Page 93 of You Saw the Best In Me

She was right. This place isn’t her home.

It’s a spare bedroom for when I act like an asshole, something I haven’t done since we’ve been together.

“You won’t be alone. I’m not going anywhere. If you become Harper’s legal guardian, I will help you every step of the way. You’re my family. You’re my home, Mav. Anywhere you are is where I belong,” Karina sits beside me, and I feel complete with her by my side.

Last night was wrong. All wrong.

She’s my other half at this point, and I’m lucky she put up with my little outburst.

“That’s a lot for me to ask of you,” I shake my head, but she counters quickly.

“You’re not asking, and that’s what all-in means. Let’s save this what-if conversation for the day we need to have it,” she smiles, pulling me off the couch and into the bedroom.

“Baby girl, I need to get Harper to school,” I say, but she’s got a death grip on me.

“I will take Harp to school. I have the day off, now get your ass in that bed,” she pushes me, and I could never say no to her.

After a quick round of morning sex and a shower with Karina, I’m heading to work.

I trust her to get Harper to school, and she also agreed to pick her up after and take her to visit Grams if the doctors say it’s okay.

I regret every single second yesterday when I forced her away from me. Karina is fucking incredible, and we promised to be there for each other.

She kept her promise, but when shit got hard, I failed. I retreated and tried to run away.

Never again.

I will hold her hand and face the world with the toughest soldier by my side.

I got the call before lunch. Per my request, the doctors took Grams off oxygen the night before, and she passed away peacefully in her sleep.

Last night, I went to see her, and they said she was in pain from the punctured lung. I cried and promised her I’d care for Harper if she went peacefully.

For once, the old bat listened to me, and she went peacefully, but at the same time, I’m the last one left. The only adult in our family lineage.

It’s not even lunchtime, my grandmother is dead, and I’m now the head of the family.

The family that consists of harper and I. We’re the last two remaining, and I intend to keep us as strong as possible.

I won’t be like Grams was. Harper won’t ever have to question if I’m on her side, or my commitment to her. That’s a fact.

Grams and I had a very complex and challenging relationship. She was a bitter old woman who hated that she had to settle back down after her retirement, and I was a teenager who was traumatized from the life I was forced to live.

Our frustrations co-existed. We blamed each other for the direction our lives turned to.

My next step is to meet with a lawyer to discuss her will, someone she’d already appointed when my mother died years ago.

I was unaware of this, so I’m terrified of what will happen with Harper.

In my mother’s will, she left custody to Grams. If she didn’t have the same provisions, I may have a fight ahead of me.

“Maverick!” Adam calls from across the yard, and fuck if this isn’t the worst time for a one-on-one with my boss.

“Yeah, boss, what's up?” I say, not moving to where he’s smoking.

“You grew up in Forest Falls?” he asks, not the conversation I expected to have.

“Yeah. Why?” I say, walking toward my truck.