“I love oatmeal!” Lawson yelled back.
I laughed. “Of course you do, Oats. It’ll be ready in a little bit.”
“Can I get toast with it,” Lawson asked as he came over.
“Yup, want to put it in the toaster for me?”
He brightened at the task I gave him, and we worked together to get breakfast served. They ate the food quickly as I looked through my schedule. My day was packed, and already I wanted to climb into bed. Maybe I needed to take a personal day. Would my boss even like that? I snorted at my own silly joke. My boss was awesome; she let me do whatever the hell I wanted. Of course, if I did that, my clients wouldn’t be so happy. As soon as I dropped the munchkins off at school, I had to meet with a couple of clients. Then the twins had their first karate class tonight.
“Okay, I can do this,” I whispered. I changed quickly, pulling on a white shirt and pairing it with a gray sweater. My skirts all demanded my attention today, and it took a moment to settle on a pale yellow one with stars threaded into it. I wanted a little sparkle for today.
I checked my face and winced. I was only joking when I said the ground punched my face, but that was what it looked like. Small bruising ran along my cheekbone around the cut. That was going to get some questions. After digging out some bruising gel, I gently rubbed it into the area. It’d have to do.
“Ready?” I called out.
“Ready!” they replied. I could hear their feet thumping against the floor as they ran to the doorway to get their shoes on. I slipped on black heeled boots before meeting them at the front.
“Homework check,” I said.
“Got it!” they both responded.
“Then off we go!”
~*~
The day flew by after I drop off the twins, and I hated every second of it.
“What do you mean you no longer need my services?” I asked a client. He was an older man with dark eyes and black hair he kept dyed to hide his age.
“I’m sorry, Miss Daniels.” He shrugged, not really looking apologetic. “I just don’t need your services any longer.”
“Did you find someone else with better pricing? I’ve always said I have competitive prices and I’m willing to match or go lower.”
His lips thinned out as his brown eyes cooled. “As I said, I no longer wish to keep you on as my consultant. It has been a pleasure working with you, but I think it’s best if we separate. My needs have changed, and I found someone else who will be able to do what I need done.”
I bit the inside of my cheek hard as I gathered my things. “It has been a pleasure working with you, Mr. Zanders. If you find you need my services again, please feel free to reach out to me.”
“Have a good day, Miss Daniels.”
I winced. He had called me Maddie for the last four months that we worked together. It didn’t make sense for him to just drop me like that, but there wasn’t anything I could do either. If he didn’t want my services, then he had that right.
Holding in the huffing and puffing I wanted to do, I waited until I got into my car and then stared hard at my steering wheel. I hated it when I lost clients. They usually had good excuses, like moving to a different state, or no longer feeling like they needed a financial consultant, but Zanders gave me bullshit reasoning, which was no reason at all, and it smelled of conspiracy. Not that I was a conspiracy nut, but he was acting shady as hell.
My phone rang as I started my car, now with a little extra time to breathe in my schedule since my next appointment wasn’t for another hour and a half still.
“Hello, Laurie,” I answered with a smile.
“Hi, Maddie, I wanted to call to cancel our meeting today.”
I frowned at the phone. “Okay, that’s fine with me. Is everything all right?”
“Yes, yes, everything is fine.”
“Let me pull up my schedule so we can reschedule.”
“That’s the thing…” Her voice trailed off.
“Laurie?”
She sighed. “I’m sorry, Maddie. It has been a pleasure working with you, and you’ve helped with our financials so much.” My stomach dropped as she read me the break-up line. “Unfortunately, this is out of my hands. The board has decided that we will no longer need your services.”
“Did they give a reason why?” I asked.
She hesitated again, and I knew the next thing she was going to say was a big fat lie. “They decided they wish to hire someone to work in-house.”
If I could, I’d reach through the phone and… Well, I didn’t know what I’d do, but I’d do something. If anything, I just wanted to see the lies on her face instead of hearing it through a stupid phone. Their original plans meant I had about a year with them until they didn’t need me any longer.
