Page 105 of Every Now and Then
As I open the pizza boxes and pass out slices to Grace and Claire, I say, “Hayes is planning on staying at his ranch most of the time for the next few months, so his condo will be empty. He invited us to stay there until we find our new house.”
As she often does, Claire squeals, “We get to live with Wusty!”
“No, no,” I hurriedly reply. “Most of the time, Hayes won’t be there, sweetheart. We’d be staying there without him.”
“Could we visit Wusty at the ranch?”
“I’m sure he’d love for us to visit him, Claire. And occasionally, he'll come back to Nashville to stay at the condo with us."
Grace methodically processes the information as I knew she would. I can practically see her mind working, creating an internal list of pros and cons. "If we don't live at Hayes' condo, where would we live?"
"Probably at a nice apartment complex until we find a house." Renting an apartment is my last choice, since I'll be locked into a six- or twelve-month lease, but I've run out of other possibilities.
“At Hayes', would we each have our own rooms, or would we have to share?”
“You’d have your own rooms, and we’d move all your bedroom furniture into them. Hayes even had the condo’s bedrooms painted pink for you.”
Nodding slowly, Grace murmurs, “That’s nice.”
“Could we swim, Mama?” Claire’s eyes are alight with hope.
“Yes. We can swim whenever we want, but Hayes said that we can swim at his place even if we decide not to stay there.”
Feeling the need to be as transparent as possible, I list some points I’ve thought of to help the girls make their decision. “Since it’s a condo, we wouldn’t have a backyard.”
“Hayes has an outdoor patio,” Grace counters. "And if we stayed in an apartment, we wouldn't have a backyard either."
“True,” I nod. “There’s also a nice park within walking distance from the condo.”
“And he has a pool!” yells Claire.
I smile. “Yes, the condo has an indoor pool and an outdoor pool, Claire. While your bedrooms will have your furniture, the rest of the condo will still be furnished with Hayes’ furniture, so you’ll need to be careful not to spill or break anything.”
“Wusty doesn’t care if we spill,” Claire says. “I spilled juice on his carpet, and he said it was just stuff, and stuff can be placed.”
“Replaced, Claire,” mutters Grace.
“I want to live at Wusty’s!” Sweet little Claire is bouncing in her seat, her pigtails bobbing in rhythm with her body.
“Grace, what are your thoughts?” I eat a bite of pizza, which I instantly regret when the sauce oozes out from under the cheese and scalds the roof of my mouth. Taking a swig of sparkling water, I swish the cold water around to cool the burn.
Grace remains thoughtfully quiet for several minutes as we continue eating. I don’t press because I want her to feel good about her decision.
“I think I’d like to live at Hayes’ condo.”
“Me too, me too!” Claire chants.
My heart sighs with relief.
One less thing to worry about.
36
Hayes
Now
Ikeep replaying the contents of that fucking letter in my head. More than once, Annabelle has warned me not to look at her with pity. I’ve assured her that what I feel isn’t pity. It’s sorrow for the pain and anguish she and the girls endured; admiration for the way she has carried on, picking up the pieces and rebuilding a life for herself and her daughters; and anger at how duplicitous Kyle was, dragging Annabelle unwittingly into a lifetime of lies.
