Wild Billionaire Romance - Chapter 104: Chapter 104

MEREDITH
A few hours earlier…
“There! That’s the last box,” I said to little Sammy, Ellie’s son.
It wasn’t unusual for residents of a shelter to be reticent about sharing their names, but Sammy was too young for that kind of subterfuge. After the first few days seeing me St. Elizabeth’s, he’d lost his shyness.
“Sammy, what do you say?” Ellie chided, kneeling down to help her son look through the small box of toys I’d just set down in his new room.
The fantastic thing about this house was that each of the four floors, plus the attic where Ellie and Sammy were going to stay, were their own suites. My idea was to have single families, or two women without children, on each floor and each floor had its own entryway complete with a door and a lock that could only be accessed with a special code via the keypad.
I didn’t know how the construction crew Josef hired managed it, but it was almost like they turned the home into an apartment building, keeping the hallway stairs separate from each floor.
That way, there would be privacy. No overcrowding. And most important, no fear.
The house was way off the grid. Josef’s lawyers and the shelter’s decided the best way to do this was if the company who owned the house did not bear the shelter’s name.
I agreed.
I mean, even if an abusive ex had any idea his wife or girlfriend ran away to St. Elizabeth’s, he would be hard pressed to find this place since it had no paper trail or obvious connection to the shelter.
I only hoped it would work out the way I’d planned.
In my experience, having a place to call home without the guards and the fear of being found was the best way for victims of abuse to return to any kind of normalcy.
Ellie and Sammy needed a place to heal, to grow, to learn to trust again. I hoped this was the place.
“Thank you, Mewedith,” Sammy said, his little mispronunciation of my name positively adorable.
“My pleasure, Sammy. Oh, look what I found! I think this little guy wants to play with some of your other cars,” I whispered, pulling a shiny red toy car from my bag.
“A new car! Mommy, look!”
“Mrs. Aziz, you didn’t have to do that,” Ellie said, biting her lower lip.
“Please, I keep telling you to call me Meredith and it really is no big deal,” I replied, watching the towheaded boy play on the carpeted floor.
“Meredith. Okay, I can do that,” Ellie whispered. “Um, I just want to thank you so much. For everything. This means the world to me.”
“Don’t worry about thanking me. Let’s just concentrate on getting you two well and fed. I am so sorry there must have been a mix up with the deliveries, but the guys will be back soon. And Mrs. Stevens, the caretaker we hired, will arrive tomorrow. Her room is on the first floor. She’ll be living here full time,” I said.
“Yep, I remember. I met her last week when she came to the shelter. And no problem about the groceries, I’m just so thankful we don’t have to be in the city. It was confusing for Sammy,” she said, clearing her throat. “Anyway, um, thank you so much.”
Ellie nodded, blinking back tears, and I found myself doing the same.
“It’s no problem, Ellie. You two are going to be alright. Now, I’m going to go see⁠—”
My phone pinged, interrupting me, and I grabbed it, expecting an update from Josef. It was only four o’clock, and he wasn’t due back for a few more hours, but I was hoping maybe they caught a good jet stream or something.
But it wasn’t my husband.
“Is something wrong?” Ellie asked.
“Oh, um, I just got a strange text from one of the staff at my stepfather’s estate. She says there is some kind of emergency, something about a possible gas leak, and she needs me right away,” I muttered, trying to make out the confusing text.
“Maybe you should call?” Ellie suggested.
“Good idea,” I replied, and tried the number.
“Hello? Hello? This is Meredith.”
“Miss Merry, thank God! It’s Gretchen Meriwether. Do you remember me? Um, I need you to come right away. You must come! There’s been a⁠—”
My heart stopped when she said her name. I had no idea Gretchen still worked there, if it was in fact the same maid who’d helped me run away.
Our connection was terrible, and I could barely understand a word she was saying. Before I could ask her to repeat it, the call ended.
“What happened?” Ellie asked.
“I don’t know. It was one of the maids working at my stepfather’s house. The call dropped, but she sounded super upset.”
“You mentioned you grew up near here, right? So the house is in Morristown? Why don’t you go check it out?” Ellie asked, concern marring her features.
“I would, but no, I mean, I’m not leaving you until the guys bring back the delivery,” I murmured, trying to redial the number, but it wouldn’t connect.
I mean, they were just going for a grocery run, but I wouldn’t expect Ellie to be okay with stranger men in the house. No way.
“Don’t be silly, Meredith. You can leave. It’s okay. We’ve met all the security guards before. Right, Sammy?” Ellie said, and I think she even rolled her eyes.
That was a good sign.
“Yep, Mommy! Mewedith, look!” Sammy said, racing his car back and forth.
“Wow, you are so good at that,” I told the little boy, and for one moment I imagined what it would be like when or if Josef and I had children.
My heart squeezed and my mouth went dry. I never thought I would ever have children of my own, but I realized suddenly, I wanted them. With him.
That was probably a conversation I needed to have with my husband. I shook my head and glanced down at another message apparently from Gretchen. I didn’t think it was politically correct to call her a maid, but my mind was blank.
She worked for the service that took care of Franklin Gray’s estate and had since I was a child. I knew Josef had kept them on until I got around to clearing out the house and putting it on the market.
We were supposed to do it together. But then he got called away.
Whatever this gas leak emergency was, Gretchen sounded frantic, and not being able to get another call through was making me anxious.
Maybe Ellie was right. Maybe I should stop by.
It was only a few minutes away by car.
Sammy squealed and raced his cars across the carpeted floor. I lifted my gaze watching the way Ellie looked after him with a mixture of intense love and sadness in her eyes, it just made me want to cry.
It also made me want to beat the crap out of her ex.
Especially when I focused on her arm, still in its cast.
Thank goodness her eye was better.
Only the faintest yellow remained of the shiner she’d had when she first came to St. Elizabeth’s.
“Meredith, we are fine. You have done so much for us, now I insist. Go see what is going on at your stepfather’s estate, then go home! You work too hard, and your husband is coming back, right?”
“He is,” I said, a smile teasing at the corner of my lips.
Ellie nodded. I liked seeing this side of her. The woman had grit. Sure, her husband did his best to beat it out of her, but there it was all the same. And I couldn’t have been prouder.
“Alright, tell you what. You and Sammy stay up here. I gave you the codes to lock the door to this floor, and you can engage the lock until after the guys leave. I’ll have Mario have one of them text you, so you know when they delivered the groceries, deal?”
“Deal,” she said and grinned.