“That’s fine. It’s been a pleasure working with you. I’ll be sure to send a final bill so we can clear everything up.”
“I really am sorry, Maddie.”
I tried to fill the tone of my voice with happiness as I said, “Don’t worry about it. These things happen, and it’s a risk I take working as a consultant. I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Have a good day, Laurie. And let your board know I’m always available if they need help. I also don’t mind coming in to help speed the new person up on everything if it’s needed.”
“Thank you for understanding.” She sounded so lost as she spoke.
“Have a good day.” I hung up after that, no longer wanting to hear the frustration in her voice.
I tapped at the steering wheel, trying to understand what happened. Two clients in one day. In the span of half an hour. That hurt. I wasn’t dying financially for them, and I’d learned to invest, but it was still a dent in my client list. Leaning back, I banged my head repeatedly against the headrest of the seat. Not what I wanted to add to my growing list of issues. Hopelessness twisted at my insides.
“Move,” I whispered to myself. “Keep moving. Or you’ll break and you can’t do that. Not yet. Not here. Keep moving, Maddie Daniels.”
It was hard, but my shaking hands managed to turn the key and I was able to pull out of the parking lot.
I got moving again, I swung by my apartment and logged in a couple hours of work, adjusting my schedule and making sure to send the final bills along with an official termination letter to be signed. As I did that, I got myself worked up.
Two clients in one day. That was unheard of. My other clients were still very much game, so I wasn’t worried, but not understanding completely why was driving me up a wall. I thought I was an easy person to work with, so it didn’t make sense for Mr. Zanders to drop me the way he did. He was a small start-up company with more funds than he knew what to do with, but as far as I knew, he wasn’t ready to expand outward with his employees.
Laurie’s company was understandable, but the way she sounded hesitant about the whole ordeal set my hair standing straight up. Something else was going on, but they weren’t going to tell me.
“Ugh.” I ran my hand through my hair, making a mess of my braids. Before leaving, I redid my hair, not wanting the twins to see a frazzled auntie. They didn’t need to worry about me or about my business. Okay, maybe part of it was that I didn’t want Dayton seeing me like that too. For some reason, I found myself wanting to look my best for him. I’d prefer if he didn’t see crazyzilla Maddie. She was not pretty.
By the time I got to the classroom, I felt more like myself again. Lawson and Lee were pouring all their attention over a huge picture book and when I got closer, I noticed it was a book showing different parts of the world. The two of them looked absolutely amazed as they flipped through it. They didn’t even notice that I was there to get them.
“They’ve been staring at it for the last half an hour,” Dayton said, coming to stand next to me as we stared at the two boys.
“Their mother used to tell them stories about all the places in the world she wanted to take them.”
“Did your family trave
l a lot growing up?” he asked curiously.
I shrugged, not really wanting to get into it. “She did.”
Dayton looked like he wanted more of an explanation, but I wasn’t in the mood to open up like that. I may have been sporting a massive crush on the hot teacher, but I didn’t know him well enough to bare my heart to him. He didn’t need to know about how when I moved in with Mandy, they’d left me behind as they did their family vacations. I was in charge of watching over the house while they traveled to Paris or Belgium or Ireland or even Japan. Mandy hated how I was left behind, and she advocated for me as much as she could, but Olivia didn’t want me anywhere near her if she could prevent it. My dad, well, he never cared. I was a dark stain in his life, and so he ignored me, hoping if he never looked at me, then all his mistakes in the past would go away.
When Dayton didn’t get the explanation he expected, he looked at me.
“What the heck happened to your face.” Dayton’s voice was dangerously low. “Who hit you?”
“What?” I asked.
His hand brushed against my cheek, and I winced. I had forgotten about that with everything going on in my noggin.
“Who did this?” he asked again, the anger seething underneath his words surprising me.
