Chapter 36

Jake

It’s moving day. After relaxing at Kenilworth for a few days, giving Annie a little more time to rest and recuperate, we decide it’s time to move to my apartment in downtown Chicago.

There’s not much to pack at Kenilworth because we didn’t bring a lot with us. So, we pack up our stuff, Charlie too, and after saying an emotional good-bye to Elly and George, we head back to the city.

I pull the Tahoe into the underground parking garage and park near the elevators to make the trip upstairs as easy as possible for Annie. She’s walking fine, but I don’t want her to overdo it.

Aiden jumps out of the vehicle, Stevie tucked beneath one arm and Paul the Panda tucked beneath the other. He’s excited about seeing his new place of residence. “I can’t believe we’re going to live with you, Jake!” he says, practically bouncing in his sneakers.

Charlie takes him by the hand as we head for the elevators. I bring up the suitcases.

“My apartment is on the forty-sixth floor,” I tell Annie as we ride up in the elevator. “So is Charlie’s apartment, and my sister Lia’s. Shane and Beth live two floors above us in the penthouse apartment.”

The elevator doors open, and I lead Annie down the hall to my apartment. I have an electronic keypad, so I show her how to use it to let herself in.

Charlie parts from us, to go to her own apartment and unpack.

I usher Annie and Aiden inside my—our—apartment. The place has been closed up for a couple of weeks now, and the air is stale. I flip on all the lights and open the windows to get some fresh air.

“Our bedroom is down the hall,” I tell her, pointing. “We have our own bathroom, and there’s also one in the hallway. Aiden can have the spare bedroom, here.”

While I carry the suitcases to their perspective destinations, Annie tours the apartment, checking out the bedrooms, the bathrooms, the kitchen and laundry room, and the living room. There’s a sliding glass door off the living room that leads to a balcony overlooking Lake Shore Drive, with Lake Michigan not too far beyond that. It’s definitely a million dollar view.

It’s clean at least—I have a cleaning company come by weekly—but otherwise, it’s nothing fancy. It’s certainly nothing compared to her parents’ palatial home. And I’m sure the house she shared with Patterson was probably pretty nice, too. This is just a bachelor pad.

“I know it’s not much, but it’s just temporary,” I tell her, following her as she looks things over.

She turns and slides her arms around my waist. “It’s perfect.”

I wrap my arms around her, holding her close, thinking it’s pretty damn satisfying to have her here under my roof. I never in my wildest dreams thought this would ever happen.

Aiden comes running down the hallway into the living room. “My room is awesome,” he says, throwing his arms around our legs as he joins in our hug.

There’s a brisk knock on the door and then I hear the beep of the keypad as someone lets himself or herself in. The door opens and Lia walks in, followed by Jonah.

“Hey, guys,” Lia says. “Welcome home.”

Annie has met Lia before, so I’m sure she remembers her. Lia and Jonah came a couple of times to the hospital to see Annie, but Annie was either asleep or pretty out of it to remember much.

Annie takes one look at Jonah, and then she looks at me, her eyes wide as saucers. “Is that who I think it is?” she whispers.

“Yeah, my boyfriend is a big, famous rock star,” Lia says, apparently having overheard Annie’s comment. “Whoop-dee-doo. Don’t fawn over him or he’ll get a big head.”

Laughing, Jonah pulls Lia into his arms and kisses her. “You already give me a big head, tiger.”

Lia swats at Jonah. “For crying out loud, behave! There are children present.”

“Hi,” Aiden says, walking right up to Lia. “Who are you?”

“I’m Lia. I’m his sister.” She points at me of course. “Who are you?”

“I’m Aiden.” Aiden points at me, too. “I guess he’s like my dad now.”

“I guess you’re right,” Lia says. “Nice to meet you, Aiden.” Lia offers her hand to the kid and they shake. Then to Annie, she says, “Welcome to the neighborhood.”

* * *

After unpacking, we head out to buy groceries and stock up on some things Annie and Aiden will need. Then we come home and cook dinner together for the first time in our kitchen.

We eat in the living room, sitting around the coffee table, and watch the animated dinosaur movie again, because apparently, you can never watch too many dinosaur movies.

After dinner, we pop over to Charlie’s apartment to say hello. Aiden’s happy to hear that there’s a private pool on the roof of the building, and yes, he can go swimming up there.

Finally, we head back to our apartment and give Aiden a bath. Then he puts on his PJs and climbs into bed. I sit on the bed and take turns with Annie reading him stories.

“Do you think my dad will find us here?” he asks.

Annie looks at me, her eyes wide with panic. We’ve been waiting for the right time to tell Aiden that his father is dead. It looks like the time has come.

“Well, Aiden,” Annie says, fishing for the right words.

How can there ever be the right words in a situation like this? Despite all the horrible things Ted did, he was still the boy’s father.

Annie puts her arm around Aiden’s shoulders and pulls him close. “Sweetie, I have some sad news to tell you.”

“What?”

“Your dad… he won’t be finding us here.”

“Oh. Well, that’s good news, right?”

Annie blows out a breath. “Sweetie…” And then she stalls, looking like she’s on the verge of tears.

I get down and kneel at the side of the bed, taking Aiden’s hands in mine. “Aiden, I’m very sorry to tell you this, but your father passed away.”

“Passed away? What do you mean?”

“I mean... he died.”

“Oh.”

“Do you know what that means? When someone dies?”

“Yeah.”

But I can tell by the look on Aiden’s face that he doesn’t. “It means he’s gone, and he won’t be coming back.”

“Ever?”

“Right. He won’t ever come back.”

Aiden’s brow furrows, and he looks so damn confused. He looks to me, and then back to his mom. “He’s never coming back?”

“That’s right, honey,” Annie says.

Aiden presses his face into Annie’s chest, and he clutches her tightly as he starts sobbing.

Annie glances at me, looking like she’s ready to bawl too.

I stand and scoop both of them into my arms and carry them to the master suite, depositing them in my big bed. “I think we all need to sleep here together tonight.”

Annie nods, her eyes swimming with tears.

I strip down to my boxers and climb into bed. Annie and I tuck Aiden between us. Aiden clings to Annie, seeming a bit lost at the moment.

I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night.