Page 89 of This

All of me hurts. My head, my heart, my soul.

I spend the night with every blanket Maggie ever knitted piled on top of me. In the morning, I load my boxes into my car along with George’s, and then, even though it’s freezing, I take one last walk to the river. I stop at my favorite rock, feeling along the cable of my bracelet to the medallion. TheSeekhas started to wear off like the other side. I’m surprised it’s lasted this long, considering the shape it was in when I bought it. I rub my finger over the word one more time before I unhook the latch holding it on and throw it into the water.

I watch it float down the river, knowing I’m done looking. No blues or grays or crazy clown hair pulling me in every direction. I know where I want to go. Where I’m supposed to be.

“Come here,”he says, and it’s time I listen.

Time I go home.

And most importantly, it’s time I stay there.

Dane

“And you’re sure?”

Liam has asked the same question a dozen times in the last few minutes. Every time he turns the page or signs his name, he pauses and peers at me over his glasses.

“If I were going to change my mind, it would have happened at some point in the past few months. Not while you’re signing the papers.”

He nods. Again. Then he swipes the pen across the last signature line and tosses it down. “Done. You can’t take it back now. I own the house.”

As relieved as he looks, it doesn’t compare to what’s washing over me right now. Step one of unburying myself from the mess of a life other people have left me in is finished. The Revenge House is now Liam and Keaton’s home, warm and filled with all the things it should have been from the start.

The only thing to do now is wait for the lawyer to draw up the paperwork to relinquish my claim to Masters Financial. I haven’t mentioned it to Liam yet, but an out was easier to find than expected. Based on the old man’s succession plan, my shares will pass to my eldest child involved in the company when I retire. Since I’m fresh out of offspring with a finance degree, it will go to the next eligible person within the family. At two years younger, that’s my cousin. I’ll turn over my half, and once Shane retires, Liam will inherit the rest to become sole owner.

What I’ll do after I officially have nowhere to liveandno job, I have no fucking clue. Who knows? With no one else to consider and no obligations to fulfill, maybe I’ll return to my meandering ways. Put on some music and drive until I forget everything from the past year and a half.

Until then, I’ll crash at the house with Liam and Keaton. I mean, after I let them live there rent-free, the least they can do is take in my vagrant ass for a couple of months.

Leaving the lawyer’s office, Liam checks his phone. I realize he’s not following me down the sidewalk and turn to see him stopped in front of the building. He stares at his screen, his expression irritated and bordering on pissed off. “What the fuck, woman?”

“Everything good?”

He glances up at me, shaking his head. “Just when you think there’s a break in the crazy…”

The way he trails off, I assume it has to do with Bennett. It always has to do with Bennett.

Before I figure out a nonchalant way to pry for details, he glances across the street at a boutique.

“Hey, I told Keaton I’d grab her one of those fizzy bath-explosion things that smell like chocolate or something. I’ll meet you back at the house.”

I almost offer to go with him. Then I remember I’m not the whipped one and head for my truck.

The two of them have been going through something lately—settling into marriage maybe, but it feels bigger. Keaton’s been staying at work late and bailing on their dinner plans. Even before the holidays, she was acting off. And Liam. Fucking Liam is a patient man, but I swear he’s one more,Hey, babe, I’m going out, away from losing his shit.

She’s avoiding me too. We’ve stopped spending time together and going to lunch so she can vent about Liam. I dismissed it as nothing at first. Busy schedules and distracted minds. But last week, when she realized we were at the house alone, she got up from the couch and walked straight out the door without a word. I didn’t see her again until hours after Liam came back from the gym.

I’ve known the woman long enough to know she would never screw around on him, but I’ll admit, I’ve been tempted to follow her. Do everyone a solid and solve the mystery surrounding her disappearances and odd behavior.

When I get back to the house, she’s in the kitchen. She’s flipping through a magazine at the counter, propped on her elbows. Our new normal involves a nonverbal exchange, so I give her a tight-lipped smile on my way through, but Keaton surprises the hell out of me with a full grin in response.

“Hey,” she says, her tone light. “I left your mail over there.”

“Thanks.” I grab the envelopes and lean back beside her to sort through them. “You’re a homeowner, by the way.”

She beams even brighter. “Does that mean I can kick you out whenever I want?”

Glad she seems back to herself, I smile and bump her with my shoulder. “Sure, but you’ll have to deal with Liam screaming when he finds a spider in the shower.”

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