We’d gone from a woman that had been in the sex trafficking division for several years, Maria Vasquez, who’d put herself through law school while raising her children, lost her oldest daughter to traffickers, and was now raising her grandchildren alone, to an unknown Deputy DA that wasn’t getting the best reviews from people we spoke with.
We were hoping the new Deputy DA would maintain the same level of integrity that Maria had established. Our hopes were diminishing.
The visit with DA Jones was a huge disappointment. He only allowed us fifteen minutes of his time and basically, treated us like we were in his way. He had little to no interest in learning about Safe Haven, and when we invited him for a visit, he declined. In fact, it was such an unusually uncomfortable visit, it put me on pins and needles. By the time the short meeting ended, I was fit to be tied.
Susan, who was usually calm and cool headed, was cursing up a blue streak. Neither of us was prepared to be dismissed by this new Deputy DA. The treatment left us both quite baffled by the response from him. I thought I’d better do a little bit of investigating on what was happening with this particular guy, where he came from, and what his record was at his old position.
I’d been gone for a while, so my old contacts were a little rusty. I was going to have to work extra hard at making new relationships, and re-establishing the old ones. However, I also had in my corner the fact I had saved a law enforcement officer and enough guys were still around who remembered.
I wasn’t above using those contacts to save these girls, so that’s exactly what I did.
Chapter 10
Avorio Manor
L uckily for me, within a few days my real estate agent Justine, scheduled several homes to view.
Day after day we dropped Agatha with Francesca and her girls, and took off to see the houses Justine had lined up. All of them were gorgeous and beautiful, filled with all of the expected modern amenities.
None of them felt right.
None of them felt like home.
You know, that feeling you get when you enter a home or space or drive onto a property and just know this is your place…the place where you’ll be your best version of you.
Home.
It’d been a very long time since I’ve had that secure feeling. That feeling of belonging and welcoming.
However, none of the properties were really doing it for me, and I felt a little discouraged. That is until the fourth home on the third day of looking.
And we found it.
This was Home…with a capital “H”.
I’d dragged Sophie along with me every day to look at the properties; it was extremely important for me to spend as much time with her as I possibly could before she left for her internship and college, and begin her new adult life. I’d missed out on so much with her and all of the girls. I was determined to capture as much time with her, as she would allow.
Sophie and I rode in the back seat of the Range Rover with Lucas at the wheel, and Justine in the passenger seat.
I felt it the minute we turned from the road.
Passing through the iron gate that was held up by two limestone pillars on each side of the driveway, a tingle went down my spine.
Sophie and I both sat up in our seats, our eyes glued to the scenery passing by us and were amazed to silence.
I reached over and grabbed her hand and squeezed, she squeezed back, and held on.
Both of us were in awe at the beautiful long thin cobblestone driveway, that was lined with cypress trees that were so prevalent in most wine regions. Lavender bushes grew thick under the trees, spilling out over the cobblestone.
Chills ran up my arms… this was a good sign.
“Wow Sydney, this is cool,” Sophie said with wonder as she looked out the window.
Just as Sophie finished her statement the long-secluded driveway opened up onto a stunning cobblestone circular drive with the obligatory water fountain in the center. It reminded me of many of the wineries in Italy, except instead of the water fountain, this one had a single tall cypress tree and lavender growing thick all around it. It was very impressive.
I wondered if Roman would like it.
“Whoa,” Sophie sighed.
I concurred. There really wasn’t any other way to describe the vibe of the place.
“Okay, let's see,” Justine said digging out her paperwork as Lucas pulled the Range Rover in front of the three giant stairs leading to the entrance of the impressive home.
Looking at the house it was not the most visually spectacular of the properties we’d view thus far, nor was it the fanciest. But it was solid. The stone drive was in the same pale ivory shades as the pillars at the entrance of the driveway. The single-story house was also made with the same shades of ivory stone.
Three steps ran the entire length of the front of the long house and were made of dark wood which was carried on at the windows and the giant cathedral double doors. The large doors featured black iron fittings and served beautifully to break up the sea of stone.
Three cypress trees grew against the house on both the right and left sides. The cobblestone drive continued on to the left past the house. The right side where the cobblestone drive ended, stood a beautiful overgrown garden with an iron seat and short iron fencing around a pond. At the end of the house on each side were French doors facing the front.
Taking all this in, my curiosity had me anxious to exit the vehicle, and I was bouncing in my seat as we came to a stop.
Justine opened the file that held the listing information and began relaying the stats on the house, “This is Avorio Manor built by an Italian winemaker in 1927. It’s changed hands three times since and the last owners only had it two years. The story is, a couple from Silicon Valley bought the Manor and completely remodeled the interior. Soon after, the couple divorced. Neither of them ever had an opportunity to live in the home. So other than contractors this house has been empty for….”
“Waiting for me,” I breathed looking up at my new home.
“….. two years.”
