Moving On

Chapter 21 - Part 1

When they were driving up to the mansion, Kate's phone buzzed. She pulled it out from her bag, thinking it was Lydia returning her calls. Instead, it was a text from Evelyn.

She read it and shook her head.

"Is that Lydia?"

"Nope. Eve says to stay away from the office today," she said, grimacing at the thought of Joanne finding out about their engagement.

The same grimace appeared on Tyler. He must've been thinking of the same situation. "Tell her I owe her one."

"Maybe we should build a gate in front of the house. That way, Joanne won't be able to get in. It's safer than having her loiter outside the house," Marianne said from the back seat.

"She's Dan's sister. I don't want to make things so ugly, and it doesn't make much of a difference with her standing outside the gate."

Mr. Sawyer turned to Marianne and asked softly, "Is this the same Joanne who splashed juice into Kate's eyes?"

Marianne nodded grimly. "Which reminds me, have you gone for the checkup that Dan paid for?"

"Nope. I doubt I can head down until the team's probation is over," she replied and looked in the rear-view mirror to observe Marianne's reaction.

Immediately, Marianne leaned over and updated Mr. Sawyer. "One of her design teams made some major mistakes, so Kate and Evelyn split them up into separate teams. Now they're missing a team and have to take over the projects themselves."

Mr. Sawyer nodded in understanding, and Kate broke into a smile.

Since taking a break from work, Mr. Sawyer had been around the house a lot, especially around Marianne. And Marianne didn't seem to mind at all.

"Don't worry about the girl; we'll be around the house," Mr. Sawyer said.

"Thanks, but I'm hoping she won't make a big deal of it."

After all, what Joanne had with Tyler was simply a childish infatuation. When Joanne had found out about them, she didn't create any drama. She kept quiet and left. Her only outburst was when Kate went after her, hoping to talk to her.

The moment that memory surfaced in her mind, she felt a twinge of guilt for how her talk ended. "Anyway, since I'm not going to work, I think I'll work on the shed later today."

"I'll go with you," Tyler said.

As they stepped out of the car, she glanced at her watch. It was nearly two in the morning. She stretched her neck and back while Tyler and Mr. Sawyer took their bags from the trunk.

After muttering the usual goodnights, Mr. Sawyer and Marianne walked toward their end of the wing.

Tyler took Kate's bag up to her room and placed both their bags by the door. He stepped aside for her to move in while he stood by the door, smiling at her.

"Did you have fun?" he asked and ran his fingers through the ends of her hair.

"I did."

His smile grew into a wide grin. "Good." Leaning in, he kissed her softly and slowly. "Goodnight. I love you."

She looked dazedly at him. Their kisses never seemed to last long enough for her. "Goodnight. I love you, too."

She plodded over to her bed. Though she hadn't driven, she was exhausted. She hadn't slept a wink on the drive back, staying awake to keep Tyler company.

Now that she was on her bed, the exhaustion left her, and she couldn't stop staring at her ring.

She still remembered the night that Mr. Sawyer had read the will. She remembered how angry Tyler was and how she'd thought the late Mr. Hayes had gone out of his mind.