Page 88 of Game Change

“Hot damn,” Uncle Milton says before he slaps Heath’s shoulder in approval. “Well, that calls for celebration. Make a reservation at that restaurant. Dinner’s on me. You in, Colin, or do you need to check in with Brynne?” He opens his arms, and Heath flies into them.

“If you know of anyone with nice tits and ass, introduce me,” Heath says.

“Heath, my boy, if I knew a woman like that, I’d keep her for myself.” They both throw their heads back and laugh. “We’ll wait for you in the lobby, Paddy,” Uncle Milton says. They both leave my office, talking and laughing the entire time.

“Honeybee,” I say once she picks up the phone, “how’s the house.”

“Oh my God, it’s perfect,” she says. “I can’t wait for you to see it. How does tomorrow sound?”

“Sounds perfect since I plan on waking up with you. Uncle Milton has issued a dinner invitation. Full disclosure: Heath will be there.” Next, I need to tackle her frosty relationship with my nephew, but I’ll let her deal with Uncle Milton however she wants.

“Sounds great, but I was going to invite you to dinner with me, Raven, and Amira. Raven lives a few streets over from the house,” she says.

My office door swings open, and Heath runs in. “Aunt Lisa is coming,” he says. “She’s leaving the kids with the nanny. My mom’s coming too.”

“I heard that,” Brynne says. “Go ahead and come to my place after. I’ll take you to the house in the morning after breakfast.”

“Okay, but I miss you.”

“I miss you too. And I love you.”

“I love you too. See you in a few hours.”

“Check your top drawer before you go.” She blows me a kiss and ends the call. I go to my top drawer and there is a key fob, a key, and something written on a piece of paper. I pick it up, and it’s the code to her house. I put all three things in my pocket and leave the office.

Chapter 46

Brynne

“And this right here,” I say as I open a door, “this was where my bedroom was. Approximately. I had a nook where I would do my drawings. Remind me to show you some of the buildings I drew when I was younger.”

He takes me in his arms and kisses my neck. “It’s beautiful, Honeybee.” I give him a tour of the rest of the first-floor unit. There are two more apartments upstairs, and I show him those too. They’re slightly different and have less space than the first floor.

I save the basement for last. I’m not keen on living there, but I think it will work for a few years.

“What’s wrong?” he asks. “You were happy, and this sadness took over when we got to the basement.”

“Oh, nothing.” He takes my hand and squeezes it. “It’s just bittersweet to be here. This is where I grew up, and I lost myself for a bit when Oliver took it. I know it wasn’t my fault, but I felt guilty. Like I failed my mother somehow, but I know that’s silly.”

“Your feelings aren’t silly. You did good, baby. You got the house back in your family.” He wraps his arms tightly around me and kisses my forehead.

“I already have an application for one of the units,” I whisper.

He squeezes me, and I sigh into him. “Not surprised. This is a good location, and your units are perfect.”

“I made sure to change all the things I didn’t like about them. The previous design left a lot of unused space, so I ensured that didn’t happen this time. And I’m happy with how it came out.”

“Yeah? What are you? An architect or something?”

I look up and smile at him. “Something like that. Come on. I’ll buy you breakfast.” The plan was to eat at home, but he wanted to see the place first thing this morning.

“What did I tell you about you buying me things?” He takes my hand and leads me out the door. I pull out the key to lock it and put it in the lockbox for the realtor, but I get distracted by a slamming door and scraping on the sidewalk. “What the hell?” I hear Colin say.

I turn to see what he’s talking about, and that’s when I see Oliver pulling a large suitcase behind him. The car he must have just gotten out of drives away, and when he sees me, he stops like a deer in headlights.

I lock the door and look from him to the suitcase.

“Can I help you?” I ask. My voice sounds calm, but I can feel a pounding in my temple. I eye the suitcase again and shake my head because there is no way this fool thinks he’s moving in here. How the hell does he think he’s going to get in?

---