Undefeated (Unexpected Book 5) (6 page)

Crossing the driveway, there’s a tree hiding a small porch and right in the corner there it is, the second door. Before I knock on it, it opens wide. Aunt Molly rushes out with her arms wide open. She hasn’t changed much—same curvaceous body, short, blonde hair and happy, blue eyes. She looks just like Mom.

“Mackenzie?” I hear her voice. “You made it sweetie. It’s so good to see you.”

“Aunt Molly,” I greet, hugging her back.

“Where are the kids?” She asks releasing me and looking behind me.

“In the car.” I take a step back to make sure both kiddos haven’t woken up. “I thought it’d be best to swing by to let you know I’m here, but I want to bring them by when their stuff is delivered. For now, we can pretend we’re still traveling and we’ll stay at a hotel.”

“Nonsense, I have the bed ready for you.” She walks around me and toward the car. “The two of them can fit on that bed and you can sleep on the couch. Maybe tomorrow we can break down that bed and set up the kids beds in that extra room.”

“How many rooms do you have available?” I ask trying to understand the setting. Shit, no one told me she owned a duplex—and that one of them was leased to somebody else.

“Two. My room and the guest room,” she explains, standing right by the minivan. “We’ll make it work, sweetie.”

Pivoting toward the door I knocked on earlier, she calls out, “Porter, dear, are you working tomorrow?” The guy leans against his door, his gaze focused on me for several beats. He gives his head a shake. “Good, you can help us move stuff around my house.” He salutes her, enters his house, and closes the door.

“Who is he?” I point my chin toward the duplex.

“Porter. I lease the other side to him,” she answers. “He works at the gas station down the block and helps me around the house.”

Shit, this isn’t what I expected. Mom said she had two extra rooms. When I spoke to my aunt, she confirmed that she had two rooms. She insisted that I stay with her for as long as I need, that she’d help me with my kids while I worked. It all sounded nice, but maybe I should call a real estate agent and search for a place of my own. Mr. Serious-Neighbor doesn’t look like the kind of man that will enjoy having children around.

“That’s nice, having someone to help you around the house,” I tell her, fidgeting with the keys. “If you don’t mind, I’m heading to the hotel. The room is paid for and I don’t want to lose that money. Tomorrow morning I’ll come by and we can talk about my next step.”

Though, the biggest step has been taken—leaving Colorado. Putting the house on the market, packing Leo’s belongings and starting to move on with my life. Searching for a place to live is easy in comparison to the process I went through since Leo died. Maybe Molly’s offer was the excuse I was looking for to leave everything behind. Yes, she’s my only close family, my favorite aunt, but do I really need to stay in this tiny house close to . . . yes, that’s why I’m second guessing this arrangement. Him. Porter made me feel uneasy from the moment he opened the door. Something about him unsettles every nerve in my body.

Aunt Molly places a hand on top of mine and gives me a sad smile. “You’re going to be fine, Mackenzie. The hardest step is over. The rest will come easily. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, rest well.”

W
hat’s going on? The little bit of furniture I brought with me, along with my boxes are in my aunt’s driveway. I turn off the ignition, staring at my belongings and wondering what in the world is happening. A shirtless male figure with broad shoulders and sun-kissed skin decorated with several tattoos walks toward my aunt’s door carrying a twin mattress. Behind him, a couple other men carry the rest of the bed.

“Is this where we’re going to live, Mommy?” Harper asks as I nod, trying to figure out what’s going on. “This is too small, where am I going to put my dollies?”

“We’ll figure it out, honey.” I sigh because I have no answer for her. Earlier I tried to contact the movers to find out if they could store my belongings for a week or so, but the cost of doing so was outrageous and the hotels in the area are booked up because of some convention. The real estate agent I contacted is on vacation and my laptop died before I could find a new one. That should teach me not to pack all the cables in one box. “For the next couple of days, we’re having a sleepover.”

“Like when I stay with my friend Hannah?”

“Yes, baby, just like that.”

“But Hannah is far away, in Colorado,” she murmurs, her head drops and my energetic girl is gone. “This is unfair.” My almost seven-year-old crosses her arms and I can feel it coming. Some nonsense speech about violating her human rights. “Dad won’t find us anymore. He’s never going to visit me again.”

Her tears quickly turn to sobs and Finn joins in. I drop my head on the steering wheel, squeezing my eyes tight and wishing myself somewhere else. Maybe to the time when I had a husband and a two-year-old girl who wouldn’t talk back. A knock on my window startles me; I straighten my back as my aunt’s neighbor-handy-man is rolling his finger, as if signaling me to lower my window.

“Can you give us two more hours?” His words lack something . . . humanity?

“Why, what’s wrong?”

His shoulders slump, his eyes look at the sky for a second and he lets out a loud breath. “Your aunt can explain. I hate talking.” With that, he turns around and heads to her home.

Peachy. What is he, four?

