Page 20 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

“It’s okay.”

“Listen, I’m going to turn in early. It’s been a rough couple of days, and I could use a good night’s sleep. Are you good?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I’ll probably look around the house a little before I go to bed. One question?”

I groaned. “What is it?”

“If wedoend up staying, can we get a new TV? I have no idea how to work that thing,” he said, nodding toward the monstrosity in the living room.

I ruffled his hair. “Whatever you say. We’ll call it an early Christmas present or something.”

Leaving him to his food, I rolled my suitcase down the hall to Grandma’s old room—my room. Somehow, it looked both bigger and smaller than I remembered. The room had a smallish bathroom attached and a door that led out to a small, covered patio. Grandma used to love sitting out there watching birds and squirrels. I smiled to myself as I pulled some linens from the closet and made the bed.

After showering and brushing my teeth, I got in bed, closed my eyes… and didn’t sleep. I tossed and turned for almost an hour, hoping and praying that sleep would overtake me. Nothing. The outside world was cloaked in a gray darkness.

Screw it.

I got up, wrapped myself in a bathrobe, then stepped out onto the patio, tucking my phone into the pocket of the robe as I went.The Georgia air was warm, even at night. A humid breeze swept over the grass in the backyard as I stepped off the patio, the green blades tickling my toes.

The moonlight illuminated the ancient oak tree, and I laughed in delight when I saw the wooden swing hanging from a thick branch. I’d spent hours swinging on it when I was little.

“Oh, wow,” I whispered as I walked over to inspect it.

It amazed me that the thing hadn’t rotted and fallen off the tree, and it looked remarkably good for being out in the weather for fifteen years. After checking its strength with my hand, pushing down on it until I was sure it wouldn’t collapse, I sat down. The chains leading up to the big branch above were rusted, but not so much that I’d get tetanus from touching them.

I swung back and forth gently, my hair flowing behind me, memories of my childhood playing through my mind. God, I wished I could go back in time. It would make things so much easier.

I needed someone to talk to, someone who understood where I was coming from. Ashton was too young to have his mother unload on him, my grandmother was dead, Perry was out of the picture forever, and Cole wasabsolutelyout of the question.

That left one person. Taking my phone out of my pocket, I called Stormy. It was barely nine o’clock, so I wouldn’t be waking her up.

She answered on the second ring, her voice as chipper as always. “Hello, dear, how’s it feel being home?”

“Oh, it’s great. I had thebestday, Stormy,” I said, laying the sarcasm on thick.

“Shit,” Stormy muttered. “What happened?”

“Nothing much,” I said with a shrug. “Remember I said my water needed to be turned on?”

“Yeah. Oh, God, Avery, have they still not taken care of it? If you and Ash need to take a shower or something, you’re welcome to come over here.”

“No, it’s on. The technician was here when we got back from your place.” I took a deep breath, then blurted out the shocking news. “It was Cole, Stormy. He was here. I spoke to him.”

The line went quiet for a long time. So long that I wondered if she’d fainted, or if the call had disconnected. When she spoke, she sounded like she’d just seen a UFO.

“Are you fucking serious?”

“Can’t be more serious.”

“Well, holy shit. What did the bastard have to say for himself?”

This time, when I relayed the story, I used quite a few more expletives than I had with Ashton. By the time I finished, I thought Stormy was going to murder someone.

“Thatbitch,” she hissed. “If I see Farrah, I’m gonna beat the shit out of her, I swear to God.”

A laugh burst from my mouth, long and intense, to the point that I had a hard time catching my breath. It wasn’tthatfunny, but the vehemence of Stormy’s words and the sheer amount of stress I was under sent me off into cackles.

When I managed to get myself under control, I said, “Yeah, she’s a real piece of work.”

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