Page 105 of Thornhill Road

In spite of everything they had going on, she planned on taking his princess to get her first pedicure in a couple of days.

Fuck, but he loved that woman.

He’d known since the moment he’d seen Tess take MK’s hand in her own, she was exactly the kind of mother-figure his daughter deserved to have in her life.

Tuesday they started packing up her townhouse. Winnie helped.

When he decided they were taking too long, Mustang rallied a couple of his brothers to help finish the job while Tess was at work on Wednesday. By Thursday, all her shit was in his garage. This meant his truck and his hog were in the driveway.

His hog didn’t belong in the driveway.

That morning, he’d told Tess she had a week to figure out what she wanted to keep and then the rest had to go.

It had been a hell of a few days, but it had all been worth the hassle.

They would settle. It would take some time, but they’d get there. Together.

That night, Winnie was at the house with Otto and MK. She planned on staying until he got home from the bar. Mustangwould take Otto home the next morning, after Tess made her banana pancakes for the kids before she crashed.

Mustang had been at the bar until about fifteen minutes ago. Business was still kicking their asses, and he hated to leave, but he had something to do. It wouldn’t take long.

As he waited for Tess to turn down Thornhill Road, he hoped she wasn’t running behind.

He hadn’t told her he was coming.

Five minutes later, he saw her headlights signaling her approach.

He didn’t move as she pulled into the driveway next to him, killed the engine, and stepped out of her car, patiently waiting for his moment.

“Hi, babe,” she said, surprise evident in her tone. “What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”

“Got somethin’ to say,” he muttered.

She took a step closer, eyeing him with curiosity. “Okay.”

“Not to you, baby.”

She gasped softly as he uncrossed his arms and stood upright, headed for the front door.

“Oh, my gosh. Uh—wait,” she stammered, hurrying after him. “Wait, I have a key.”

He stood out of her way, allowing her to free the locks.

“He might not be awake. It’s hit or miss lately, especially at night,” she warned him.

“I’m here now. If he’s asleep, we’ll wake his ass up.”

She knit her eyebrows together as she looked up at him, and he could tell she wasn’t thrilled by this idea. She nodded anyway before pushing open the door.

“Ed? Are you awake?” she called softly. “It’s Tess.”

“The pain is…”

Ed’s familiar yet aging voice trailed off when he saw Mustang enter the room behind Tess. For a moment, all he could do wasstare. Mustang took him in, the withering man on his deathbed, then glanced around the room. Tess always described the house as sad and empty. That’s exactly what it was, but Mustang wasn’t caught off guard by this. He knew the moment his mother died, the house was destined to be nothingbutsad and empty.

“Sully?”

Mustang looked back at the man who’d given him his eyes and got on with saying what he came to say.

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