Time After Time (Sweetbriar Cove #14) - Melody Grace Page 0,90
I need a break.”
Matty shook his head at her jokes, then shot her a sideways glance. “But… You will be OK, won’t you? After I’m gone.”
“Are you kidding? I’ll have a great time,” she lied. “Half the dirty dishes, no more stinky laundry to do, nobody to fight with over the remote…”
“I’m serious.”
“I know, sweetie.” Stella sighed. “Of course I’ll miss you, and it’ll take some getting used to,” she admitted. “But we’ll video chat all the time, and I’ll come visit. Don’t worry about me,” she added quickly. “I’m sure I’ll find plenty of things to keep me busy. I have work, remember? And Lila has been begging me to babysit, so I’ll still have a kid to clean up after.”
“OK…” Matty didn’t seem convinced, but then he spotted something on the next aisle. “A mini-fridge! Can we?”
“Go ahead,” Stella said, giving his hair an affectionate ruffle. “Knock yourself out.”
They finished up their shopping, and drove back to town. Stella left Matty at the house, excitedly catching up with Bryce and Laurie about all his packing plans, and headed over to Alice’s.
“You should see him, he’s so excited,” she told her friend, over tea and cookies by the fire. “He’s literally counting down to leaving… And I’m still trying to wrap my head around him being gone.”
“Aww… I’m sorry. I can’t imagine what that must be like.” Alice gave her a sympathetic smile. “It feels like yesterday, he was just a little kid, refusing to take off his superhero cape.”
“Oh my god, the cape!” Stella exclaimed. “I had to wash it with him in the bath, the damn thing got so dirty!”
She swallowed back a pang. “I always knew he’d be grown up one day, I just didn’t realize it would be so soon.”
“But there are good things, right?” Alice gently reminded her. “You won’t be structuring your whole life around him anymore. You can put yourself first for a change.”
“What’s that like?” Stella asked, only half-kidding.
Alice smiled. “Well, you don’t have to pretend to eat nutritious dinners, and you can have date night any day of the week.”
Stella paused, feeling a familiar ache. With all the activity around Matty and boarding school, she’d been able to push her feelings about Aidan aside. But they were all still there, lurking just beneath the surface, and she had a sinking suspicion that once Matty had waved her goodbye, she would be forced to face the grief and loneliness all over again.
“Let’s not go there just yet,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I’m still figuring out how to navigate this whole trust fund thing. I got some more bills through, I wasn’t sure what to do with them.”
She pulled the envelopes to Alice, who gave them a quick look. “Oh, don’t worry, I can handle these.”
“Things are really adding up…” Stella said, uneasy. “Are you sure there’s enough in the account?”
Alice snorted. “There’s enough to put him through boarding school, college, and a PhD, if the kid wants, and still have enough left over for medical school.”
Stella exhaled. “And my parents won’t know? That I finally used it, I mean.”
Alice shook her head. “It doesn’t work that way. They don’t get statements, or any kind of accounting. The executor signs off that you’re using the funds for Matty’s care, but that’s it. For all they know, you could have drained it all years ago to move to the Bahamas –
for educational reasons,” she added with a grin.
“Now, you’re telling me that was an option?” Stella quipped, and Alice laughed.
“Sorry, I clearly failed in my duty as your lawyer.”
“No, you’ve been amazing. Thank you so much for your help.” Stella sighed. “I’m still not happy to be using the money, I always swore I wouldn’t take a penny from them but… It’s for Matty. What can I do? I’m kind of fond of the kid.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, I think you’re doing the right thing,” Alice said encouragingly. “This can be the start a whole new chapter in your lives. Not just him, but you, too.”
“I guess…” Stella said, still reluctant to think about her future – and just how empty it would be on her own.
“And about those date nights…” Alice leaned forwards in anticipation. “You and Noah seemed to hit it off the other night at the pub. Is there anything going on there?”
Stella blinked. “What? No!” She shook her head quickly. “He was just being a gentleman, walking me to my car.”