He dipped his head and against her lips whispered, “Yeah.”

Her arms slid around him and he felt her lips smile against his while he watched up close her eyes doing the same.

He brushed his mouth against hers and lifted his head away an inch as she held his eyes and whispered back, “Then we need to plan.”

She wanted a kid and she wanted to start now. He wasn’t surprised. Dusty knew what she wanted and when she did she wasn’t one to fuck around.

“Right,” he replied gently. “Then this is the thing. I want more time just you and me. Not years but some time. And I’m not plantin’ a baby in you if you aren’t wearin’ my rings and don’t have my name so our baby has our name.”

Her eyebrows drew together and she told him, “Our baby would have your name anyway.”

“That’s not what I said. We bring a kid into this world, our baby will have our name.”

Her brow relaxed but her teeth bit her upper lip for a second.

Mike did not take that as a good sign and he’d know why when she stated, “I was, um…so you’re talking marriage?”

Fuck.

“Uh…yeah. That is the next step, Angel.”

Her face went soft and she whispered, “Right. I like that.”

“Well, good,” Mike muttered and her lips twitched.

“But, the thing is, I was thinking of keeping my name. I kinda like it but also in my business I’m known by it.”

“I don’t care what you need to do for you, for the rest of the world, for your business. In this ‘Burg, this house and for our family, you’ll be a Haines.”

Her brows drew together again. “What?”

“Women use two names all the time. One for business, one for personal and family shit. You need to be a Holliday for business and out there in the world, fine. Whatever you need. In this house, in this ‘Burg and with our family, you’re a Haines.”

She held his eyes then she said quietly, “I could do that.”

He was glad since she didn’t have a choice.

He didn’t inform her of that.

“Good,” he muttered again.

She grinned.

Then her grin faded but her gaze on him grew warm and intense when she whispered, “Are you asking me to marry you, honey?”

“No, I’m tellin’ you by the end of this year you’ll be wearing my rings, bearing my name and, probably, pregnant with my baby.”

Her gaze was no less warm and intense but her lips twitched again.

“So you said we’d plan but actually what you meant was that you already have it planned.”

“Yep,” he agreed.

He felt her body start shaking against his.

“You got a problem with any of that?” he asked.

She shook her head and forced out a vibrating with humor, “No.”

“Good,” Mike muttered.

One of her arms disengaged from around him, her hand sliding around his lat, in, up his chest to curl around his neck and even as she chuckled she lifted up and touched her mouth to his.

When she fell back to the pillows, her fingers at his neck gave him a squeeze and her humor was gone but the warmth remained.

“I love you, babe,” she whispered.

“Love you too, Angel,” Mike whispered back.

“Now I need my nightie and panties and you need to go get Layla from No.”

Mike nodded, bent his neck, kissed her throat and rolled away. Then he grabbed her nightie and undies and handed them to her. As she was shimmying them on, he tugged up his pajamas.

Then he went to get his dog.

Then he closed them in and, like every night, the three of them fell asleep in the six thousand dollar bed he’d fucking hated for years but for the last two months he fucking loved.

* * *

Thursday early evening…


Mike walked into Mimi’s and, to his surprise, he saw Audrey sitting at the back corner table. She had a mug of coffee in front of her and that was it. No white bag. No coffee for him. No sitting at a window to show to anyone who passed they were having a sit down.

He strode directly to her. She’d seen him arrive and she’d gone for her purse right after. She was digging through it when he made it to the table.

Out of habit, his eyes went to the words scratched into the table he’d seen time and again. Feb’s Spot, sit here and die. Before Colt and Feb reunited, Colt’s wife spent a lot of time here and she sat at that table. Mimi’s kids were terrors, they loved their Aunt Feb and they went about making sure she always had her favorite spot. Mike thought it was hilarious. He doubted Mimi felt the same but still, it had been years and she’d never replaced that table or sanded it out.

Mike pulled out the chair opposite Audrey and folded into it.

Her eyes went from her purse to him.

“Hey,” he greeted.

“Hey,” she greeted back, put a rectangular piece of paper on the table and slid it to him. “I know you’re busy. So you can just take that. It’s for Rees’s school.”

Mike felt his brow furrow and he looked down to see the paper was a check. His hand came up, his fingers shifting it around on the table so it faced him then he stared down at it, his eyes now narrowed.

It was for fifteen thousand five hundred dollars.

What the fuck?

His eyes cut back to Audrey.

“What the fuck?” he whispered.

“Like I said, for Rees’s school,” she answered. “I talked with Mrs. Layne. She said tuition for that school up in Chicago, the one that she thinks will suit Clarisse better, is fourteen thousand dollars a semester and that doesn’t include the room and board. She gets in, I’ll pay the first semester and the rest is for supplies or living quarters or whatever. We can, um…figure out how to split the rest of her living expenses. Then you can pay the second semester and I’ll see what I can do for the year after that.”

Mike stared at her hard. “Where did you get this money?”

She licked her lips, her head shifted strangely on her neck for a second then she locked eyes with him and answered, “I sold the Mercedes this week. I got a secondhand Hyundai. And since we sat down with Clarisse and Mrs. Layne I’ve been putting things on on-line auctions, selling shoes, handbags, stuff that…uh, you got me. They, well…I took care of them so they sold well. I have some other stuff to sell but I’m setting that aside to do it when it’s my turn again to cover her tuition.”

