Prologue
Maylee
Time has passed since Whitney and Clem discovered each other and began their relationship. After she divorced her husband, Whitney was free to find the authentic love that she rightly deserves. Because Clem has no issue with the world seeing his love for Whitney, I am filled with delight for her.
I cannot believe how lucky I have been to have found and have Myles and Oren in my life, and I must acknowledge that I am the luckiest I have ever been. I'm incredibly happy to have moved here, to live near Whitney, and to have a son whom I adore, and on top of all of that, he owns my heart. Oren is also my partner in crime, much to Myles' amusement. Well, most of the time he’s amused.
I had three months when I moved without working. I had taken my time to transition, and it was an excellent decision because it gave me breathing space I would not have had otherwise.
The fact that Myles and I quickly became romantic still surprises me because I’m usually standoffish with people, particularly with men in any kind of intimate way. Probably the fact that Clem is such a great guy opened the possibility that his brother was too. Oh, and the fact Oren makes it so easy to be with him, and consequently Myles.
My life is good. I have money in the bank, a home, a man, and a son. Living next door to my bestie, who is more a sister, and I have a job that I think I’m going to love. What more could I want!
Chapter 1
Maylee
Sipping my iced tea, I look out of the kitchen window and think about how far I have come, and in such a short space of time.
Whitney, my best friend and who I class as a sister, accepted her marriage was over. I agreed and handled her divorce, which was easy enough since Kyle, her ex-husband, didn’t fight for her.
I’ve never seen Whitney so happy, and she glows with it. She has taken on more work since she opened her own business. She still helps her old boss Gerald when he is stretched, but I can see that help becoming less as she is becoming more popular as people talk about how good she is at her job. Word of mouth is a powerful tool!
Christmas was great, the best one I have had in a long time. For the last few years, I’ve been on my own because Kyle didn’t like me much, and the feeling was mutual. Thisyear, however, I was here with Whitney and found Myles. We are still in the early throes of our relationship, but I threw all in, and I’m hoping for the best.
Oren is a dream. I just love him, and even if Myles and I don’t work out, I would never walk away from Oren. He loves so openly and with all his heart, only some evil person would throw that back at him, rather than return it with the wholehearted love he deserves.
Myles, I can’t help but think is my one. The man of my dreams, who will always stand by my side and no matter what happens he stands strong. How Myles has not been snapped up by some woman before now is a mystery.
It is the middle of January now, and I’m working at the local attorney’s office. Mr. Wallis is a good boss. He has placed me as the divorce lawyer everyone would need to see and has taken on another lawyer to cover any criminal law. He himself covers a multitude of law and has asked me to increase the amount I do with all family law, although divorce is my speciality.
I’m working after lunch with thankfully only one appointment. I’m wanting to settle into the job gently, and I had told Mr. Wallis that right before I agreed to sign the job contract.
Whitney is busy today as she has a new author who is a New York Times bestseller. It’s a job she took knowing it could lead to new opportunities.
I will leave her to her own devices today, and I will do a few chores before I have to go to work. Rinsing my glass from my iced tea, which I have to admit I enjoyed immensely, I pop it into the dishwasher and head for the laundry room. This is better known as the utility room as it doesn’t just have the washing machine and dryer, it has a sink, cabinets and all the cleaning equipment you could wish for.
My cell phone rings and picking it up from the counter where I’d placed it earlier, I see it’s a call from Oren’s school. Quickly taking the call, I speak clearly. “Hello, Maylee Ferndell speaking.”
“Hello, Miss Ferndell, this is Principal Glenshaw’s secretary speaking. We have a problem with Oren. Could you or his father come to the school?”
“Is Oren okay?” I quickly ask.
“He is fine, Miss Ferndell, but there has been an incident and we need someone to come to the school.”
Obviously, she is going to tell me nothing more, so I grit my teeth and respond. “Either I or his father will come immediately.” I don’t wait to hear anything else. I close out the call and place one to Myles.
“Hi, Maylee. Is everything okay?” Myles quickly asks.
“No. I’ve just had a call from the school regarding Oren. No idea why they contacted me rather than you, but one of us has to go to the school and see what the heck hashappened.” I step into the living room and check everything is tidy as I listen to Myles's response.
“Fuckin’ hell, I’ll go, Maylee, and if they are taking the piss like they did the last time I had to go to the school, I’ll give them hell.” Myles' tone is more than agitated. He sounds totally pissed.
“If you need me to go with you, I can. But I’m due at work for an appointment at two o’clock. I will need to leave the house an hour earlier so I can review any case notes.”
“I’ll go, and if I need you to come to the school, I'll give you a shout. See you later, Poppet.” Myles chuckles, and the silly pet names he keeps trying out have both him and me laughing. Poppet, I mean, really!
After the call ends I quickly head back to the laundry room and place the first load into the machine. I get two more piles of laundry ready as I’m doing these on a quick wash today.
