Page 69 of A Beta Protects

Pack up an entire house in two hours? That sounds like wishful thinking to me. But then again, they can turn into wolves and heal bullet wounds in under an hour, so maybe it’s not wishful thinking at all.

I fish my car keys from my pocket and pull the keys from my childhood home from the keyring. “Here. I’d like to take everything but the furniture. Whoever buys the house can get it as part of the sale. Oh, and Aaron’s Ford Mustang. I want to take that.” I look at Dom. “Are you sure it’s okay?—”

“It’s fine. We have a couple more outbuildings. We can store stuff until you decide what you want to do with it. But I have some ideas.”

“You do?” I eye him curiously.

He kisses me. “I do.”

We’d talked about what I wanted to bring from Missouri on the long drive from Wylder. Dom said it was okay for me to bring all my parents' furniture, but like the house, I think it’s time I let it go.

Aaron lived there between deployments, but it stopped feeling like home to me when my parents died. When I lost Aaron as well, the house just became a reminder of everything I lost, that I wasn’t ready—or willing—to let go of.

It’s time to let go of the past and step into the future.

Dom, being the amazing man he is, encouraged me to call the pawnshop in Chicago where I’d pawned my dad’s watch, even though I told him they’d likely already sold the watch.

They hadn’t sold it.

So, on our way to Palmerston, we made a brief detour in Chicago, where Dom refused to let me buy back my dad’s watch. He bought it for me. It’s in the glove compartment of his car, and I don’t think I could love Dom any more than I already do. Knowing Dom, he will do something, or say something that will make me love him even more.

Packing my life in Missouri goes fast.

Twenty minutes later, I’ve filled a box with the precious few items that I want to take with me. Mostly mementos from school, jewelry I inherited from my parents, and a few of Aaron’s things.

I’ll organize a house clearance service, donate everything else, and the furniture can stay for whoever buys the house. If Bryce’s dad wants anything, he’s welcome to take it.

By the time I’ve finished gathering the few belongings I want, and Dom and I drive over to my childhood home, they’ve packed up the bedrooms, the den, the kitchen, and are busy in the garage boxing up Aaron’s tools.

Galen said they’d be done in under two hours. I hadn’t believed him, and I was right not to. It looks like they don’t need longer than an hour.

I stand there, jaw hanging open as they make quick work of packing.

Since I’d only get in the way, and Dom refuses to let me lift anything heavy in case I hurt my back, we stand in the front yard ‘supervising.’ It feels like a lazy way of doing nothing.

Some neighbors come over to share their condolences about Bryce. They must know things were over between us when I didn’t go to his funeral, and none of them seem surprised that I’m not wearing my wedding ring.

Maybe they knew Bryce wasn’t a good husband, or maybe they didn’t. I no longer care. I just want to leave this place behind me and move on.

“You’re sure about selling?” Dom asks later when we’re on the road with two packed U-Haul trucks driven by his packmates behind us. “If you wanted to keep your parents' house, we could get someone to watch the place for you so you don’t have to come back here.”

“How did you know I didn’t want to come back?” I ask, dryly.

He takes my hand and squeezes it. “I could tell.”

Anyone could have. I was in Dom’s car, pushing to leave the second the last U-Haul door slammed shut.

As we leave my small hometown behind us, I glance in the rearview mirror and shake my head. “It’s time to start over. It was home, but it hasn’t been home for a long time. When all the people I love died, it became a cage.”

He presses a kiss on my knuckles. “Then I’ll help you sell it.”

I sigh, not looking forward to all the paperwork I have soon coming my way with the sale of two houses, and a divorce that I no longer need. Bryce’s death means I’m a widow instead of a divorcée. At least, according to the courts. I stopped being Bryce’s wife when I left him.

“I have a question,” Dom says.

“Yeah?” I turn to face him.

“When you were a kid, did you have any pets?”

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