I owe too much to Leyla, and the least I can do is give her the time she requested.
Even though Mom is trying to find a way to get rid of the stipulations, Nyx and I spend one hour a day studying the will. She can recite it by now, and if anything fails, she already has a few ideas on how to tweak it so we aren’t stranded in Baker’s Creek forever.
For so long I stayed away from my brothers, and now I’m on the phone at least three times a day with Hayes and a couple more with Henry. If I quit the firm, I won’t be retiring. They’ll have plenty of work for me, and I can handle all the legal parts of our father’s assets. Well, maybe just Henry will. Hayes only needs me to help him sell his practice in San Francisco and buy the one in Baker’s Creek. He’s not only trying to win Blaire back, but he’s moving his entire life to Oregon.
At first, Hayes’s radical change seems like a frivolous idea. A little unorthodox and extreme to say the least. However, as the days pass and I spend more time focusing on cases outside the firm, I realize that my older brother is onto something important. The life I’ve been leading is depressing. Moving out isn’t about getting the divorce but putting some distance between my toxic family and myself.
It’s because of them that I lost Leyla. The woman I avoid seeing but text daily, reminding her that she has to sign the divorce papers. If she comes to visit the kids, I don’t know. After our last fight, I turned off the security cameras and the alarm system. Their primary purpose was to keep her safe when she lived with me. Once she left, they became a way to spy on her when she was visiting the kids.
These days, unless I happen to come into the house and I spot her car, I don’t know her whereabouts.
It’s been two weeks and a few days since the last time I saw her. Every morning, I sound like an alcoholic in the middle of a meeting counting how many days have passed since I’ve seen her and feeling like I’m dying because I miss her so fucking much.
It’s not just the sex but her presence—everything. It’ll get better once I’m living a couple of states away from her.
When Hayes sends me a message that according to his GPS he should be here shortly, I go out to check if the gate is open. I notice her outside playing with the dogs. In our last text exchange, I blamed her for not letting me go and be happy. I regretted it right away and waited for her to lash out, but she didn’t.
It’s infuriating to handle her vicious comebacks, but it hurts me when she goes radio silent. That’s when I feel as if I’ve lost another piece of her forever.
I have almost nothing left.
Now that I’m leaving, who is going to take care of her?
I have no idea what is going to happen with the kids. Should I take them? The barn is ready for them, but she needs them with her, doesn’t she?
Would she sign today and accept to move back into the house so she can be close to them? Probably not. She might just commute to see them. She doesn’t think about her safety, though. I have a week and a few days to find a way to get her to sign and figure out our kids’ future.
Maybe I can finally convince her to do it today. I go inside the house and print yet another copy of the divorce papers, sign it, and leave it on top of the coffee table.
When I come back out, I realize she’s close to Hayes, which is weird because she avoids strangers. She studies him and finally says, “It is true. There are more like him around the world.”
“Hayes Aldridge,” he introduces himself.
She tells him that we could be twins. There’s an edge to her voice, and I interrupt them before she confuses him with me and claws him with her words. I clear my throat and lie as I tell Leyla, “I didn’t know you were here.”
“I was just about to leave,” she answers, barely acknowledging me, and I hate the thickness in her voice.
What the fuck did I do to her now?
Ignore her and just get this over with.
“The papers are