Chapter six
AVA
“Ican’tbelieveyou’re going.”
“Well, I wasn’t given much choice,” I remind Millie. “She’s my mum, and she needs me.”
“She wasn’t acting like your mum when you needed her the last twenty years,” she reminds me right back, and a long sigh escapes me as I flop back on the sunlounger. Normally sunbathing and swimming at Millie’s is my favourite way to spend a day, but even the soothing trickle of the water isn’t helping me right now.
“I know, but I can’t just desert her.” Millie doesn’t reply, not agreeing with me at all, and I can’t help my mind going back to Friday evening. I remember the relief at getting through the funeral, which felt decidedly like being on view in a fishbowl while I struggled not to scream, and the dark night sky as Mum opened the car door, looking surprised to see me as if as soon as I was out of her direct eyesight, I ceased to exist.
“We’re going to be moving in with Foster.” My head whipped round so quickly I’m surprised I didn’t pull anything, but she doesn’t wait for me to speak. “I need the help with the business, and your father trusted him to take the reins for a bit. I’ll do anything to complete his wishes.” Why does that mean we need to move in? Is Mum that co-dependent that she’s willing to move in with another man the weekend of her husband’s funeral, just so she’s not alone?
“But we barely know him.”
“I know him.” As a business associate of my father? Hardly a blossoming friendship.
“Why don’t I stay at home?” We have so many staff and I’m twenty years old, for Christ’s sake. I can manage on my own.
“You’re going to leave me like this the first chance you get?” Wow, unexpected guilt punch from her. I was not expecting that. I guess she takes my silence for agreement to the idea, because she continues. “Foster will have it so you’re ready to start at Oakview University on Monday.”
That’s all the participation I got in this huge life decision, and now it’s Sunday, and by the end of the day I’ll live somewhere new. I don’t think I even care about changing universities. I can’t stand anyone at Highland except Millie, and I hate being part of the Court. Maybe a new start with anonymity and no pressure to claim a top spot will be good for me.
“You live closer to Oakview, so maybe that’s a silver lining?” I offer Millie when I’ve dragged myself back into the present and she’s still quiet.
“What, saving five minutes on your drive is worth putting up with that?”
I cringe, not having a clue who I’m about to move in with, but I’ve lived with my father for twenty years, so how bad could it be?
“It won’t be that bad,” I say, mostly to myself, and she gives me a disbelieving look. I’m kind of done with her negativity. “I should go, the movers are coming in an hour.”
“What’s happening with your place?”
“I think it’s staying the same for now. Carrie and the others will have easy days, I guess.” My mum isn’t making any more big decisions right now, which I’m grateful for. I don’t want anyone to lose their job because she’s feeling rash.
“Carrie’s not going with you?”
“Nope.”
“That’s shit. Sorry,” Millie says with a sympathetic smile. She knows Carrie was the only person in that house I could relax even slightly around, but I shrug. May as well rip it all away at once, like taking off a Band-Aid.
“Maybe I’ll learn a ton about business from Foster,” I muse. Millie humours me when I talk business, but she doesn’t have the same passion as me. Thankfully, it’s only a small part of her course, so she only has to endure the one class we share.
“Please. As if a man in our world will teach you. Plus, your company is big enough as it is,” she reminds me.
“It’s not mine.”
“Okay, your mum’s now, not that she has a business-apt bone in her body.”
“That’s the point of Foster, I suppose.”
I drive home but get there only to be given a message from Mum to meet her at Foster’s and an address. Driving back the way I came, I realise I’m right, he does live closer to Millie. I pull up to a security gate, but as these guards don’t recognise me or my car like at home, I have to sit and wait for them to check everything. As I park out the front of their house, I’m surprised. It’s stunning, a perfect mix of traditional and modern with huge windows, but nowhere near how big I assumed it would be. Everything around here is ridiculously over the top, and with the security gate and wall I assumed this would be ostentatious as well, but it’s not at all. Although, it’s still not a small house, by any means. The front porch sits dead in the centre with the house symmetrical on both sides. As I climb the steps and bring my hand up to knock on the door, it opens before I can connect, and a smiling man stands holding it open.
“Ava, there you are,” he says warmly. “So nice to meet you.” I was expecting a housekeeper to answer, but this guy isn’t in any kind of uniform, just a T-shirt and jeans. Age gaps are not my thing, but I can appreciate that he is hot. He fills the T-shirt he’s wearing well enough to show he does something physical. It’s odd, because he’s being so welcoming and is dressed so casually, but the vibe of money still oozes off him.
