Page 11 of Untroubled Heart

West shakes his head. “No, but Lee mentioned you’ve got a newborn. Mason seemed unbothered as long as the work got done.”

“This almost sounds too good to be true.”

“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” Maevyn says with a self-assured nod. “You’ve got nothing to lose.”

A myriad of thoughts fly through my head. My maternity leave entitlements are coming to an end—that’s the main reason I’m going back to work now—but I’m also starting the legal process of separating Derek’s and my custody of Navie. My stress levels are even higher after the phone call with Cas. Mum’s depression can be unpredictable, so Cas and I have always tried to keep a spare account of funds just in case she can’t manage to get herself to work. Cas says she seems different, but this is also the longest Dad has ever ghosted her.

“Okay.” I nod, decision made. “I’d love to meet with him.”

“I’ll ask Lee for the details tomorrow so you can set something up.”

I round the bench so I can give my brother a hug. “Thank you.” I squeeze him tighter before I let go.

“Anytime.” He smiles, then gives Navie a kiss on her cheek before handing her back to me. “I gotta get to the centre, but I’ll text you Mason’s details when I have them.”

I walk Maevyn and West to the door, noticing it’s just past six. I’m surprised Navie hasn’t noticed she’s missed her usual bath time, with how attuned she is to her routine.

Once they’re gone we head upstairs to the second bathroom, Navie kicking her little feet as soon as she spots the bath. Carefully, I crouch down, put the plug in place, and turn on the water, adjusting the temperature until it’s just right. I get Navie undressed in her bedroom while the bath fills, taking my time to talk to her and nuzzle her tiny toes. My heart is so full just thinking of my daughter, but it’s overflowing with love when she looks up at me and smiles. I always imagined myself as a mum, though it happened a lot sooner than I expected. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to keep her safe and happy. She will never question how loved and wanted she is.

I bring her to my chest, bouncing her gently as we head back to the bathroom. Turning off the taps, I lower Navie into her bath seat. I let her splash around in the water first, filling up a small jug and pouring it over her belly, and she kicks and waves her hands around excitedly.

My phone chimes in my back pocket. With Navie content and strapped in, I dry my hands and check the notification.

An email from the lawyer’s office I contacted earlier is displayed on the screen. They finished reviewing the details around my request for full custody and have attached an outline of the fees and expectations for the proceedings.

Yep, I hope this Mason guy likes me, cos there are a lot of zeroes on that invoice.

Chapter six

I toss my finished iced matcha into the bin outside the doors before checking my reflection in the floor-to-ceiling windows. With a recentering breath, I smooth down the collar of my white shirt, then head inside the building of Two Hearts Homes.

I still haven’t heard from the handful of other places I applied to, so I’m grateful to Lee for putting my name forward with his friend. A woman with short auburn hair and black, thick-rimmed glasses looks up with an easy smile.

“Good morning,” she says. “How can I help you?”

“I’m Callie Moore. I’m here to see Mason Heart for a meeting.”

“Sure.” She nods, her smile growing even bigger, helping to relax my nerves. “I’ll just call up to his assistant, Steven, for someone to come down and meet you.”

“Okay.” I step aside while she makes the phone call, taking the opportunity to look around the space.

The walls are painted in a crisp, warm white. A tan leather sofa stretches across the wall beside the reception desk with large framed photos above it. One frame shows a concept board full of colours and materials. The next shows a coloured sketch of a kitchen and breakfast nook matching the mood from the first frame. And the final one shows a photo of the space come to life. It’s a series of the initial idea followed through to completion. Lee’s company does commercial construction, so a lot of the projects I saw were restaurants and bars. It’s so different seeing a home. Homes are personal. They’re a sanctuary to those who live there.

It’s not lost on me that while I may have wished I had a father who wanted me and a mother who saw herself and her children as enough, I still grew up in a home that was safe.

My days as a single parent may at times feel harder, but I still have support around me. I have my health. I have a roof over my head. Sometimes the simple things have the most value.

“Callie?”

“Yes?” I turn, finding a tall man walking towards me.

I can’t tell how old he is. Despite the perfectly styled silver hair and flecks of grey in his beard, his face looks like that of a thirty-year-old. He wears a pale pink button-up shirt and cream dress pants. A flash of orange peeks out from between the hem of his trousers and the top of his brown leather boots.

“I’m Steven,” he says, offering me his hand. This is the guy I spoke to the other day to set up the meeting, Mason’s current assistant.

I shake his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” He smiles and nods towards a hallway to the right of the reception desk. “Follow me.”