Chapter 48

Everything was going perfectly.

The meeting with the teachers and the stakeholders had been flawless. The building looked beautiful. The new students were at their orientation sessions in their classrooms. The real first day of school would be tomorrow, but I felt that it was important to have the actual kids on the premise today. They loved it. And their energy was radiating throughout the building and around the grounds.

I could feel it, how great an environment this was going to be to learn. How much they’d get out of it, going to a school like this, and being in an inter-pack setting.

I’d been feeling pangs of emotion all morning.

A significant part of me wished my pup could got to school here.

I could see it. A kid who looked like me wearing a backpack too big for them—my heart breaking at how little they were and how soon they’d grow into it. Hunter and I staring wistfully at them as they ran across this grassy field and into the classroom, leaving us behind.

Of course, that was never going to be the case.

I’d seldom felt so alone.

Not only because of the imagined future with a family that was never going to exist, but because of how everyone in the pack was treating me.

The last event in my agenda was a luncheon on the lawn for the members of both packs who had been involved in the planning. Adrian had invited everyone important, and Sean and the members of his team I’d met were busy networking.

Everyone from my court was fawning over Maya.

The slight from the day before had only magnified today. Elle and Laila and Leo were all fawning over her.

Their opportunism was shocking. I’d thought I knew them all better than that.

How was it that they were sure she had so much more power than I did, so quickly?

I looked across the lawn toward them. Maya was at the center of a big group, wearing a flawless outfit. She was in a cream, high necked sweater dress and camel boots that came up past her knees. She was svelte and elegant and professional, and was wearing a big smile. I couldn’t hear what she was saying from here, but from everyone’s reactions, everything was either hilarious or brilliant.

And of course, Hunter’s arm was around her.

Every time I saw them together, they looked more like a couple.

What stung the most today was how perfect they looked together. They were a beautiful couple. They complemented each other perfectly. They would have beautiful children.

Children who would have the chance to go to this school that I’d worked so hard on,.

Harsh mechanical chimes came from my purse. My phone was ringing. I was relieved, for a minute. I’d had enough of standing around by myself looking awkward. At least I would have something to be busy with if I had a phone call to take.

But then I saw the number.

It was grandmother’s long-term care facility. But it wasn’t the extension I recognized as her room number.

My limbs went numb with fear.

“Hello,” I said hesitantly.

A male voice greeted me and I prepared to crumble.

Realistically, I’d been preparing to lose her for years. But If I actually did, I didn’t know how I would go on. She was the one person who really loved me, and who I really loved.

He introduced himself and told me why he was calling.

It took my stupefied brain longer than it should have to catch up.

The world wasn’t ending.

He was from the billing office.

“There’s a past due balance on the account, as I was saying, and you’re listed as the guarantor. We just need to try to get it sorted out before the next billing cycle closes, since our policy is that we can no longer provide care and have to issue an eviction notice when an account is more than 30 days overdue.

I’d looked at the account not long ago. I had wanted to check in as part of my financial planning for leaving the pack and raising the pup on my own. I remembered being pleased with the number—thinking it was enough to last for the next three years at least.

“Can I confirm the account number you have for the autopay?”

“He rattled off numbers I recognized. It was right.”

“And how long past due is the account?”

“It’s 10 days now.”

“Can I ask why this is the first notice I’m getting?” I was hesitant to ask. None of this was his fault, and it wouldn’t really have mattered, but this would have been a lot easier to figure out a couple weeks earlier than with the ticking clock I had now.

He paused and she heard typing.

My records are showing that we reached out to your office the day after the payment was due, then a few days after that. We left messages with someone in your office.

Of course. Someone hadn’t passed along the message. I wanted to know who.

“Can you tell me who you spoke to?”

More typing and hesitation.

“Looks like it was Laila.”

‘Thank you so much for your time,” I said, wondering why I hadn’t gotten the messages. I knew she had a lot on her plate, we all did, but this was important. And she knew that.

I fumbled for my phone and tried to remember where to check that online account. Of course I couldn’t remember the password. I was trying all my usuals when something made me feel self-conscious.

As I looked up, there was a heavy silence hanging in the air. It was time for the speeches, and whoever was supposed to be on the stage wasn’t there. Shit, was it me?

I jogged up onto the stage, where Sean was beckoning me from behind the podium. I said a few words, though I wasn’t sure what, hoping it wasn’t too repetitive with whatever Sean had just said.

I looked out across the crowd, trying to see from their faces if I’d made any sense.

Adrian was smiling at me.

I couldn’t believe he was there. He had already realistically been too important to attend events like this—or at least he didn’t have the time to do it very often. But there he was, looking at me from across the crowded room. As I walked down from the stage, I looked in his direction and held up a 1 with my finger.

I tucked myself behind the stage and leaned against it. I reset my password, using the code it sent to my email to check.

The special savings account for grandmother’s care was empty. As I’d known it would be.

There was only one thing that could have happened, of course.

James and my dad had spent it all. Every cent. Even after I’d just given James a big check, they’d still depleted us.

I sighed, trying to decide what I would do next. There was a crinkle of leaves and branches, and I jumped.

Adrian was striding toward me.