She was about to walk out when her phone rang. Frowning, she checked it. “Oh, it’s Dad.” She didn’t turn her back on me when she answered. “Hello?”
I paced the room as she talked. Would she find a suitable rental? One that didn’t make me think of everything that could go wrong for a single mom? I was being unreasonable, but I didn’t care. She deserved the best.
“Yeah? Oh.” Her tone went flat. “Uh, yeah. He’s right here. I’ll ask him.”
I stopped and leaned against the bare wall where the crib would go.
She lowered the phone like she was going to cover it, then brought it back to her ear, her gaze holding mine. “Dad said his lawyer friend can help us out right after Thanksgiving. He’s taking a long Christmas holiday and will be out the rest of December.”
Divorce. Heat prickled the back of my neck. It’d be the middle of winter, and Clover would be growing bigger. Divorce. Living separately. Just what we both wanted. “Okay.”
“He can meet us early that Monday.”
I didn’t fly out for my investor meetings until January. I was free all of December. This should be a boon. I would be on my own for a month to refine my pitch. I could even take on smaller consulting projects that would show I was already greasing the wheels.
“Yeah, that’ll work.” My voice was raspy.
“Eight o’clock?” She gnawed on her bottom lip. “Dad says it’ll be a quick visit. Just some signatures.”
That was all that would be needed to end us. The back of my throat burned.
“Eight would be fine. I’ll let work know I’m coming in late that day.”
“Yeah, same.” I shrugged, but my shoulders were tight. “Perks of being my own boss, right?”
Our divorce was on the schedule.
Clover
* * *
There was no snow on the ground yet, but it was Thanksgiving morning. The date of the divorce was approaching at lightning speed. On Monday, I would be a single woman.
Van had movers all ready to go. Aunt Linda hadn’t been able to line up another renter thanks to the holidays. I tried not to think about when she would, or who would get to make that house their home. Who would have a nice, big garage attached to the house. A huge shop that would hold a sizable tractor to push snow and mow the lawn.
What couple would watch TV in the cozy living room and make meals with their spouse in the kitchen? Would they laugh about the squeaky cabinet and how no one could get away with sneaking snacks for long? Would they find the bin of freshly washed and dried Legos in the garage?
After we spent time building various pieces, mostly related to our hobbies, we’d dismantled everything and packed all the pieces back into the tote. Since we didn’t know which previous owners the Legos belonged to, we decided that what came with the place would stay with it for the next owners.
Would they know how lucky they were?
Van turned down Alder’s driveway. My siblings’ cars and pickups lined the drive.
“This is where you grew up?” he asked.
“Yep. Lily has Grandma Annie’s old place, and we used to go there a lot. After we moved to Billings, that was the house we partied in if we returned to Coal Haven. When we moved to Billings, I never would’ve thought that this would stay in the family, or that one of us would be back in it, raising our own kids.”
“Glad to be back?”
“Yeah. I am.” I wanted to experience this with Van. Next year, would he be willing to go to whatever brother or sister of mine hosted? Would he get on his own and realize Coal Haven wasn’t the place to be? That I was surrounded by family, and he was free to find somewhere else to live? “Thank you for coming.”
“I’m getting used to Duke family gatherings.”
I recalled each time—kickball, pumpkin harvest, and Halloween. “After only three?”
“Technically four if we count the wedding, but they made that much of an impression.” He wasn’t kidding. He tipped his head to the tote bag. “And I get to have cookie salad.”
“I left a container of it at home.”
