They tried their best to stop her but Reyona was determined to go.
Realizing that her ploy to keep her from going didn't work, Toria said, "Only on one condition."
"What condition?" Reyona asked.
"I am coming with you," Toria declared as if she were expecting a protest from Reyona.
Reyona smiled and said, "Yes, I have no problem with that." Then, to butter her up, she said, "Who else will I go with if not my favourite sister?"
"I am your only sister!" Toria said while trying to suppress her smile. "And you are being impossible. You should stay in that bed!"
Maxwell also had his own condition to add. Or a request, as he called it.
Andrea had to do a check on her and give her the green light, that she could move about without endangering the recovery of her legs.
Reyona baulked at that since she knew he had the doctor in his pocket.
What if he told the doctor to tell her what would be in his favour?
But her parents immediately agreed with that, and they declared that they would only let her leave if the doctor said so.
Reyona suppressed the glare she wanted to toss his way.
Though his face was the perfect picture of passive concern, she was sure he was trying not to smile at her predicament.
She wondered why they all seemed to agree with everything he said.
Yes, she was grateful to him; Grams would be disappointed otherwise; she just knew that he was not as innocent as he pretended to be.
There was just something about him that unsettled her, and she was glad that they had never been left alone together before.
Reyona couldn't remember being intimidated by anyone.
So, yeah, his presence rubbed her in the wrong way, and she was certain that he knew it somehow.
One more reason for her to get out of this place.
So she agreed to listen to the doctor's verdict.
"Only if it is in my favour," she thought to herself as Andrea was called in.
To her surprise, the doctor gave her the go-ahead. "As long as you don't strain your legs or do anything tasking, you will be fine for the couple of hours that you will be out. For extra assurance, Nurse Sam will go with you."
"Oh great, one more babysitter," Reyona thought to herself, but she didn't say it out loud as she thanked the doctor.
What mattered was that she would be doing something else that day than lying in bed, sleeping, and engaging in chitchats.
Maxwell offered to take her and Carlisle immediately said, "That would put my mind more at rest. Thank you, Max."
"Max? When did they become that close?" Reyona wondered as she waited patiently for them to leave.
At least she would have one less babysitter.
Celia and her family had gone home the night before. Reyona missed the baby, though, and Celia had already promised to check in on her that day.
She just knew she would want to come along with them if she was around.
Reyona did not know what she was going to meet at what used to be her house.
Maxwell had offered to bring her pictures and videos of it, but she had declined his offer.
So, this was going to be the first time she would see it as it was, and she would rather not have a baby around when she started bawling her eyes out.
She was not known for bawling, but then she had not known she would be a divorcee too, had she?
It's better to be prepared for the unexpected.
Her mom declared that her heart couldn't stand to see the damage again that morning, so she would just sit this one out.
Since Maxwell had convinced them to stay at his place instead of getting a hotel, they were right there in the mansion.
Immediately, they mentioned that they would stay back and wait for her, and he immediately offered them a tour of the land and everything they might be interested in trying out.
With a press of a button, he summoned a man who seemed like the manager of the house, and he simply said. "Do whatever they want."
"Yes, sir," the man said immediately.
When her mom said she might have to go into town later to get some things for the twins, the man was already listing out places she could visit offhand.
Reyona itched.
She had no idea why everything he did towards her and her family made her feel somehow.
Everyone around her seemed to be taking it with levity, and even he made it seem like it was nothing.
But to Reyona, it was more than something.
It seemed to her like she was sinking more and more into his debt with every passing second.
Friend or no friend, he did not look like someone who did anything just for the fun of it.
She let out a sigh of relief when they finally left her.
Reyona rolled her eyes when she heard her mom telling Maxwell on their way out of the room that he should please keep an eye on her because she could be willful at times.
"One would think they were talking about a twelve-year-old," she mumbled before she accepted the help of the two standby caregivers.
In no time, she was dressed and ready to go.
Reyona chose to sit at the back and Maxwell agreed it was the best option for her legs.
She almost snapped, "Nobody asked for your opinion," but she merely nodded, entered the car, and smiled at the nurse beside her.
The breeze blowing through the window of his spiffy, black Lincoln Nautilus felt heavenly to her.
It was a far cry from the regulated temperature in the room.
Toria chatted like a magpie all the way.
She even managed to draw the nurse into a discussion while Maxwell also added his one-syllable response from time to time.
Toria had left when she saw that she was not in the mood for conversation.
So, Reyona closed her eyes and let everything wash over her.
The words, the smells, the breeze-they all seemed like a buffer to her while she tried to imagine what might be awaiting her.
"It is way better now. I am glad you didn't see it the way it was," Toria had said to her.
Reyona had no idea how she had known, but she was sure of it.
She opened her eyes suddenly and true enough, Maxwell was looking at her through the rearview mirror.
The normal thing for any decent person would have been for him to look away in embarrassment when she caught him staring or even apologise for it.
Not him.
He simply held her gaze for a while without the smallest apology in his gaze. Instead, his gaze was…
He looked away suddenly as he took a turn.
Reyona looked out of the window and realised that it was the last turn that led to her place.
She readjusted in her seat and realised that anticipation was not the only thing making her heart race.
It had something to do with that ridiculous stare, too.
She readjusted in her seat again and cleared her throat.
"Are you fine?" Nurse Sam asked in her breathy voice.
"Yes, uhm. I am fi…"
"Are you ready?" Maxwell asked suddenly.
It annoyed Reyona so much that his voice startled her, and she snapped, "Yes, I am fine. Why wouldn't I be fine?"
"Okay," he said just as the house came into view.
Oh.