“We’re?” My dad frowned.
“Yes, we. Harper and Asher are moving in next weekend.”
“I see.” I couldn’t tell if hecouldsee—didn’t know if he was pleased with that information or mad about it, but either way—it didn’t matter. Harper and I were more steadfast than ever about it.
Raina and Nik were moving into Harper’s house in a week. In time…my father would understand the absolute mind fuck of finding out you had a kid, and the pain of knowing you’d missed out on their life up to a certain point. The drive to appreciate thenow.
That thought settled me more than any other, and I was able to get through the rest of the brunch with a smile on my face.
Harper
It was strange how little time it took to pack up four years of memories. By nine o’clock on Tuesday night, we’d managed to pack up everything upstairs and almost the entirety of the main floor, with the exception of the kitchen. That waswithkeeping to our regular schedules of school and work, because I hadn’t factored in a sudden move.
My mother didn’t understand the rush, but I hadn’t revealed the rush wasn’t to fulfill Calum’s desire to have us there, or mine to be with him. It wasn’t even for us. We knew we didn’t need two houses.
Asher moved about like an organized tornado, packing up his room faster than I could say “Nik’s moving in on Sunday.” He was ecstatic aboutallof the changes—moving in with Calandhaving his best friend move into this house.
I told Raina that the house could come fully furnished, but she shook her head and had said “that’s enough charity, thanks. We have furniture.” Only, I’d been inside their apartment before. I knew that Raina slept on the living room sofa and doesn’t have any bedroom furniture, so despite her refusal of more charity…we decided to leave my bedroom set. It was heavy anyway. Calum ordered her a new mattress, and it was scheduled to be delivered on Friday—the same day we rented the moving truck.
I hadn’t told her what we had planned because I realized she’d likely fight me on it. She was already feeling off balance about everything, but as soon as we found out she slept on the couch—it wasn’t even up for debate, for either of us.
“She’ll get used to it,” Calum assured me every time I worried that I was pushing her with too much too soon.
After brunch at his parents, we came back to start packing. We were eager to get it done as quickly as possible so that Raina and Nik could move in. Although she had given her landlord a chunk of money and the date of Sunday to be out, he wasn’t thrilled with her. He was not a warm, empathetic man. He saw dollar signs and resented the fact that Raina had fallen behind in rent payments one too many times. The sooner they got out of there, the better.
Calum was upstairs, tucking Asher into bed, and I’d been making our teas in the kitchen, staring around and mentally walking myself through my to-do list.
I’d decided to leave all of the appliances—the Keurig, the mixers and blenders. It was outlined in the rental agreement, along with the washer and dryer, the stove, the refrigerator, and the dishwasher. I’d wrangled that in under the guise of included appliances.
Although most of those things stayed, I still had to go through the cupboards and throw away expired stuff, and pack up the rest of the food. I had a regular work week ahead of me, which meant abusyweek ahead of me.
But, thanks to a hefty cheque that appeared a weekafter Calum spoke of its impending arrival, I could now afford to hire two full-time staff to manage the shop,if I wanted to. I could donate a large cheque of my own to the food bank to cover their community quota and more for the next several months.
Aside from putting seventy-five thousand dollars of it away in a registered education fund for Asher, I wasn’t making any sudden business decisions. There was enough to adjust to, as it was.
A large, warm hand slipped around my belly, another drawing the sweaty hairs sticking to the nape of my neck.
“What’s on your mind,Acushla?” Cal spoke into my ear, evoking goosebumps and other pleasant tingling feelings.
“Just going through the mental to-do list, thinking about how crazy all of this is—that kind of thing.” He chuckled at my response before his lips kissed and sucked the back of my neck.
“Mmm, I’m crazy about you,” he rumbled, my back vibrating against his chest, and pressed his thickening length against me. “Nothing has ever made more sense or felt more right to me than you.”
I laughed, turning to face him, and wrapped my arms around his back. His arms wrapped around me, drawing me close. “I guess you make a lot of sense too. Now, anyway.” I sighed.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m so sore and so exhausted,” I admitted, my body aching from packing and cleaning, and from the active nightlife we’d had recently. I rested my head against his hard pec, drawing in the scent of him, and nestling closer.
“Why don’t I draw you a bath?”
“I just made a tea,” I pointed out, tilting my head toward the counter, where two mugs were steeping.
“So?” He released me, stepping around me to finish making them. He poured a dash of cream in one mug, just like I liked it, and placed the creamer back in the refrigerator. He picked up the teas, handing me mine, and gestured to the stairs by inclining his head. “After you, my lady.”
I went ahead of him while he made a quick stop off in the living room, grabbing the paperback I hadn’t had a chance to open, before following me up the stairs. Asher was snoring, but we still tip-toed quietly into the bathroom, slipping inside it and closing the door.
He set the paperback and his tea down on the counter before moving to the tub to turn the tap on. He adjusted the temperature so it was perfect, then opened the almost empty cabinet beneath the sink, pulling a large glass bottle of bubble bath.
