Tracy Madison - Miracle Under the Mistletoe

“I get that.” It was Olivia’s turn to sigh. “How about this? You take some time to think this through, and I’ll talk with Grady. I’ll see where his thoughts are, and if he’s considering yanking me out of my home and stealing my cat away.” The words were said sarcastically, as if Olivia thought the entire matter was a joke. But inside, she wasn’t laughing. She had hurt Grady. And Samantha was the expert on this particular subject. “I-if everything seems okay after I talk with him, will you agree to represent me then?”

“I’d want to talk with him, too. But if that goes well, then yes, of course I’ll represent you, sweetie.”

Relief filtered over Olivia. If forced, she could get through this using someone other than Samantha as her attorney. Well, she was pretty sure she could. But she didn’t want to. All of this was tougher than she’d expected, and having someone she trusted lead her through the maze would make everything a lot easier. “Thank you. I’ll call him and see what we can figure out.”

“One word of advice. Be ready with a list of your combined property and go through every item together. Don’t think anything is too trivial. I’ve seen tempers flare over something as simple as who gets to keep the twenty-five-dollar coffeemaker.”

“I’ll make a list and I’ll be prepared for a Grady I’ve never met before. But I don’t think any of this is necessary,” Olivia said. “We don’t hate each other.”

“No, my dear. You love each other. And those divorces are always the messiest.”

“I think we’ll be fine.”

Samantha’s only response was a very unladylike grunt. Olivia let that go, and instead, changed the topic to something less emotionally draining. After a few more minutes, they finished their conversation and hung up.

Olivia stared at the phone in her hand, considering calling Grady now to set up a meeting for later in the week. But she wasn’t ready to hear his voice, so with a sigh, she tossed the phone on the counter and made her way into the living room. Ever since Grady’s agreement yesterday morning, all she wanted was to get the process started. To her, it was like ripping off a Band-Aid. The faster you did it, the less it would hurt. That was her hope, anyway.

She’d barely settled on the couch with a book when the rumble of a vehicle turning into her driveway had her jumping up to look out the window. Shivers rolled through her when she saw Grady exiting his truck and heading up the front walk. What did he want? He almost never stopped by without some type of a prior warning.

She gave serious thought to ignoring the doorbell when it rang. Her car was parked in the garage so she could easily pretend she wasn’t home. And even though Grady still had a key to the house, he respected her privacy. The bell pealed again. Samantha’s concerns reverberated in Olivia’s mind. Oh, what the hell. Maybe she and Grady could work some of this out now and get it over with. Before she made it to the door, however, she heard the unmistakable sound of a key turning in the lock.

What in heaven’s name did he think he was doing?

Grady waltzed in, caught sight of her hovering near the end of the hallway and gave her the widest grin she’d ever seen. That should have been her first clue. “Hi, honey,” he drawled. “I’m home.”

“Wh-what?” He certainly didn’t appear to be a man with a broken heart.

“I said I’m home.” He raised his brows in question. “I rang the doorbell twice. Why didn’t you answer?”

“I was busy. And I didn’t know you were coming over.” She put her hands on her hips in an attempt to ignore the sinking sensation currently developing in the lower regions of her stomach. “And since when do you let yourself in? You don’t live here anymore, Grady.”

“Oh, but I do. I’m moving back in until we get this divorce stuff worked out. As of now.” His stride ate up the floor between them in mere seconds. Leaning in close, he tugged a strand of her hair. “Won’t it be fun being roomies again?”

“Wh-what?” she stuttered again. “You’re joking, right? You can’t do that!”

“Oh, I can. I checked it out with my attorney.” Now he chucked her chin, as if she were a child. “This is perfectly legit.”

“It’s Sunday.” She backed out of his reach and instructed herself to stay calm, to focus on the facts. “How did you hire an attorney on a Sunday?”

“She…I mean he’s a friend of Jace’s. Nice fellow and a really smart guy. He gave me some great advice.” Grady winked. “Advice I’ve decided to take.”

“He gave you crap advice if he told you that you can move back into a house you haven’t lived in for almost a full year!” No way was this happening. Uh-uh. Not if she had anything to say about it.

“But I can. Did you miss that, Olly? I own this house as much as you do, and we’re still legally married, we were never legally separated, and none of our property has been divided. So yes, I’m moving in until a judge tells me I have to move out.” Grady’s grin widened. She sort of wanted to slap him. Hard. “I have some stuff in the truck, but I’ll be bringing more over throughout the week.”

“No. I won’t allow this,” she said in a shaky whisper. He couldn’t live here with her. No, no, no. Talk about a compromising position. She barely had enough strength to deal with him when she had to, but his being here every single day? No. “Absolutely not.”

“Want to help bring a few things in?” he asked as if he hadn’t heard her.

“No, I do not! Don’t move a muscle, Grady. I’m calling Samantha. She’ll tell you that you can’t do this!” She didn’t give him time to answer, just raced to the kitchen to grab the phone. When Sam answered, Olivia breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Sam?”

“Hey. That was quick. What’s up?”

“Grady’s here. He says that some crackpot lawyer told him he can move back into the house.” The front door slammed shut. Olivia ran into the living room and peered through the drapes. “Sam! He’s bringing in his luggage. You have to tell him that he can’t do this.”

“Do the two of you still own the house together?” Samantha asked, her voice strangely calm.

“Yes, but—”

“Then he can. He’s your husband and the house is his property, too, sweetie. It seems as if he’s staking a claim.”

“So what am I supposed to do?”

“At the moment? Nothing. But once you hire an attorney, you can ask the court to force Grady to move out for the duration of the divorce proceedings,” Samantha mused. “He hasn’t lived there for a while, so that might help you. But the facts will come out. He took the apartment to give you space in the hopes that you two could eventually work on your marriage. It’s a possibility that a judge won’t view that as property abandonment. And trust me, you’re better off if you and Grady can decide who’s getting what. Don’t let a judge make those decisions if you can help it.”

Olivia ran to the hallway and pointed to the door when it opened again. “Don’t do this, Grady. Please.”

He grinned and deposited two large suitcases on the floor. “Any plans for dinner yet? I thought we could order a pizza,” he said, before heading back out to his pickup. Forget sort of. She wanted to see her hand mark in glaring red on his cheek.

“You’re not eating here!” Olivia hollered after him.

“Olivia? What’s going on?” Sam asked.

“He wants to order pizza. To eat. Here. After he unpacks, I’m assuming.” She kicked one of Grady’s suitcases. Hard. So hard she probably bruised her toe. “He can’t stay here.”

“He can, Olivia. You can stay with me until you can get a court date, but there’s always the possibility that a judge will order you to move out. Do you want to take that chance?”