“I want to see it all,” I said, walking to the left side of the home past the French doors where the drive extended down the side and out of view from the front.
“The home is basically a “U” shape and this side should be the garages,” Justine said walking with me.
“Yep. That’s a garage. This is a long garage. I’m curious to see what’s on the other side.” I wondered what Roman would do with a garage this size.
I turned on my heel and walked back to the front and stood looking at the house for a moment, then turned to the right and walked to the French doors.
I noted the doors opened up onto the lovely sitting area I’d spotted when we drove up. Now I could see, along with the iron bench, were potted urns of all shapes and sizes, and the small pond had its own waterfall.
“It’s so lush,” I said to no one in particular.
“When the house was originally built the owners planted trees all around the property for privacy and made sure the water rights came with the home. The property has three working wells currently.”
“Really?” I was surprised by this. “He who controls the flow of water - controls power,” I mumbled to myself.
Sophie who was sitting on the iron bench, staring into the pond said, “Can I live here with you?”
I looked at her and said honestly, “Yes,” then looked to Justine, “I want to see inside.”
Sophie screamed, jumped up and tackled me and almost knocked me to the ground. Lucas stepped forward, I’m pretty sure he thought I was going down too, but I managed to stay upright. “You do remember you’re leaving soon right?”
“Yeah I know, but if I get to come home, on vacation and holidays to be here with you and Agatha it’s like I finally have a real home.” Sophie wrapped her arms around me and laid her head on my shoulder .
That statement was like getting punched in the gut. I realized then, that no matter how hard Susan and I tried, Safe
Haven was a house for the girls. A safe place where they could recover and hopefully build their futures, but it was a temporary place to live for them, and not a home the way homes are supposed to be.
“This property also has forty-seven acres of, I believe chardonnay vines, and it’s leased,” Justine said, as she opened the huge front doors.
“I’ll want to see the contract.”
“Of course, you do. It has three barns for all the cats you’ll end up adopting, a horse corral, a two-bedroom detached guest house/pool house, spa and pool and backs up to the river, just like you wanted.”
We entered the home and I’m serious here, I choked up. The ceilings were super high and vaulted; at least fifteen feet, in the same dark wood carried in from outside, with heavy beams running the length of the house.
The entire back wall was glass that looked out on the largest private pool I’d ever seen. The kitchen and living room were open and free-flowing and in all ways perfect. The cabinets were three shades darker than the walls, and the kitchen island made from the same dark wood of the ceiling. The backsplash was a soft off-white tile in a marque pattern with veins of silver and champagne running through. Everything was new and pristine. A shudder ran down my spine knowing I was going to have a beautiful older home, with upgraded everything, that no one had used but me.
The floor consisted of a large stone slab tile of some kind in a similar ivory as the exterior stone. It had a soft metallic champagne veins of movement throughout its flat shiny surface.
All the walls were the same soft misty seafoam blue. It was an unusual choice, but it really worked well, especially with the blue from the pool spilling in through the glass panels and the darker cabinets.
“Master Bed is through these doors.” Justine continued.
The double doors were smaller versions of the entrance doors and opened to a huge master suite that also had a glass back wall and doors looking out onto the pool.
Roman and I would be able to have our coffee out by the pool in the morning and maybe a nice midnight swim before bed. That line of thinking had me stop in my tracks.
“It has two additional bedrooms in the main house and three baths. The side of the house opposite to the garage is a dance studio currently. Apparently, the previous owner’s wife taught ballet.” We left the Master suite and entered the area Justine described.
“My God it's huge!” I said shocked. Looking around I noted the French doors from this room led out to the front of the house and the sitting area and pond where Sophie had asked to live with me. This would be my office. It would give me more room than any office I’d ever had. I would be able to have my desk, an assistant’s desk, a conference table I’d put by the French doors, and a little sitting area I’d put on the opposite end looking out onto the pool.
“Make an offer,” I told Justine.
“You haven’t even seen the back.” Lucas sounded surprised by my decision.
“I am already planning my office furniture and imagining myself here,” I looked at Justine, “I’ll need to see the vineyard lease but, in the meantime, make an offer. And I’ll want a very short escrow.”
“Sophie, you can’t have the master babe, but you can have any other room in the house. Go find your room girl!” That brought on a slew of echoing screams and squeals that carried all throughout the house and made me smile.
“Do we have any interior designers in our group anymore?” I asked Justine.
“I’ll put feelers out to see who is available and interested.”
“Perfect.”
Lucas may or may not have mumbled something like, “Crazy fucking rich women.” But I couldn’t swear on it.
It didn’t matter to me what he thought…I was home.
Chapter 11
Vineyards Are Sexy Too
J ustine submitted my offer on Avorio Manor and the owners accepted it immediately.
Conveniently, or by divine intervention (I’ll let you decide) the Manor was just a street or two over from the Bellini Estate, so I’d be able to pop in on Isabella anytime I liked. And she’d have access to me anytime she liked.
