Page 96 of Wild Hearts

"Yeah, I guess I am." My heart was beating faster, but I wasn't sure why. This felt like a monumental decision.

"Only you can answer that." Addison's tone was quieter than before. "I can't really help you."

I ran my hand through my hair. It was such a mind twister. My home was in Colorado, but I could move. I was used to moving with the military. What was one more change? Except I liked our cabin and the proximity to my family. But was I hurting Dakota by taking her from her friends and grandparents?

"I'm going out with my sister for drinks. I'll talk to you later?" Addison asked.

I was hoping we could talk for longer, but I wouldn't keep her. "Sure."

We hung up, and I felt more alone than ever. I wasn't sure what to do in this situation. There was no right answer.

I'd need to ask Dakota what she wanted. It was her life that stood to change drastically.

In the morning, I dropped Dakota off at her grandparents. They said I didn't need to come back until dinner, where they'd be serving us again. It was hard to let Dakota go, but right before I turned to leave, she hugged me and whispered, "I'll be fine."

I squeezed her tight. "Have fun."

She smiled. "I will."

Then I had the whole day to myself. I drove past her old school and her mother's home. Her grandparents had been handling the estate, but I'd scheduled an appointment this morning to meet with the attorney.

He immediately took me into a conference room. "I'm so glad you could meet with me while you're here."

"I wanted to tie up any lose ends."

"Her mother left everything to Dakota. The majority of the estate is wrapped in her home. Blanche and Dennis have been handling the sale of the house, but you might want to go through things and see if there's anything Dakota might want. She'll receive the proceeds from the sale of the house. You'll want to put that somewhere for her, whether it's in a trust or other custodial account."

"I can do that. Did the grandparents get anything in the will?"

"She left them a few personal effects, but the bulk of the estate goes to Dakota. When Tammy knew it was terminal, she wanted to provide for her daughter."

"Okay." I was glad that I'd come to the appointment. I had afew things I could do. I took the keys for the house and headed straight there, after picking up packaging tape and boxes just in case I needed them. I'd pack up whatever I thought Dakota would want or need. She could go through them whenever she was ready.

The house was tidy because it was for sale. There wasn't anything left in Dakota's room. Her grandparents had already shipped a bunch of boxes to us.

After I was satisfied there wasn't anything left for Dakota, I went to the hotel to wait for dinner.

I was anxious to get home and see Addison. I knew her sister was in town and didn't want to interrupt their time together.

Instead, I went to the hotel gym and worked out until I was sore. Then I showered and headed over to Dakota's grandparents' house.

There were bags of items by the front door. I wondered if they liked to buy things for Dakota. When I saw Dakota, I asked, "How was it?"

"It was fun."

"Good."

Blanche smiled. "We hope you'll be able to visit more, and maybe we could come to Telluride."

"That would be fine. Just call me ahead of time so we can arrange it around Dakota's schedule."

After that, the evening was relaxed and jovial. I didn't get the sense that her grandparents wanted to do anything official with the courts. That was just my anxiety taking over. If they did something like that down the road, I'd handle it. But for now, this arrangement was fine.

When Dakota went to the bathroom after dinner, I said, "I went to her mother's house, but I didn't see anything that she might want."

"I put aside everything Tammy wanted her to have. Wetalked about it at the end. Some of the things she wanted us to wait to give her until her death wasn't so fresh,” Blanche said.

Dennis nodded. "And I can give you the Realtor's information so that once the house is sold, you can handle the transfer of money to an account for Dakota. Tammy wanted her to have something for college."

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