Page 4 of Every Sunset
“Come on, mom. Grab your purse and phone from the front and I’ll get our bags,” Max told me, and I just agreed easily.
By the time I had my bag across my body and my phone clutched in my hand tightly, like it was my only lifeline, Max and Logan had grabbed almost all of our belongings from the trunk.
They were chatting with each other as they walked through the gates and around the side of the big house, down a driveway that ran from the front courtyard. I just followed silently, never once taking my eyes from Logan. I had mace in my bag and I’d pull it out the second he gave me cause to.
“Mom, look at this place!” Max cried and when I looked over to him I realized what he was talking about. He’d stopped and dropped the bags he was carrying so he could turn to his left. Behind him sat a two story cottage, painted white with gray trim just like the big house. The front door was flanked by two tall pots of bright flowering plants and behind it…well, the view behind it took my breath away. It was right on the lake. All that separated the cottage and the edge of the water was a deck that had to be the most magical place to sit out and just be. Off to the left of the cottage was a boat deck and to my right, where I hadn’t even bothered to look before was a vast green garden thatseparated the cottage from the big house. It was beautiful, and way out of our price range.
“What the…?” I gasped.
“Like I said in the ad, the place is furnished with new furniture and you’re free to use the gardens and the pool, which is accessed from the other side of the house,” Logan started to explain.
“A pool?” Max exclaimed excitedly.
“Yeah. You like to swim?”
“I was on the school team,” Max replied.
“Well it’s yours to use whenever. I swim every morning, early, but it’s pretty empty otherwise.”
“We…I…I can’t afford this. I think th-there’s been some kind of mistake,” I stuttered.
“No mistake. My brother and I know what it is to struggle to live. We agreed we’d rent this place out and only charge what it costs us for utilities and such. You’ll only pay what you agreed to,” Logan assured me.
“You know what it is to struggle?” I scoffed as I looked around us at the splendor he obviously lived in.
“I get it, but we only inherited this place a short while ago. Before that we were just normal guys with apartments and normal lives, and before that we were two kids who lived on the streets and barely survived the winter.”
“Sorry,” I instantly apologized. It had been bitchy of me to jump to conclusions when I so obviously knew nothing about Logan or his brother.
“It’s fine. Do you want me to show you around the house, or do you just want the keys so you can get settled in?” he asked.
“We’ll manage from here, thanks,” I replied.
“Here’s the keys then. The fob get’s you in the pool, and like I said the access door’s around the other side of the house. This clicker opens and closes the front gates. We’re pretty secluded out here, but please try to make sure you close the gates behind you when you come in and out. Maddox, my brother, he likes things to be secure. He’s also pretty good with cars so we’ll push your car onto the drive and he’ll take a look at it when he can,” Logan explained as he handed me a set of keys and what looked like a garage clicker. “Any other problems at all, call me. My number was on the paperwork I emailed to you, or you can come up to the house any time.”
I tried not to be dismissive as I thanked him, but I really just wanted him to go away. He was making me feel anxious and I simply didn’t have the energy for that right then. Thankfully, the years and years I drummed manners into my son worked, and he thanked our landlord much more profusely for his help. He also asked if Logan wanted his help to move our car on to the drive. I was relieved when Logan turned down the offer and told him to get some rest instead. I wanted Max where I could see him for the foreseeable future at least.
I felt as though my whole body just gave in once I was sure Logan was out of sight around the corner of his mansion. Exhausted, both physically and emotionally, I stumbled sightly, then plonked down onto one of our suitcases right there on the driveway.
“Mom!” Max gasped as he ran over to me and dropped into a crouch at my side.
“I’m okay, honey. I just need to get some rest,” I tried to reassure him. I hated him seeing me so weak and useless, but I was both of those things in that moment.
“You need to eat something and take your meds too. I should have asked Logan where the nearest store is,” he fussed as he looked towards the big house as if looking for our landlord again.
“I have granola bars in my purse. Let’s juts get inside and I’ll get myself straightened out, okay?”
“Yeah, okay,” he reluctantly agreed as he rose to his feet and pulled me up with him. We left our bags right there in the driveway, and walked up to the perfectly neat entrance of our new home. We hadn’t even gone inside yet and I already knew it was so much nicer than anywhere we’d ever lived before. The front door was freshly painted in gray, to match the rest of the trim of the cottage. Either side of the door, on the ground floor were two wide and clearly new windows. Below them hung window boxes filled with greenery and yet more flowers. I wondered if the huge burly guy we just dealt with was the one obsessed with the bright flowers, but it seemed unlikely.
Max took the keys from my hand, pocketed the clicker for the gates, and unlocked the door.
“Ho-ly crap,” he exclaimed as he stepped inside in front of me and looked around him. I followed him inside and had much the same reaction. We stood in a small entry way with hooks on the wall, and a stand for shoes beneath. Straight ahead of us was an open plan living room and kitchen, separated by a long, six seater dining table. The floors were polished hardwood and the walls were painted a bright, yet still warm shade of cream. The furniture was modern and expensive looking and the gleaming white kitchen, with solid wood counters, was obviously brandnew. It was without a shadow of a doubt a hundred times nicer than the apartment we had left behind.
“Come look out here!” Max said excitedly, and I realized he had moved across the room to a set of sliding glass doors that looked out over the decked seating area and the lake beyond. It was a stunning view.
Whoever had decorated the place had hung heavy drapes at the door in a dark charcoal color, which just seemed to frame that spectacular outlook. Modern slatted blinds covered the other windows, allowing light in, but affording us privacy from anyone looking in, not that there could be many people passing by considering the fortress we seemed to be living in.
“This place is amazing!” Max told me. I glanced over to him and something inside of me relaxed a little to see him smiling excitedly.
