Page 36 of Ashes of Us
Danica and Emilia, along with Heather and some of the teenagers, were in Cecil's mancave over the garage, putting his books in boxes, when they heard Amy screeching that they needed to leave. Danica moved to the window and opened it, watching as everyone ignored and walked around her, continuing to move boxes of tools and books out of the garage as if she didn't exist, something that pissed her off even more.
“You're all on my property illegally!” She squealed, red-faced and brandishing her hands wildly at them, even attempting to stop one of her nephews who was much bigger than her. He just stared her down silently, with a disgusted look on his face, until she meekly stepped aside, her face red and upset. “I'll call the cops!” she shouted again, trying to get someone to pay attention to her.
“Go ahead,” Cecil said calmly as he passed her, carrying a large drill press between him and one of his brothers. “It's still my legal residence, you haven't given me an eviction notice, so technically what you did was very illegal. I've invited them here to help me remove my things. And while the house and vehicles may be in your name, the garage and business are in mine, so if I want to remove my possessions, I'm within my legal right.” Lucy got out of the car and tried to sneak off to the house, but Jasper's cousin, Felix, saw her and began making low calls like he was heckling a baseball player.
“Hoooommmeeewrecker! Hey, Hooommmeeewrecker! What's the matter, afraid to face us?”
Emilia joined Danica at the window, watching in amazement as no one broke a stride, still moving boxes, but low calls of “Hoooommmmeewrecker!” were rising in sync. “Oh my god, this is beautiful.” She whispered as Lucy burst into tears and ran inside, Amy hot on her heels, still yelling that she was calling the cops. The calls didn't stop; they increasedin volume and became a chant as the men and women moved the boxes. Even when the police arrived thirty minutes later, they continued. Cecil explained his side of the story, and they spoke to Amy, telling her that Cecil had every right to collect his belongings and to have help with it. If she hadn't served him with a formal eviction notice, she had no right to remove his things, and she was lucky he wasn't pressing charges.
To Danica's petty indignation, they asked everyone to stop chanting, saying that while they understood the reasoning, it was considered harassment and Lucy had a right to feel safe in her home. Cecil asked that they stay, stating he felt his wife was delusional and he was concerned for his safety. After a conversation about why, they kind of rolled their eyes, but sat in their car in front of the house while they finished moving things out, and Cecil approached, handing them his keys to the house to give to Amy and saying with a tone of finality.
“Tell her I'm done.”
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Back at Danica's, she moved the Charger out of the garage, and they did a quick clean inside so they could store all of Cecil's belongings. Someone went to the store and came back with cases of beer, and someone else ordered pizza. Before Danica knew what was happening, she had a bunch of Jasper's relatives sitting in the backyard as they took a food and drink break before they got started unloading the vehicles. They were all in good spirits, laughing and joking about the “Homewrecker” chant and how ridiculous everything was, as Danica brought them up to speed on everything she could. It was late in the evening when everyone finally left, including Cecil, who was eager to go for a spin in the Charger. Danica promised to go with him the next day, transfer the title to his name, andhelp him get set up with his own insurance, as well as find him a divorce lawyer.
She sent a text to Alex, giving him a brief update on everything and explaining that she needed to be out until Monday, while also letting him know that the funeral was scheduled for Friday morning. Then she sent Maverick a text asking him to dig into Lucy some more, specifically her relationship with Jasper and her ex-husband, his response making her smile.
I'm already on it. Want to meet tomorrow, and I'll update you?
Yes, please.
Chapter Thirty: Looking into Lucy
Danica and Cecil were up early the next morning and were out the door by eight. The first stop was Danica and Jasper's insurance company. Now armed with the death certificate, accident report, and the report from Robin about Jasper's car being unfixable, she was able to start the claim process for the accident and discuss the details about what she needed to do and keep track of until the investigation was done and she was able to remove Jasper from the policy when the claim was finished, while Cecil sat with an agent and removed himself from his policy with Amy, obtaining his own policy for the Charger. Their next stop was the DMV, so Danica could transfer the registration to Cecil, and then the law firm she had retained when she was considering divorcing Jasper.
Since Cecil didn't want Amy to see the transactions regarding hiring the divorce lawyer, Danica paid the retainer to hire someone and initiate the process as soon as possible, including placing a freeze on their accounts so Amy couldn't drain their joint accounts or rack up credit card debt on the cards they had in both their names. On the drive home, heinsisted he would pay her back when things got sorted, but Danica wasn't too concerned about it, seeing it as a thank you for shining up his spine and standing up against his wife for her and Jasper and was telling him so when an idea struck her. “What are your plans for after all this is over?” She asked curiously. “I know you guys were planning to move into the senior’s village, is that something you still want to do?”
“Honestly? It was never what I wanted to do.” He admitted. “Amy wanted to move to Dedham because she wanted out of the city, and then she wanted to move to the senior’s village because she felt isolated by our location. I'm only fifty-nine, I'm in excellent health, and I wasn't ready to give everything up, but when Amy makes a decision, you either go along with her, or you're left behind.” He said it as if it were a foregone conclusion. Do what Amy wanted or suffer the consequences.