Mike didn’t move, not an inch.

This was because he was completely and totally fucking floored.

Audrey kept talking. “Mrs. Layne says with her talent and our circumstances there’s a good possibility she’ll be eligible for and get some scholarships but not a full ride. So, uh…if that happens, the scholarships, I mean, then this can be used for her living expenses.”

“You sold your car and your shit,” Mike whispered.

She held his eyes and replied quietly, “Yes.”

“For our daughter, you sold your car and your shit,” Mike repeated.

Her head shifted in that strange way again and in a rush, she returned, “I know, Mike, that it isn’t me giving her this.” She reached out a hand to tap her fingers on the table to indicate the check. “I know it’s you. I know that car and that stuff you bought, really. So it’s you giving this to Rees. I know that. I know this isn’t a grand gesture from me. But, what Mrs. Layne says, what she’s showed me of Clarisse’s work, it had to be done.”

Mike sat back in his chair not taking his gaze from her.

Audrey pulled in a visible breath and continued, “I’m happy if you don’t want to tell her that the money came from me because, really, it didn’t.”

Mike stared at his ex-wife.

Then he made a decision.

“How’s the job?” he asked and watched her blink and her head twitch.

“What?” she asked back softly.

“You told me you got a new job and it’s a lot of pressure. How’s that going?”

She held his eyes but did it licking her lips and her own eyes got bright before she pulled in another visible breath to control the threatening tears and she spoke. “It’s tough but I’m off probation so that’s good. And they know they can call me to do overtime or help out with other lawyers if someone’s sick and they can’t get a temp or something. So, it’s going great, I guess.”

“Good,” he muttered. “The apartment?”

“Cuts my commute from forty-five minutes to twenty.”

“Right,” Mike said.

“I like it,” she whispered. “It’s roomier and better made so it’s quieter.”

Mike nodded.

Then he informed her, “I don’t want Rees at fifteen years old four hours away in Chicago. She and I have talked about it and she doesn’t want to be that far away either. We’re hopin’ for the school in Indianapolis. It’s fifteen hundred dollars less a semester and won’t require settin’ her up in a living situation. I know the Chicago school is better but she’s too young to be that far away. She wants to think of a transfer the year after that or for her senior year, we’ll consider it. But she can’t even drive so that’s not gonna happen this year and she’s happy with that.”

Audrey nodded and said quietly, “Good because I agree. I was worried about her in Chicago by herself.”

Fucking shit, who was this woman?

He didn’t ask that.

He kept going. “Since she’s in-state for the Indy school, the scholarship opportunities are better. This money,” he tipped his head to the check, “if she gets those scholarships, will go a long way.”

“Then that’s good,” she replied.

“What I’m sayin’ is, she gets those scholarships, it’ll cut but it won’t cut deep. You need this money?”

“It’s your money, Mike,” she reminded him.

“I know, Audrey. I get that. That isn’t what I asked. You’re you and you’re goin’ from a Mercedes and a closet full of designer shit to…whatever you can afford now. Is this gonna be a problem for you now or down the road? Because if it is, I can cover Clarisse because the way it stands with those scholarships, this check would cover near on two years of tuition.”

“Then use some of it to buy No a new car,” she returned. “He told me what happened to his and even before those kids did that to it, that car was a disaster.”

Fucking shit, who the fuck was this woman?

“Audrey –”

She leaned forward and cut him off. “This is your money, Mike, you worked hard for it. I told you I was learning some things about myself and I am. And learning about me I’ve looked back and realized some things about you. And that is, you were happy to work hard for our family to give us a good life and to give our children what they need. You always provided that and if you take that check and use it on Clarisse or Jonas or however you want to use it, you’re doing that. It just makes it a lot less hard in the short run.”

He stared at her and informed her, “I gotta say, Audrey, you’re shockin’ the shit outta me right about now.”

She leaned back and replied on a murmur, “Well, finally I’m doing it in a way that’s not bad.”

Mike couldn’t hold it back. He burst out laughing. When he was done she was looking at him and smiling a hesitant smile.

His amusement faded and he said quietly, “I hope this shit sticks.”

She pressed her lips together before noting, “I do too.”

Christ, there it was. There it fucking was. Jesus. She was trying, finally genuinely trying and she hoped just like he did that she didn’t fuck it up.

Jesus.

He nodded, reached out and took the check. Then he pulled out his wallet and shoved it inside.

“Mike?” he heard her call as he was pushing his wallet back into his inside blazer pocket.

His eyes went to her. “Yeah?”

“I’ve, uh…been asked out on a date. By an attorney in another firm who was working a case joint with our firm.” When he made no reply she finished, “I thought that, um…you should know just in case something comes of it and I need to tell the kids or introduce them to him.”

“Pleased for you, Audrey,” Mike said softly and got another hesitant smile.

“Yeah, he’s kind of cute,” she whispered and Mike smiled back.

Then he told her, “But he’s a lawyer so he’s probably got some asshole in him. Be careful.”

“Been working with them long enough, I get that better than you,” she replied her smile still there, still hesitant but less so.

Mike nodded.

“You have to go,” she reminded him.

“Yeah,” he agreed.

She held his eyes and didn’t move.

Then she whispered, “I love our kids.”

“I’m not only glad you finally figured that out, I’m glad you figured out how to show them.”