“Dad?” Geoff sat at the breakfast table as Heath put his breakfast down before him. In the last week, his father, Kathy, and Parker had made sure he’d had everything he needed. Except his mom. His mom was in the hospital and Geoff wanted her home. It was nice to know he wasn’t the only one. His dad wanted her home. He didn’t seem happy with her there. “What’s up, bud?” Geoff started in on the eggs and toast his dad gave him. “I know you said we’d wait for mom to come home to celebrate my birthday. Can we celebrate it and her coming home at the same time? I don’t want any party. His dad sat down beside him once he poured himself a coffee. Over breakfast, thoughts of his new life filled Geoff with curiosity. It looked so different from what he’d ever seen. The house his dad said was his new home looked larger than his school and he worried he might lose his way in it. “Well, if we kept it small, we could easily do that. Your mom can’t be g
“So, like a doctor. They spend a significant amount of time in school to learn their craft. His dad had fixated a conversation topic again. He hated anyone not understanding him. So, Geoff listened to him explaining something to him that made little sense now. Geoff doubted the usefulness of the information to him. But he’d listen because he’d learned how his dad thought and what he felt was important. Geoff wanted to be like him. Wasn’t he supposed to be like his father and grandfather? Rage consumed him as he dwelled on his father’s dissatisfaction with his grandparents. “Unfortunately, society frowns upon those who work in food service, waste disposal, and toilet cleaning roles. Yet, if they didn’t. Imagine the consequences for the world.” Geoff saw his dad deep in thought. Geoff empathized with his dad’s dissatisfaction and understood the pain of experiencing bulling. He ensured he didn’t reciprocate the same favor to someone who helped the family with task
“Then we deal with it. We fix or learn from mistakes. Otherwise, they might need to seek employment elsewhere. It’s not nice, but it sometimes happens. But that’s a matter for your mom or me to deal with. You never threaten to let someone go from their job. Their job isn’t something you should use to blackmail them with. Oh, and another thing. Never kiss the help. No matter how much you want to, or they ask you to. It’s wrong. If they choose you, they can’t work for us. It’s too easy for someone to see it as you’re taking advantage of your position, and it can look terrible in the eyes of the law. The person may manipulate the relationship to extort money or favors from you. Either way, it’s wrong and we don’t do it.” “Okay, so don’t kiss the cute maid cleaning your office. Got it.” Geoff made a gagging sound at the thought of kissing a girl. Heath laughed. He’d forgotten about that part of his life then. Girls were icky. Perhaps he had several years before nee
“Your mom specializes in cleaning and restoring things like ancient vases, paintings, books, and artifacts. We can’t buy these in just any store because the artists who created them died a long time ago. She tries her best to return them to the way they looked when they were new, but it’s hard to do. If someone who’s not trained tries to do it, they’ll probably ruin the item. That item might be the only piece of evidence proving something happened in history. So, we lose it’s historical or cultural importance when it’s gone. Your mom works on paintings, which the air, time, and dust darken, changing the colors within the painting. She’s the one who restores the paintings to their original appearance., she has people on staff who fix the damaged books they incur from time. Some old books need to be sewn or glued back together. If they used the wrong thread or glue, the book’s value would fall. Bugs, water, and other issues plague everything. Your mom can assess whether some
Ivy noticed Heath’s first disapproval. “Can’t we do that later, away from Geoff, at the hospital? Can it wait until later?” “Heath, no. Geoff will learn that your family, his family, is far from perfect. I want him to know what he’s entering.” “Ivy, he’s an eight-year-old boy.” “My point. I don’t want him to go into your family only to learn he’s considered less than.” “Ivy, that’s outrageous. That would never happen.” Elizabeth said. Her outrage was clear in her words and tone. Her eyes were wide with surprise, and she found it difficult to close her lips. “Really, Mrs. Allan? I wasn’t good enough. Why would I think you’d feel that my son was?” “Mistake made, now in the past. Can’t we please move past that?” “Mom. What are you saying? You are great. The best mom ever.” “Sadly, not everyone thinks so, bud. Several people here don’t believe I’m good enough for your dad and I want
Heath had his hands full with work, Geoff, the move, and Ivy. She healed so well that the doctor wanted to send her home early. Heath extended his time off from work. He didn’t need to explain the chaos didn’t to be anyone. His mother did the talking. She’s spoken to several of the board members’ wives, and they understood why he wouldn’t be there every day. Heath suspected by the time she finished working on the wives, they returned the favor and gave their husbands an earful of what they thought of the situation. He’d found out that of another over the years, the board members’ wives had in fact met his son and Geoff endeared himself to everyone of them. The women were on Ivy’s side. One day one, Heath moved in and received gifts for Ivy and Geoff from women. Thankfully, he’d used the full-service movers, and they were doing the full unpacking with his house staff, helping with directions on where everything went. They’d sleep in the new house ton
Kathy was unpacking boxes in her apartment. Heck, the place wasn’t an apartment. It seemed like a mansion compared to her earlier home. She’d never had rooms this large. Kathy loved the large airy feel of the space, with its large windows, exposed brick, and barn wood floors. Heath called it the carriage house and she could see carriages stored in this building ages ago. It made her creative juices flow as she set up her workroom. A room dedicated for her work. She didn’t have to sleep in the ink-scented, printer-filled room. Parker didn’t understand her glee. She’d seen his condo. The man lived in his own condo. Now he lived next to her. She’d see his slick form every day. Gad, she’d been there while he unpacked some of his things. Kathy had to leave when he started unpacking his clothes. Did she not notice the appeal of a man wearing a corset? Or that they made them for men. Parker’s corset looked like a structured suit vest. Kathy didn’t know they made corse
Ivy came home early, partially because she had professional care waiting for her and she somehow healed faster than expected. At this moment, she wished to be anywhere except the hospital or near Monica. Three media types tried to talk to her about Monica and their connection. Luckily, Heath stationed a guard at her room’s door, allowing the police to continue. Monica still lay in a coma. Which is probably why they didn’t hound her. Ivy didn’t care about Monica’s wake-up status. Ivy wanted to avoid Monica forever. She’d heard several nurses talking about Monica being a woman used by Ivan and his people to pull money from rich families. Whether it happened through theft, becoming a lover, or marriage. A nurse once stole from the elderly woman she cared for. Finally, settled into the strange house in an enormous room with her things scattered everywhere. She was stuck mostly in bed or if someone helped her to into a wheelchair. Once seated, she could