“So, what do you want to do?” Danica pressed, a little confused. Jasper had always made it seem like his parents were a team, discussing things and making decisions together, which is why he was so adamant about doing the same. Clearly, it was more like Amy made the decisions, and they presented a united front to Jasper and the rest of the family.
“I'm not ready to stop working.” He said after a moment of thought. “I'll be sixty later this year, but I'm in good health, mentally and physically, and Jasper and I agreed when we discussed you two taking over and rebranding the business that I would continue working with you guys as a part-time mechanic, not an owner.”
“Do you want our house?” It tumbled out of Danica before she let herself think about it. “It's in Jasper's name, but we had insurance on the mortgage, so it will be paid off when I submit his death certificate. I was thinking of selling it, but we couldwork out an accelerated rent-to-own plan if you're interested.” She knew he would never just let her gift him the house and garage and while she knew she could probably get close to a million dollars for their house and land, she knew he would never be able to afford a home in Boston on his own and that he wouldn't enjoy living in an apartment somewhere and working for someone else. There may be some issues with the city, as it is a residential area, if he wanted to open a new garage as a business, but if he wanted to do the occasional repair job under the table, it would be fine.
“Where are you going to go?” Cecil frowned, looking interested but a little concerned. “Because, and no offence intended, but I'm not sure we would work well living together long-term.”
Danica let out a soft chuckle. “No, probably not.” While Cecil and Jasper shared many similar personality traits, and she liked Cecil a lot, she was already annoyed by the mess he left in his wake, and it had only been one night. She wasn't a neat freak by any means, living with someone with ADHD made that impossible, but she liked things to be kept tidy. Finding Cecil's beard trimmings in the sink and his wet towel on the bathroom floor this morning, not to mention the stack of dirty dishes she had to put in the dishwasher when she woke up, had made her grumble to herself. It had taken her almost two years to get Jasper in the habit of picking up things, and she wasn't about to start training a sixty-year-old to do the same.
“I was planning to sell. There are just too many memories in our house, and I'm sad all the time when I'm home. Many of the renovations were made with Jasper's “out-of-sight, out-of-mind” attitude and sensory issues in mind. It is my home, but it was my home with him, and I just don't have it in me to change things or stay there.” She paused, debating whether she shouldsay the next part, then deciding to be honest about everything. “Besides, I hate being in the garage now.”
“Right.” He nodded slowly, verifying that Jasper had told him more about the fight than he admitted to Danica when she asked him what his parents had said about the handprint on his face. “It's something we can discuss after the funeral. In the meantime, if you don't mind me storing my things in your garage for now, I'll only be staying with you until Friday. Reggie has invited me to come stay with him and his family for a couple of weeks, so I'm leaving right after the burial.”
“I think that would be good for you.” Danica smiled and patted his arm as she pulled into the driveway. Amy never let him travel without her, so she felt that some time away from everything alone would be good for him. “Spend some time with your family that you don't see very much and figure out what you want going forward.”
“Yeah, my brother is going to meet us there, do some camping and fishing.” Danica could see he was excited and let him talk about their plans for a few minutes before gently reminding him she had an appointment and would be gone for the afternoon. He immediately got out of the car and promised to let her know if he went anywhere, so she would know if he would be home for dinner or not.
The drive to Maverick's office was quick, as it was also located in East Boston, just on the other side of the airport. She found a parking spot a couple of blocks away and hurried down the street. She hated being late, and Cecil and their errands had put her behind schedule. She knocked lightly on the door and pushed open, bending down to greet Watson, who came running when he saw it was her, tail wagging frantically. “Hello, Sweetie.” She smiled as he flopped down and rolled over, presenting his belly for scratches. “It's good to see you, too.”
“No one ever greets me that way.” Maverick appeared at the end of the hall, a mug of coffee in each hand, and a slight pout on his lips. “Even Toni greets him first when we go see her.” Danica turned her smile to him as she straightened up and accepted the coffee from him.
“Do you want your belly scratched too?” She teased as she took a sip and moved to sit on the couch, curling up in the corner. Despite not having a lot of interaction with him, Maverick had a way of making you feel comfortable in his presence, like you could tell him your deepest, darkest secrets and he wouldn't judge you for them.
“Sometimes.” Maverick grinned as he sat in the chair across from her. “How are you? David told me you were able to take Jasper off life support Monday night.” Danica nodded, holding her mug up and out of the way as Watson scrambled onto the couch next to her, nudging her elbow for more pets, which she happily gave him when he settled next to her.
“Yeah, we did. I'm good, I think. Relieved that that part is over, annoyed they were actually able to find sperm that wasn't completely degraded beyond use.” She scratched behind Watson's long ear absently as she thought about how she was feeling. “But Jasper's father showed up on my doorstep that night. He's left his wife and is now staying with me until the funeral on Friday, then going up north to stay with his nephew for a few weeks. So that's another win, I guess?”
