called my name.
“Mr. Wolcott,” I greeted, sticking out my hand.
“Pleasure to meet you. Of course, I wish it were under better circumstances,” the older man said.
“I’m Aiden.” He waved at the attorney.
“Nice to meet you, too.” He stepped to the side. “Please, let’s go to my office.”
A minute later, we entered Jason Wolcott’s office.
“Aiden, you can sit here and play with your tablet.” I pointed to the leather couch on the far end of the office while I took a seat in the chair directly across from Mr. Wolcott’s desk.
“Ms. Greyson, I’m glad you were finally able to make it down to Texas to meet in person.”
My smile dipped, but I tried to hold onto it. I didn’t bother telling this lawyer that, at this point, I had no other option but to meet with him. Any inheritance I might receive from my grandmother was my last-ditch effort to pay off the man blackmailing me in exchange for keeping Aiden’s birth father away from him.
“Yes, well, you know. The life of a single mother is always busy,” I told him. “I haven’t had the opportunity to take any time off until recently.”
He nodded. “I’m sure.” He opened a folder. “Let’s see here.” He glanced over whatever the form in his hand was.
