Page 97 of Wayward

His smile was warm. “I’ve heard you, Maks. You know about love. It’s in every word you’ve ever said about your mother and brother when we’ve talked about them on the phone. And I know that your father’s a monster, you’ve told me that too, but I’m thinking that you not being anything like him sounds like a great first step to knowing the kind of father you don’t wanna be.”

He wasn’t wrong.

“I think you’re still holding on to the past to remind yourself that you’re not a good man or that things could go wrong at any second. But I think what we should both learn from this nightmare with Reid is that the only way to live in the present is to be present. No more uncertainty or hiding for either of us. We’re on the right track now.”

“I—”

“And conversely, wouldn’t growing up near an animal sanctuary be great for kids?”

Of course it would.

“Teach them responsibility and empathy,” he said, tilting my head up as he bent close. “Doesn’t that sound wonderful, my wayward man?”

I took a breath, and when he kissed me, I felt it—the connection, his hope, and my surrender to his ridiculous plan. I’d been looking for the North Star for so long and finally found one in him.

He broke the kiss when he heard Misha yelp, and we both leaned over the railing and looked down at him. I hadn’t even heard him go down the many steps to the backyard, but there he was, and he’d suddenly found himself cornered by a large white ceramic duck with a gingham bandanna around its neck.

“Really,” I called down to him as he growled and barked at the sculpture.

“That’s so embarrassing,” Gale assured him as Alvarez stepped out onto the back deck, closing the screen door behind her.

“Am I to understand that Ada Farley is an heiress?”

“Yeah,” Gale told her. “The Farleys are one of the families that made the railroads by selling steel. That’s old money. The family is originally from Pennsylvania.”

To me, she said, “And you’re Ada Farley’s new caretaker, and your name is with hers on all her accounts?”

“Yep.”

“Well, apparently, if anything happens to Ada, you’re also the executor of her estate, so you’ll be the one who delivers the news of who gets what.”

“Super,” I muttered, thinking of the Farleys I’d already met. “But the good news is, she’s in great health. She won’t be passing anytime soon.”

“And most of the family is far better off than Ada,” Gale chimed in. “Her small fortune is from a trust set up by her grandfather.”

“I’m sorry,” Alvarez said, “did you just call forty million dollars a small fortune?”

“It’s less than that,” I replied, but then thought I might be wrong. Without other people pulling money out, it could probably grow.

“Even if it is,” Gale explained, “in comparison to the rest of the family, it is small.”

I smiled at Alvarez. “We’re just fixing up the house and making a dog and cat sanctuary. No big deal.”

“And the sheep,” Gale reminded me.

“Yeah. The sheep.”

Alvarez looked at me as Misha came up the stairs, walked over to me, threw his head back, and howled.

“You could just use your words,” I told him, bending to pick him up. “You don’t have to be so dramatic all the time. And what happened with the duck? It’s not even real.”

He thunked his little head against my chest.

“Poor guy,” Gale said, “like he’s ever seen a ceramic duck before. Cut him some slack.”

“Maks, we’re going to have to revisit this situation of yours on an ongoing basis. There may come a time, if you become too recognizable, that we have to move you again.”

I nodded. “And at that time, you’ll have to move my family with me,” I told her.