Page 13 of Legal

“One ten?” I asked.

“Yeah, but come earlier. We’re gonna start tailgating around eleven.”

Thursday would be tough cutting work short, but I made a pact to try and balance my life better and give fun a little more priority. It wasn’t always working so well. “I can’t guarantee when, but I’ll be there.”

Whenever Stephen got free tickets from work, they were in the luxury boxes, complete with all the free food and drink anyone could handle during the game, but they still brought coolers and grills to cook out beforehand. It was tradition, and I missed it. God, when was the last time I was even at a game? It was years ago with Daniel and Mike.

“Who’re they playing again?”

“The Cards.”

Frank placed a basket of fresh-baked bread down next to me. Divine. I wanted to snatch the whole thing and run.

“Perry, dear, will you help me a moment?”

“Coming, Mrs. B.” She jumped up, grinning at Stephen and me. “She called me dear. She loves me.”

As soon as Perry skipped over to help Mom, I glared at my brother, tapping my ring finger. Yes, my mother loved her; we all did. She was already considered family. Now it just needed to be official.

I sat close to him and whispered, “What is taking you so long?”

“Shhh… keep it down. Soon, promise.”

Once everything was on the table, we sat down for our weekly feast. I didn’t know where to start, but I grabbed a slice of bread while it was still hot and slathered on loads of butter. I was starving today for some reason. Earth-shattering, explosive orgasms must burn a lot of calories, because ho-hum ones certainly didn’t.

I stuffed a piece in my mouth, quivering from the memory. At least I was able to check toe-curling pleasure off my bucket list.

“Jillian,” my mom started, taking a sip of wine. “Perry said you met a nice, young man last night. Tell us all about him, dear.”

I sputtered, almost choking on my bread. Then I squinted at my target. She gave a half-smile and shrugged.

Fucking Perry.

“God, Mike, don’t you knock?”

I clutched my chest, prying myself off the ceiling. I’d never considered getting the locks changed before, but maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea.

“Sorry. Habit, I guess. It’s not like you weren’t expecting me.”

“That’s not the point.” We weren’t married anymore; he shouldn’t feel free to barge in whenever and scare the hell out of me.

I handed him a box. “There’s a few more over there”—I pointed to the stack on the floor—“all sports memorabilia. I think that’s it now.”

For the past couple weeks, I’d been cleaning out the basement and attic, making huge give-away and throw-away piles and depositing them all over the house. I was getting there, eventually. He’d taken everything when he moved out, save for his collectible crap.

“Did you want any of Daniel’s old school stuff?” I asked. There were tons of drawings and art projects and stuff I didn’t know what to do with, yet couldn’t get rid of.

“No, you can hold on to it for now. I don’t have the space.”

I nodded and did another peek around the room. I thought about asking him to show me how to fix the air since he was there. I didn’t need it at the moment; the temperature was much cooler at eighty-one, but it was supposed to hit the nineties again next week.

“You know, Jillian, I worry about you here all alone. It’s not safe.” I opened my mouth to disagree, but he lifted his hand. “Hear me out. I know I’ve said this before, but maybe you should think about selling. It wouldn’t take much effort for someone to break in. I can help you with a down payment if you need it.”

“I don’t need it, and as I’ve said before, I’m perfectly fine and happy here. I love this house, and it’s a good area. I have nothing to worry about. Besides, I want Daniel to have a familiar place whenever he comes home.”

I turned away from him and started tidying up my desk. “Jillian, we may no longer be together, but I’ll always still care.”

“I’m fine, Mike.” I wasn’t helpless, and I was big enough to take care of myself. Hell, I raised a child for sixteen years and did a damn good job at it too. And another thing, I didn’t need his guidance with the stupid air conditioner. I was more than capable of figuring it out myself.

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