It really was a spectacular piece of property. I was extremely lucky to have picked it up and equally as lucky to have a very short escrow. We were able to close within two weeks and started moving in right away.
True to her word, Justine put out feelers that I needed someone to decorate and set up the Manor, and that’s when I received a call from a very irritated sister, Terra.
“I can’t believe you,” She started the conversation.
“Oh Lord Almighty! What have I done now?” I asked. Knowing full well she was going to lay it on me regardless if I knew why she was upset or not.
“I can’t believe you asked Justine to find you an interior decorator, and you didn’t call me.”
“Are you an interior decorator?” I knew she wasn’t. I also knew full well she’d probably decorated and established more homes than most professionally trained interior decorators in our area. But I needed to buy some time on why I’d forgotten. It was going to take a moment to get used to having an army of able-bodied women at my back, again.
“Yes! Yes, I am as far as you and anyone else in this tribe are concerned, I freaking am! And I am the only one you’ll be using!” Oh, shoot. She was really worked up. Terra rarely got worked up and she even more rarely raised her voice at anyone, especially a sister. I decided I better change my approach and see if I couldn’t get myself out of this.
“Babe, it’s going to be a ton of work. I need literally everything. I don’t even have sponges, for my kitchen sink. I knew you’d insist on doing it for free and I am absolutely not comfortable with taking advantage of you this way.” This tactic might work more in my favor.
“Sydney,” her voice quivered. Oh shoot. Now I’d done it, “If you need to pay me, I get it. But let’s donate whatever you were going to spend on a decorator to Safe Haven in Raquel’s name.”
Now I was going to cry.
“Babe,” I stopped what I was working on and sat back. “That sounds like a wonderful idea,” I whispered. “We could even make a plaque for her and Antonio’s name,” my whisper was now heavy with emotion.
“In loving memory,” She whispered back.
I couldn’t go down this emotional path; I had too much work to do, so I changed the subject.
“You know about Safe Haven?”
“We all know about Safe Haven, sis. Where do you think all the anonymous donations come from? We’ve been waiting for you to bring us on-board. It’s been a long wait,” She finished softly. Of course, they knew. And of course, they took it upon themselves to donate on their own and still wait for me to be ready for them.
I was nothing without these women.
“Raquel told everyone?”
“Not everyone sis, just our close group. It was important to her we make sure the girls had whatever they needed while respecting your wishes for privacy.”
“Of course, she did.” God, I missed her. I’d give anything to talk to her right now, hug her. Tell her how much she meant to me.
Why did I wait so long to come home?
“If it helps any, the thing I wanted to talk to everyone about was Safe Haven.”
“We figured.”
“Okay, let’s do this. When can you meet me at the Manor?”
“Are you kidding me? I’m walking out the door now. All I need from you is some basic desires and your needs, I’ll handle the rest. We can set up a joint bank account and budget what you want to spend on each room. I’ll make the purchases, arrange delivery and set it up when it arrives. You won’t have to do anything but move money into the account.”
“Wow. That sounds great. You’ve got this down.”
“It’s not my first rodeo, sis.”
I smiled to myself. It was so damn good to be home. There had been a few times I had an urge to pick up the phone and call Raquel, and then the deflation of remembering she was gone. This was one of
those times.
“Terra,” I said.
“Yeah?” She answered.
“There’s a young lady who’ll be moving in with me. Can she help select some of the furnishings? She’s never had a home before, and this will mean the world to her.”
“Sydney,” Terra was back to whispering. “Of course, sis. We’re here for you. Whatever you need. Whatever your girls need, we’re here for them too. Send me her contact info and I’ll text her.”
“Thank you,” it was all I could choke out. This was one of those conversations you had only a few times in your life, where big things were said, using only a few small words.
With Terra in charge, I wouldn’t have to worry about the house at all. She would have it up and livable in no time, and that knowledge took a huge amount of weight off my shoulders.
Now was the time to move on to Tall Dark and Handsome, who happened to be arriving at Bellini Estates as Justine, Lucas, Sophie and I returned from Avorio Manor.
Justine left straight away, to make the offer. Lucas went to Isabella’s kitchen to see if he could get in on some leftovers, and I introduced Sophie to Roman, and broke the news to him I would be moving.
I braced myself and told Roman I made an offer on the property.
He folded me up in his arms and said, “I look forward to seeing it.”
That was it. No struggle. No, He Man declarations of him wanting me to stay with him. Nothing.
Fine. Whatever.
Sophie met Roman and decided he was perfect for me and so handsome , which was not news to me, I already knew.
She also felt I needed to marry him and live happily ever after. I was not sure how a girl who came from where she did still believed in happily ever after. But at some point, she had rediscovered the fairy tale, and I sure wasn’t disappointing her by telling her there was not going to be a happily ever after for Roman and myself.
“If you two got married you could have the wedding out by the pool at the Manor,” she breathed .
Lawyer & Liar Page 9