“No one,” I said, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze. I chuckled, unable to hide my embarrassment. “I lost to the playground.”
“What?”
I giggled at his confusion. “Lee wanted me to do one of those flips around a bar, and I failed. The ground made sure to stress the loss.”
Dayton seemed surprised and a little speechless. He finally laughed, looking away from me.
“Hey!” I hit his arm softly. “Not that funny.”
“Sorry. It kind of is.”
I glared at him, but it was ineffective. The dummy kept smiling. He’d get ahold of himself, but then he’d glance at me, and he’d grin again as he tried to hold in his laughter. He was such a kid.
“What do you have planned this weekend?” he finally asked after getting himself under control.
I turned to him with big eyes. “What?”
He chuckled. “There’s a fun Halloween event this weekend at the Newton Playground. They outfit it to match Halloween, and it’s like a mini fair for the children. It’s going on all weekend.”
“Really? That sounds fun. Is there pumpkin carving? Because if there isn’t, then they’re doing it wrong.”
He laughed, catching the twins’ attention. “There is pumpkin carving.”
“Then I’m there.”
“Sissy, when did you get here?” Lee asked as they got up. Lawson came over and tackled me, wrapping his arms around my waist. Lee, being the good child that he was, took the time to close the book and put it back on the shelf before joining his brother in showering me with hugs.
“I just got here a couple of minutes ago. You guys looked like you were having a blast.”
“Can we go see the pyramids?” Lawson asked. “I want to go to Egypt to see the pyramids.”
I wrinkled my nose. “But it’s so hot there. It’s like a hundred degrees.”
“Then we can go when it’s winter. The book said the best time to go was in December and January,” Lee answered.
I laughed and shook my head. “Maybe when you guys are older. It’ll give me time to save up.”
They cheered as they took off to collect their things.
“Maddie, are you okay?” Dayton asked.
“I’m fine, why?”
“You look exhausted.”
My eyes widened, and I leaned closer, getting a better look at his blue eyes. He returned my stare with a smile. When I was almost brushing his chest, I asked, “Are you a superhero? Do you have super sight?”
“No, but I have sisters, and I learned to see beyond the makeup.” His hand went up to my uninjured cheek, brushing against my skin. A shiver crawled down my spine at his intimate touch.
“Sisters?” I asked, trying to stay on track and not get lost in the way his fingers felt against my skin. Too soon. This kind of interest in someone else was way too soon. I was many things, but I’d never been the type to jump from one bed to another.
“Three older ones.”
Chuckling, I shook my head. “That should have been interesting.”
“Oh, definitely. They never gave me a break. We grew up on an apple orchard in Ipswich and helped out a lot. They ran me ragged.”
“So you ran to Boston to become a teacher? You didn’t run very far.”
His laugh was a chocolate bite filled with caramel. Smooth and sweet. My favorite. “I go back during the summer to help them get ready for the harvest season.”
“Apple orchard.” I moaned, thinking about biting into a good apple. “What is your orchard most known for?”
“Apple cider donuts.”
I hooked my arm through his and yanked him toward the door. “Kids!” I called out. “Dayton is taking us to an apple orchard.”
Dayton laughed hard, and I let him go as the twins joined us.
“Are we really going?” Lee asked. I felt a little bad for messing around because he looked way too hopeful.
Dayton saw my brief panic and leaned forward. “For sure, little man, just at a different time. Didn’t you tell me this morning about karate today?”
Lee’s expression lit up at the reminder. “Yeah, we get to learn how to beat up bad guys.”
“And we’ll keep Sissy safe,” Lawson agreed.
“Aw, you guys are so darn cute. Come on, let’s go learn how to protect the world from bad guys in capes. Say bye to your teacher.”
