Pooky whined at me from her carrier. I’d given her a quick inspection to make sure she wasn’t injured before I returned her to the cage, but I couldn’t let her out again, not for a while anyway.
We stopped in at a corner store to grab some food and a bottle of water, and my poor pup wolfed it down. Anger boiled in me at her mistreatment. But Bruiser’s words echoed in my heart and steeled my determination.
I could give Pooky a new start in Newtopia. A new body. Her limp would be gone, her wasting, aged body would be replaced with something new. She could get the life she always deserved.
I just needed to get Jenny set up and safe.
We called a cab, as I was in no mood for navigating public transport after the rollercoaster of a morning I’d had. I took Pooky on my knee in her carrier in the front seat while Brick and Bruiser sat in the back, silent and stoic.
We gave instructions to visit a handful of addresses I’d picked out from real estate listings, and the first few were uninspiring. Too close to neighbours, too visible from the road, too small to fit everyone at once… but the last address looked perfect.
Established trees lined the edge of the property and a long driveway disappeared over a small hill towards the house. It wasn’t visible from the road at all, but I knew it to be large enough from the photos I’d seen online.
It was more expensive than I’d hoped to find at $1.6 million, but with two million sitting in the bank, I could buy it outright with no mortgage.
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I logged into my banking app on my phone and stared at the number. It had barely even touched my account, and I was about to watch it disappear. It was an odd feeling, but it felt right. I couldn’t help but feel like in dying, my father had done more for me than my mother had in her whole life.
I phoned the real estate agent and asked them to come immediately. It was a twenty-minute wait, so we dismissed the cab and let Pooky out to sniff around the grass and go to the bathroom.
“Emma.”
I looked up at Brick, who was watching me with a look filled with pity.
“Yeah?”
“Do you need to talk about it?”
“What, the house? We can talk it over once we’ve seen it, but the photos look good, and we need to move out of that apartment ASAP.”
“I was talking about what happened with your family.”
I shook my head. “They aren’t my family anymore. You are.”
Bruiser reached out and gently took my hand in his. “It is amazing that someone with so much compassion and love in her heart could come from such a cruel background.”
“I think I understand you a little better now, though,” Brick said, stepping closer to me to wrap his arms around me.
I leaned into his chest, his touch feeling like a balm to my burned and raw emotions.
“It had never come quite to a head like that before,” I whispered. “I had withdrawn from them out of self-preservation, but I guess I needed a push to cut ties completely. If I’d known what Pooky was going through, I would have tried to rescue her before now. There’s no going back after that, though.”
A black car pulled up next to us and the real estate agent hopped out and greeted us with buoyant energy. She led us down to the house, pointing out features on the way. A gazebo here. Creek access there.
I smiled, thinking Bonaparte would enjoy frolicking in the water.
The house itself was a maze of rooms, with large living areas and a beautiful kitchen. My decision was made up before we’d even finished the tour.
“How soon can I get possession?”