He and Liam took care of raking the leaves in the yard oneSunday while I stood in the window sipping tea and watched father and sonworking side by side, doing something mundane and normal, feeling my fluffycloud of happy goodness shroud me.
I sometimes had to work late and loved the fact that I had afamily text string where I’d tap in that info and send it to my boys so they’dknow where I was and when I’d be home.
And Darius never said a word about me arriving an hour ortwo after I normally did.He knew I loved my work.He also warned me that Leewas keeping him on jobs where his work hours were normal so we could all settlein.But eventually, his hours could be anything.
I encouraged him to tell Lee he could remove those barriers.Because Darius also loved his job.And although it was very clear that teamwould move mountains to give one member what he needed (because, from what I’dheard, they’d done a lot of that in their time together), I got how Dariusdidn’t want to be someone who would slack.
But the bottom line was, my life had changed significantly,and it wasn’t just that I came home to a different house and slept every nightbeside the man of my dreams.
It was because I’d discovered Mister Morris lived on in hisson.And the way Darius was guiding Liam, he’d live on in his grandson.
This meant I had time to bake my molasses cookies, justbecause.
I had time to curl in the club chair in the study and read,because I didn’t have groceries to buy or bathrooms to clean or bills to pay.
After a sweater of mine turned up four sizes smaller than itused to be, I firmly set the boundaries around laundry.But I’d long sincetaught Liam how to do his own.It was just Darius who needed to stay well awayfrom the laundry room.So that was my only big job.
I didn’t just have the family I always wanted.I had apartner who more than shouldered his share of life’s burdens.
I was living the dream.
The only gray edge on the silver lining of the cloud Iresided in was the fact that I hadn’t found the time to share with Darius thatI knew who was the likely suspect that told someone about me and Liam.
Or, more to the point, I hadn’t figured outhowIwas going to tell him.
That and the fact Miss Dorothea and Mom were goinghead-to-head about who was going to host Thanksgiving this year.
I had a feeling Miss Dorothea was going to win.Danni andGabby were now kitting out the last bedroom in our house.This was becauseeveryone on Darius’s side was descending on Denver, mostly to meet Liam andlook me over, and we were going to have a full house.
“You told me you had this covered!”
I jumped when I heard these words shouted somewhere in theoffice.I glanced at my two colleagues, then looked over my shoulder throughthe wall of windows into the bustle of the office, across from which, throughanother wall of windows, Carrie, the junior associate Jeffrey (it was now in nodoubt) was sleeping with was shoving Jeffrey in the chest.
“Easy for you!” she screeched.“But shit likethis can derail my whole fucking career!”
She probably should have thought of that before she climbedinto a partner’s bed and fucked over his wife.
With that, she flounced out of his office, slamming the doorbehind her.
I kept staring, because, Lord, I couldn’t help it.That wasascene.
Everyone in the office was staring.
But Jeffrey was glowering at the door.
Until his eyes moved to the window.I could see from all theway across the office his face was red, probably with anger and embarrassment,but unfortunately, as his eyes scanned the space, they eventually locked on me.
Oh hell.
I didn’t know what to do, but turning my head quickly like Iwas guilty of something I didn’t think was smart.So I held his gaze for abeat, before shifting my attention back to my work.
“We knewthatwas gonna happen,” Samantha, one ofthe other two paralegals in the conference room with me, said under her breath.
“Fuck around and find out,” Robin, the other paralegal,replied.
“Literally,” Samantha added.
The door opened and we all looked that way.