They did as I said and took the lead as we headed back out. There was a Kung Fu Tai Chi place nearby. While they specialized in Tai Chi and Kung Fu, they also taught classes in other areas, including boxing, MMA, and karate. I figured karate would be a safe start. As part of the plan to get the twins into healing and finding themselves, I’d been signing them up for different classes ranging from sports to music to the arts to see if they liked something or not. I managed to get one free session for tonight for them to try a karate class since they never had any experience with training and fighting, and I didn’t want to force them to commit to a class if they hated it.
Granted, they probably needed to take more than one class to be able to decide if they liked it or not. After the class, we were going to have a conversation if they didn’t like it.
When we walked into the building, they glanced around warily, and they stayed that way all through the class. I could see their misery as they tried out the moves and followed along with the instructor. I took a few pictures, trying my best to hold back my laughter. I wanted to feel bad for them, but they were just too adorable in their robe thingies and punching the air. Kenni was having as much of a blast as I was with all the pictures I sent her way.
Once the class wrapped up and they came back, they gave me the biggest puppy dog eyes ever and my weak heart melted.
“I’m guessing that’s a no?” I asked.
“No,” they said in unison.
“Okay, we won’t do another class,” I said. “Let’s go out to eat as a congratulations for surviving your one and only karate class. Who knows, maybe when you’re older?”
Lee looked thoughtful. “I don’t think so,” he said. “The idea of hurting others is scary.”
“Yeah, why do we have to hurt others.”
Holy moly, they were just too cute. I let out a little screech and pulled them tight to me. How did I end up so darn lucky with these two little men?
Chapter Eight
Olivia had decided to have us meet at a restaurant that the kids would never in a million years eat in. I’d be lucky to even find something they’d like. They were nervous and had been since the moment I reminded them they were having dinner with her. Lee wouldn’t stop playing with the tie around his neck. His skin was pale, and I kept thinking he was going to pass out.
It’d be the perfect excuse to get ou
t of having dinner, but not one I would ever want to use. I didn’t know what to expect from her, and that set me on edge. Knowing about the custody battle had put a whole new spin on this meal. Would she try to win them over with silly promises? Would she try to buy them, so to speak? She could. She could promise all the toys, all the vacations, everything they ever wanted. If she mentioned Disney, I wasn’t so sure I’d be able to ever win against that. She also had what I’d never be able to give the boys—Mandy. She’d have stories to tell of their mother’s childhood, and the boys would love her for that alone. They were desperate to know everything they could about Mandy, and I didn’t have anything before she was twenty. I had been sixteen when I’d finally met her, and by then, she was already an adult.
Lee tugged on his tie again, and I sighed, straightening it for the tenth time that night. We hadn’t even sat down yet and already he was this bad. If I could, I’d toss the tie out. It was a stupid thing to wear anyway.
But we were at the kind of restaurant where everyone was expected to dress their finest. I knew after dinner I’d have to bring them to either Tasty Burger or maybe Five Guys. Either way, I was going to owe them a big fat burger and more fries than could fit into their little stomachs.
A woman with a polite smile came over and motioned for us to follow her. “Your other party is already here,” she said.
“Of course.” Hiding my sarcasm was impossible, and the woman’s smile widened. She got me. Then again, if she already met Olivia and had to seat her, it wasn’t hard for her to understand. Olivia had never been kind to people she deemed the “help.” She never understood why I went out of my way to talk to them, and I never tried to explain it to her. She always had money. Me? I knew what it meant to be a working woman, needing to figure out how to scrape by from month to month, paycheck to paycheck. I had a lot of respect for those who had to work their butts off just to have a warm meal.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t where our differences stopped and that became more apparent when the bane of my existence came into view. Mandy was a near exact replica of Olivia Hansen. Dark hair, heart-shaped face, and light green eyes. Where Mandy’s eyes had been warm and welcoming, Olivia’s were cold and calculating. They even had the same nose. It hurt to see Olivia, especially with that uncanny resemblance. There was no doubt that the twins were related to the stepmonster, and my heart twisted at seeing the kind of woman Mandy would have grown to look like. Olivia aged well and was gorgeous. She knew it too.
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