Carved

CHAPTER 22

DYLAN

Crazy family, indeed.

We spent the rest of the week in New York before the girls had to go back for their job at Duck’s.  We made it back to Pennsylvania just in time, but when we passed by, there was a large crowd of girls with their Dyligent Dexterity and DylDoe shirts.  Unbelievable. We knew we wouldn’t be able to watch their show tonight without being attacked. Reluctantly, we had no choice but to drop off the girls and wait for their return.  

Casper and Benji head off to their girlfriends' home and Dexter comes with me to my new place.  Mine's and Ella's. Hopefully I can convince her to move in with me immediately. Now that I have her back, I don't want her out of it.  I see the fear in her eyes every time I try to bring her closer. I know she's scared of getting hurt again, but I hope my plan will convince her that we are destined to be together for the rest of our lives.

My dreamy smile is replaced with humorous laughter when I enter the family room and hear squeaking.  Dexter is sitting on the couch glaring at me and squeaking the dog toy as he continued to swear his vengeance.  He claims that as his 'brother' our pranks are limited to the outside world and not family. I pranked Colton all of the time and he did it right back.  Dex is no different. I say it served him right for flirting with my girl. He had found the culprit of the squeak between the mattress and his headboard.  It was Benji's brilliant idea.

He stops squeezing the life out of the dog toy he's imagining is my neck and turns toward the door when we hear the doorbell.  We stare at each other in questioning of who it could be. I didn't invite anybody and Colton said he has other plans tonight. Maybe the plans changed.

"Mom?"  My eyes widen with surprise after opening the door and seeing her standing there.  Naturally, she arrived by limo.

"May I come in?"  She raises a perfectly groomed eyebrow when I remain blocking the door over my shock of her sudden visit.

I move aside for her to enter and I'm not surprised to see Dex is no longer around.  He most likely hid in a closet or behind a curtain upon hearing it was my mother visiting.  My mom saunters inside like a Queen and I suddenly feel like a peasant living in a straw hut.  She's an interior designer and decorates luxury homes larger than this. She can make a dump look like a high-end mansion.  People would pay anything to have her design their home. They seek out her opinion and her approval. I wanted none of it. This place is my home and holds my memories.  I didn't want her to change anything and I know I would have struggled telling her no.  

"I always liked this house."  She surprises me, because I wasn't expecting to get her approval.  "But your father insisted on buying that ratty old house."

"Umm."  I scratch the back of my neck unsure of what to say.  I once liked that old house. Not for what it was, but who it was next to.  My Ella.

"I tried buying it from that old hag, but would you believe she refused to sell it to me?  It wasn't much to look at, but I saw potential and knew it would be beautiful by the time I was done with it."  She looks around again. "Colton said he was working on it. It looks the same. When is Mrs. Scag moving out her furniture?"

"Unbelievable."  I run my hands down my face.  "I bought the house furnished.  This place has a lot of good memories and I wanted to keep them.  Colton did make some changes to bring back some of the original architecture and he hired Kennedy to remodel a few of the rooms…"

"He hired Kennedy."  Her eye twitches. "Her abilities are on the lower end.  She's not qualified."

"She's his girlfriend."  My shoulders drop from exhaustion.  She's going to want to take over. Soon our toilets will be made of pearls and have solid gold flushers.  I don't know how to kick her out. She's my mom.