She, the Kingdom (She #1)(66)

Miss you already.

I started to type that I missed him, too, but heard Nick’s car pull into the drive. Seconds later, the sound of the kids’ laughter was just outside the front door, and the knob jiggled. Josh and Hannah burst through the front door, and I opened my arms wide, hugging both of them at the same time.

“Mommy!” Hannah said, all teeth and chocolate-faced.

“She was clean when we left, Nick said, holding their luggage. “We ate breakfast on the way.”

Nick looked around and whistled. “God Almighty, Morgan. What’s all this?”

Josh and Hannah noticed at the same time, looking around in awe.

“What happened, Mommy?” Hannah squealed, bouncing with excitement.

“W… I remodeled.” I bent down to get on eye-level with the kids. “Including your rooms. Go check them out.”

They bolted out of the kitchen, across the living room, and into their rooms. Josh yelled first, screaming about his small entertainment center. Hannah shrieked seconds later, flipping out about her bed, the walls, and her bookshelf.

“I guess I’d better look,” Nick said, seeming uneasy.

He returned after the kids had calmed down. He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and shrugged. “Hannah’s laying in her bed reading. Josh is setting up his Xbox. That’s really cool, Morg. I’m really happy for you.”

“Thank you.”

“What do you do again?”

“I’m…” I hesitated. It had been a long time since I’d had to tell a lie. Even a version of the truth. “I’m working for the new owner of the hospital.”

“Doing what?”

“I’m his assistant.”

“Oh,” Nick said. He had lost weight over the summer, his eyes a bit sunken in, his cheek bones more prominent. He’d always had dark circles under his eyes, making the ice blue of his irises look ominous instead of striking. He stroked the small patch of hair beneath his bottom lip with his thumb—a nervous tic I’d hated a little less since we divorced. “What kind of assistant?”

“What are you asking me, Nick?”

“Your mom said you’d signed an agreement with that guy and his wife. Are you pregnant?”

“No,” I said. “I did, but they’re divorcing, so the agreement has changed.”

“You didn’t think it was maybe something you should have discussed with the kids, first?”

I sighed. “Don’t parent me on parenting, Nick.” I turned around to take another sip of my coffee. Nick stepped into the kitchen, sitting on one of the new stools. These were leather, with wooden-slat backs to lean against. For half a second, I wondered what had happened to my old things. “I’d thought about it. I was going to tell them. I’m not going to put myself in a position to ask permission of my young children who have no business making that sort of decision. They wouldn’t even understand what it means.”

“You’d be surprised.”

“So you spent the summer with them and that makes you an expert?”

“Morgan,” he began. He kept his voice low and calm, something I didn’t expect. We’d been proficient in bringing out the worst in each other for a long time. “I’m just worried about you. This,” he said, gesturing to the house, “must have cost you thousands, you have a new car, but you’ve left your job at the hospital. You’re entering into agreements you would have never considered before. I just want to make sure you’re not involved in something you might not be if this guy wasn’t a multi-millionaire. Or a billionaire. What is he?”

“I don’t know. It’s none of my business. And it’s none of your business what I’m making, so don’t ask.”

“I wasn’t.”

“Yes, you were.”

Nick smiled. “You can never just let me beat around the bush, can you?”

“No,” I said, sipping my coffee.

“Can I have some of that?” he asked.

I opened the cabinet above the coffee, not quite sure if that was still where my coffee mugs were. Thankfully, that hadn’t changed. I stepped to the side.

Nick walked over, reaching up to grab a mug, and then placed it in the Keurig. His blue and white plaid shirt needed ironing, and his jeans looked dirty. His shoes were worn. It was much harder to watch him struggle now that I was doing well.

“Nick,” I said, watching him pour creamer into the dark liquid. “I’m doing okay now. Don’t worry about the child support for the rest of the year.”

He looked to me, suspicious. “Really?”

“Really.”

“That’s nice of you, Morgan. Just until I get back on my feet, though.”

I nodded. “Thanks for bringing them back early.”

Nick hesitated before asking, “What’s going on with you, Morgan? Why were you crying yesterday?”

“Oh. That. It was a huge misunderstanding with my boss. Everything is fine now.”

“That doesn’t worry you? You’ve got all these things, and are spending all this money, and there was a misunderstanding that made you so upset? Who is this guy? Do you even know him?”

“Everything I have is paid for, Nick. I don’t have a bunch of loans out, if that’s what you think.”