“Hi, nice to meet you too…”
“Foster,” he supplies, and my brows shoot up just a little.
“You were expecting a stuffy, pompous prick, weren’t you?” He grins, and I choke out a laugh.
“Seeing as you said it, yeah. I guess.”
“Well, when you next see me at an event and I am acting like that, please don’t judge me. In my home, I’m pretty relaxed.” He’s so easy and open that I can relax a little. Maybe this won’t be so bad.
“Oh. Okay, great.” As he steps back, I follow him through the door and take a look around the foyer. Natural light floods in from the windows either side of the door, and a grand staircase leads straight up ahead. “This place is beautiful,” I tell him truthfully.
“Thank you. Do you want a tour?”
“Erm, I thought my mum would be here by now.” I’d love to explore but don’t want to be an inconvenience, and it feels kind of awkward to have turned up alone.
“She is, she’s winding down in her room.” Wow, she didn’t even wait to introduce me to this stranger who we’re now living with? Nice. “She’s had a tough time,” Foster continues. He looks sympathetically at me, as if admitting that it’s a shit thing to do, which I appreciate.
“I know. A tour sounds great, if it’s not too much?”
“Of course. There’s not too much to get through.” I can see the kitchen from here through an archway to the right of the foyer, and that’s where he takes me first. It’s bright and open, with patio doors that lead outside to an outdoor area that seems to go on forever. A pool glints in the sun just outside and I have to hold back my grin. I know that’s not exactly shocking—rich people have pools—but with ours being filled in, it’s always amazing to have access to one. The kitchen leads into a snug with a small dining table, some sofas and a TV, but my gaze keeps returning to the doors, which Foster notices. “That’s the recreation area out there. You’re welcome to use anything you’d like.”
“Thanks,” I say, smiling genuinely. I’ll definitely need to explore that later.
“Pantry and utility back there,” he says, pointing to closed doors before walking back to the foyer. He points at more closed doors along the other side. “Formal living room, which is probably full of cobwebs, and a dining room.”
“You don’t entertain?”
“Not formally. We like to keep it private so we can relax. We’ve lived here since they were younger, just beefed up the security a little.” So they didn’t move into a bigger place when Foster hit the big time? Interesting. That explains the tacked-on security gate too.
“We?”
“Me and my sons.” I nod distractedly as I take in the surroundings. I vaguely recall knowing that already. “Well, one now. Lewis moved out last year,” he adds as he opens the dining room door. “We’re not very exciting, but we do have dinner together most nights, if you don’t mind?”
It shocks me that he’s asking and not telling, so it takes me a second too long to register that I need to reply. “Of course not.” He leads me behind the stairs to two more doors, showing me the movie room and the gym, before completing the circle to head up the stairs.
“This first floor is my home office and my bedroom, with two spare rooms, one of which your mum has already chosen.” He opens the door to what I assume is the other spare. Spacious and dressed in neutral shades, it has a ridiculous bed that looks like a sleep in it could cure all of your problems, and plush carpets. It’s the definition of luxury comfort, and keeps the modern-traditional theme the whole house has. “It has an en suite and a dressing room, but they all do, so this is option one,” Foster says with a flourish of his hands, and I match his grin. I like this man. I follow him back out and up to the next floor which looks identical from the hallway. “Oh, and don’t let the bedroom locks freak you out. They came with the house and we kept them for the rare occasion that we do entertain to ensure our spaces stay private.” I hadn’t even noticed them, but now I realise all of the internal doors have keyholes. “This floor has Stone’s room and technically three spares.”
“Technically? Is there a spare on this side?” I ask sheepishly, gesturing to the closed doors, knowing exactly what I want.
“Yep. It’s all yours if you want it,” he tells me as he walks over and pushes a door open. Walking in, I head straight for the windows, confirming that I get a view of the pool. I turn, grinning at Foster.
“I love it.”
“Then I’ll let you get settled. The movers should be here soon, I’ll get them to bring your stuff straight up.”
“Thank you so much.” I really mean it, too. He’s calmed me down by being so normal. I flop down on the bed, which is the same as the spare downstairs, huge and cloud-like. I can’t believe how well this is going so far. Maybe this won’t be so awful after all.