Chapter 36
+25 Point
It was a beautiful late summer day, not so hot that we would suffer from the heat, with a warm
breeze coming in off the Basin. Bradley handed the key ring to me as it contained the key to
the man door of the garage. I unlocked the door and led the way inside, pressing the automatic door opener for the overhead garage door.
I greeted the movers, all ten of them, explaining to them what I wanted done. Six of them got to work immediately carring the furniture out to the truck. The other four started putting packing boxes together and proceeded to wrap, pack, and label the boxes with all the kitchen
and household goods. Jenna went through the fridge, packing the food that I would be
keeping. There wasn’t much since I was almost never here. I assume that Adam and Fiona
either ate out while they used the house for their ‘love’fests‘ or they made sure to not leave
anything behind. I didn’t much care which.
Victor shook his head at how little food there was in the house. I did instruct that all unopened
dry goods should be packed separately and delivered to the women’s shelter. Again, it wasn’t
much, but the director, a close friend of mine and Jenna’s, wouldn’t turn it down. Even with the
monthly donations the need was great. Graystone International contributed a minimum of ten
thousand dollars a month to the shelter. I had also made sure Fredericks Design Co.
contributed monthly.
While the main floor was being looked after, I went upstairs to the master bedroom. Bradley
followed, bringing the duffle bags with him. It took me less than half an hour to pack all my
clothes, shoes, and personal care items. Most of my belongings were at the apartment. Not one bit of paperwork was here, and none of my books, or anything like that. Just the basics, and very few of those. Thinking about this now, I realized that in my heart I had never been commited to building a life here. No doubt my subconscious had been paying attention to
those red flags for me. Thank goodness for that.
Bradley was watching me closely as I packed, trying to gauge my emotions. I gave him a hug and a kiss, assuring him that all I felt was relief. I wasn’t going to miss this place. If anything, I
was glad to be done with it. Not just because of how Adam and Fiona had tainted it, but
because now I can move forward with my life, and do it with a man I loved. Five, now six, short
days has altered the direction of my life in a way I never imagined.
I finished packing everything of mine into the three duffle bags with room to spare. I made a last sweep of the room and on impulse opened the drawer of the nightstand on the left side of the bed. A sealed white envelope with my name on it caught my attention. I sat on the side of the bed and turned the envelope over in my hands, Whatever was inside was about the length
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Chapter 36
of a pen, but shaped differently. Writing on the back of the envelope told me all I needed to
know,
‘Ms. Fredericks, I found this in the bathroom trash when I cleaned on Thursday. I’m sure it belongs to the woman your fiance brings to the house when you are away. I am so sorry that I haven’t said anything before now, but you need to know about this before you marry him. Regards, Callie Marsh.
Callie was the one that had done the deep clean of the house when I bought it. This note confirmed my initial impression of her as a good person.
I handed the envelope to Bradley so he could read the note. He passed it back to me to open,
which I did. Inside was a positive pregnancy test. Well, well, well. It appears Fiona is pregnant.
I wonder if Adam is the father or if it is one of the other men.that Fiona was messing around
with? Either way, it has nothing to do with me, but one of those three men is in for a bit of a
surprise.
I put the test stick back in the envelope and tucked it into the side pocket of one of the duffle
bags. If Adam shows up I’ll give it to him. Let him deal with Fiona.
Bradley and went back down stairs. He took my keys and carried the duffle bags out to the
Rogue and stowed them in the cargo space, makeing sure to lock the vehicle again before
coming back in the house.
The movers had been very efficient. The main floor was now empty of everything, and were
now ready to work on the second floor. These guys were good! An hour later the house was
completely empty, as was the basement and the garage. Victor and Jenna had already taken
the perishible food to the vehicle so we didn’t have to worry about that.
The movers were ready to go. I grabbed my purse and took out ten envelopes and passed one
to each of the men. “Thank you so very much for working on your day off. This is just a small
thank you for your kindness. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you all.” One of the younger
guys opened the envelope, and a “holy f**k” erupted from his mouth in surprise. I had put one
thousand dollars in each of the envelopes. I figuted it was the least I could do for taking them
away from their families on this beautiful day. Now they could go spend time with their loved
ones, and maybe could afford to do something special with them.
I was a bit shocked to receive hugs of thanks from all ten guys, then they were on their way to
drop everything off at the women’s shelter storage facility. I texted the director to let her know
the movers were on their way. She had a couple of staff members there to assist them,
meaning they would be unloaded in no time.
The cleaners chose this time to turn up. I spotted Callie Marsh right away and immediately
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Chapter 36
went over to her, thanking her for her note, telling her how much I appreciated her for letting
me know.
“Anna, I feel horrible. I shoud have told you months ago, but those two are mean to the bone.
They threatened to have me fired and I just can’t afford for that to happen. Being a single mom
supporting my two children is hard enough on my salary, I would lose my home if I lost my
job. I am so sorry.” Callie was distraught, guilt for keeping their secret eating at her
conscience.
“Callie, I don’t blame you for doing that. The fact you told me now is enough. Listen, I know of
a company that is looking to hire a housekeeping manager, the pay is fantastic, the benefits
are exceptional, and the hours are nine to five. You would be perfect for the position. Can I
have the HR manager call you? Would that be okay?”
Graystone International owned a hotel chain, and it was brought to my attention last week
that the current housekeeping manager had decided to take early retirement. Callie really
would be perfect for the position. The first time I had talked to her she had told me she used
to fill that very position for a resort, but with the birth of her twins she felt she needed to be a
stay–at–home mom during their preschool years. Things had gone well until the day her
husband came home and told her he was leaving her for his ‘work wife‘, a girl ten years
younger than Callie, and on the hunt for a man. Any man. He had left Callie high and dry,
without alimony or child support, and he and his side–piece left the area.
I had tried to help her in the past, but she was a proud woman that refused my help. Offering
her this job was a way to help her without treading on her pride.
“Anna, are you serious about recommending me? That would be amazing! I would really
appreciate that so very much.” Callie was excited at the prospect of getting back into a job
she loved. Her face was shining with hope.
“I will text my friend right away. What’s your phone number?” I entered her number into my
contacts and saved it. “I will ask her to call you this weekend if that’s okay. No sense wasting
time, right?” Her smile spoke volumes. This woman had been struggling and now she was
being thrown a lifeline.
“Anna, this shouldn’t take us too long to clean. The five of us should be done in about an hour
if that’s okay with you. I best get inside and make sure everything is taken care of.” She
hurried off leaving me, Bradley, Victor and Jenna standing around in the dirveway.
I walked into the garage and hit the remote to close the overhead garage door, the walked out
and stood on the front lawn looking at the flower beds in front of the house. Noticing a few
weeds I bent down to pull them making sure to smooth out the mulch as I went. The other
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three were standing by the vehicle chatting, passing the time.
The sound of breaks being applied, and a car door opening, and closing with a loud thump was not something I could ignore. I stood up and turned around to see what was going on.
“Anna? What’s going on?” Adam questioned. Yep, trouble is on my doorstep.
