I begin to hear my angry heartbeat in my ears as I trail behind.
Calm down . . . calm down . . . calm down. You’re just stressed; calm the fuck down.
The house is huge and set on a large plot of land in a leafy suburb about twenty minutes out of New York. Michael begins his sales pitch. “This is the foyer.”
It’s about the size of our current living room and has a grand sweeping staircase that splits into two near the top level.
Tristan smiles and takes my hand excitedly. “I’ll show them around, Michael,” he says.
My eyes flick to him in question. What? He’s been here before?
How long has he been looking for a house on the sly? I begin to fume inside.
“Of course.” Michael smiles. “I’ll wait outside.”
Michael disappears out the front door, and Tristan smiles proudly. “Pretty sweet, right?”
“Hmm,” I reply as I look around.
“Out here is the kitchen.” We walk through to a large kitchen, and I roll my lips in annoyance. “Wiz and I could cook up a storm,” he says. Harry’s eyes widen in excitement.
I hate it.
Wade has never lived here; his memories are in our current house.
I don’t want new ones without him.
I don’t want to erase everything that he stood for. Why doesn’t Tristan get that?
My pulse begins to throb in my temples, and I feel like I’m about to explode.
I am now seeing red. I can’t deal with this.
“This is the living area,” he gushes.
The boys run to the back windows. “Oh my God, look at the pool,” Patrick cries.
“It has a pool bar, Mom,” Fletcher gasps.
“You’re not old enough to drink,” I snap.
“And look,” Tristan says as he leads me through the house excitedly. “This could be your office.” We peer into a room. It has a large window seat and looks out onto a leafy veranda. “And this could be my office, next door.” He shows me into the office. “There’s a bathroom down here. A second living area for the boys. A gymnasium.”
The boys run through the house in excitement.
Fury begins to burn a hole in my stomach.
How dare he?
He leads me upstairs and down the hall. “Look at the master suite, Claire.” He pulls me into the room, and I look around as I try to hold my sarcastic tongue.
It’s beautiful and the size of half my current house.
“And the bathroom.” He smiles excitedly. I peer in, and it has a huge white-marble bath like I’ve always fantasized about. “Look at the size of your closet, babe.”
Something snaps deep inside of me. “It’s not my closet, Tristan,” I bark.
He pulls me into his arms. “But you like it . . . right?” I look around as I search for something nonbitchy to say.
I’ve got nothing.
The boys all scream in excitement as they look at the rest of the upstairs.
“I’m having this room,” Harry cries.
“I want this one!” Patrick yells.
“I can see the pool from mine.”
Tristan’s eyes search mine. “What do you think?”
“About what?” I snap.
“Do you like it? I think I’ll make an offer today.”
“An offer for what?”
“To buy it for us to live in—what else?”
I screw up my face at his presumption. “I don’t want to live here.”
“Why not?” His face falls. “It’s close to the boys’ new school. You, Fletch, and I all work in New York. There’s a yard for Muff and Woofy.” He smiles as he pulls me into his arms again. “It’s perfect for us.”
“I’m not moving, Tristan,” I insist. “I want to live in the house we are in.”
“Claire,” he says flatly, and I know he’s about to give me his hard-core sales pitch. I can already tell he’s made up his mind on this house, and when Tristan Miles decides he wants something, he doesn’t give up until he gets it.
I’m shutting this down right now.
“I’m not moving,” I snap. “End of story.” I pull away from him and storm downstairs and out to the car.
“How was it?” Michael smiles as I walk out onto the street.
“Lovely,” I reply.
“Can you see yourself living here?” He winks.
I glare at him as the last of my patience dissipates. “No. I can’t, actually.”
I get into the car and slam the door, and ten minutes later Tristan and the boys amble out of the house. I watch as he talks to Michael as the boys all listen, and then finally they get into the car.
The boys are all excited and talking about everything they have