I flinch when I spot Finn’s reflection through the rear view mirror. It’s been two years since I’ve heard my son speak. Some days I’m angry with Leo because of it. If he hadn’t died, Finn wouldn’t be this quiet boy who sits next to the door waiting for his father to come back. “Harper, stay where you’re at sweetie, I’m going to find out what’s going on.”

I leave the car, locking it behind me, and charge toward my aunt, but first I stop right in front of Porter. “Can you please keep an eye on my children?” I ask, and continue my way toward my aunt’s house.

The doors are wide-open, one of the men I saw earlier is heading my way empty handed. My aunt trailing right behind him.

“What’s going on?” I question, signaling toward the chaos.

“Well the movers arrived an hour ago,” she answers, walking me outside her house. “Porter explained how you guys won’t fit in my house, and he offered his place.”

“What does that mean?” I frown, watching the surly man standing right next to my car watching my children. “Where is he going to live?”

She wiggles her eyebrows and smiles widely. “With me, of course.” She raises her hands and shrugs, as if she’s going to sacrifice for the greater good. “He promised to keep his distance, but I won’t complain if something happens between us . . . after all, I am a woman—with a heart and needs, you know.”

Is she serious? Really, my aunt and her tenant? Instead of listening to my aunt’s disturbing comments, I walk back toward him.

“Thank you, but this won’t be necessary,” I say, pointing at his house. “We can find a place next week, there’s no point of moving all the furniture around.”

He rolls his eyes and huffs. “Lady, it’s done. You can use my living room and dining room furniture since you don’t have any.” He taps the car window. “They can’t live with your aunt in that tiny room.” He shakes his head.

“One more thing, never leave your children inside the car unattended, the next time I’m breaking the windows.”

“But you’re here and I’m here . . . I never . . .” but there’s no point of telling him anything else, as he already left me standing in the middle of the driveway, alone.

As promised, two hours later the movers are gone and my stuff is inside Porter’s house. Surprisingly it’s comfortable, though, I wonder why he owns expensive furniture and lots of books. He’s a single man. The expected rundown couch, one table and two chairs, and a wall-to-wall television screen are nowhere to be found. I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but he not only left some bits and pieces of his stuff behind, but also his sandalwood smell. A scent that is starting to make me feel uneasy. There’s something about him that bothers me or intrigues me. I can’t even pinpoint the emotion that he evokes. What is it about him that has me on the edge?

“I’m not sleeping with Finn,” Harper sneers, rushing down the stairs. “Mom, you took me away from my house, my friends, and Daddy. Then you brought me into a place where I can’t have my own room. Why are you doing this to me?”

Placing a hand on my mouth, I count to ten before I raise my voice. Lately, her attitude and bratty tone are wearing me down. The sassy girl she once was crossed the thin line and has become a brat. I barely recognize her and I fear that if I don’t find a way to change that attitude, I might lose her inside this new person she’s creating.

“Harper, this is hard for the three of us,” I use the gentlest tone I can find inside my raging body. “But we have to find a new way to exist. There’s nothing left in Colorado for us and before you mention Daddy.” I gently touch the left side of her chest. “He’s inside you, baby, wherever you go he’ll follow. No matter if we’re on the moon or travel to Pluto, he’s right with you. This is what he wanted, for us to find a new happy place.”

“This isn’t a happy place.” She stomps her foot. “Everything is gone, you threw away Daddy’s stuff, and he’s never going to come back again.” Harper’s eyes fill with tears. She crumbles to the floor, as she begins to cry. “I miss my dad, I want him. You’re not the same since he left. You don’t love me anymore.”

A hand squeezes my heart tightly, my lungs can’t take in any air, but I drop next to her and I hold her. Cradling her back and forth, murmuring, “I love you, Harp. I love you so much. We’re going to get through this mess, I promise.” As I hold my baby while she cries in my arms, I’m reminded that for the past months—years—I’ve abandoned my duties as a mother. They lost both parents in one day. Shit. I’ve been fucking up really badly. “Mom’s going to take care of you, baby. Maybe for a few months you’ll share a room with Finn, but it’s just for a little while. This isn’t permanent. The sadness, the pain, the tiny house . . . we’re going to find a new way to be a family. I’ll find my way back to normal—my new normal. And then, we’ll conquer each one of the emotions that we’ve let overtake our lives, one step at a time. I’ll do it for you, I promise, baby.”

Finn sits right next to me, leaning his small head on my arm. I reach out for him and set him on my lap, next to Harper. He presses his lips together while watching his sister cry. After shaking his head, he rests his head on my chest just like Harper. Fuck, what did I do for the past two years? Nothing, that’s the answer I come up with. I barely breathed, I hardly functioned, and I abandoned my precious babies.

As the main door screeches open, I lift my gaze. Porter enters the room. He stares at us, then his gaze connects with mine for a few breaths. For a second I see the hard shell around him cracking and, as it happens, he moves his attention away from me.

“Sorry to barge in, but I forgot to take some of my shit,” he mutters.

“Stuff, things, could you try not to use that other word around my children?” I correct him and regret my tone, clearing my voice. “You know,
cussing
, I’d really appreciate if you can keep everything PG, please.”