Dakota had never intended to become the single mother of a goddess, but after her abusive ex storms back into her life, she’ll do anything necessary to protect her family.
Warning: contains humor, excitement, adventure, magic, romance, and bodies. Proceed with caution.
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From Chapter One…
As always, the Monday mail brought nothing but heartache. I considered flinging the child support statement in the trash; did I really need to confirm California had garnered five hundred from my bank account to pay my multi-millionaire ex for the care of our son? Add in the three other bills, and I needed a shovel to dig my way out of my financial hellhole.
In reality, I did all right. I made enough to put aside a hundred every month for a rainy day. I’d gotten lucky. Ever since fleeing a smothering, unhappy marriage, I hadn’t needed much of my safety net. I chucked the bills on my coffee table to deal with later, leaving me with the child support statement and a handwritten envelope from an anonymous sender. On my way to the kitchen, I bucked up and tore open the statement to confirm Adken had, as always, received the money for Nolan’s care.
He had.
Nolan’s name on the paper was as close as I got to my boy—no, young man. At fifteen, I needed to think of him as a young man preparing to venture into the world.
In one month, to the day, I would celebrate ten years of freedom from Adken. The state and my son had sided with my ex-husband, not that I’d ever blame Nolan for his choice. With Adken, he enjoyed a pampered life of wealth and luxury.
I missed my son, but when he turned eighteen, I’d have my chance to start over with him. The first thing I’d do was reach out to him, prepared for the worst but hoping for the best. Humming a merry tune, I dropped the paper and unopened letter on the kitchen counter so I could start my day in earnest.
The sink and its many dishes needed vanquishing, and after two days of studiously ignoring them, I needed to pay penance for my neglect. Grabbing the dish gloves, I snapped them on, held my breath, and plunged my hand into the water in search of the stopper.
Instead of the plug, I discovered something else. Groaning over the probable loss of a dish cloth, I plucked it out.
A very dead squirrel dangled from my hand.
I screamed and flung the rodent, which splatted into the wall. In defiance of gravity, it stuck to the white paint before sliding to the floor.
“Oh hell no.” I shuddered, dipped my hand into the sink, and found the stopper, yanking it out. Swallowing so I wouldn’t add to the carnage in my kitchen, I considered my sink.
Who needed pots, pans, and dishes anyway? Would lighter fluid and fire purify my home? I doubted bleach would do. No, nothing but fire—a lot of fire—could conquer such a disaster.
Ditching the gloves, I hunted for my disinfectant wipes and scoured the first few layers of skin off my hands.
I hated Mondays. I was supposed to leave for work in less than an hour, and I had a dead squirrel on my floor. When all else failed, blaming Adken usually worked. Pointing at the child support statement, I declared, “This is all your fault.”
“What’s whose fault, Mom?” my wayward two-year-old, a newly fledged young woman and immortal goddess, asked from behind me. “Why’s there a drowned rat on the floor?”
“Hestia!” I shrieked. At the rate I was screaming, the neighbors would call the cops.
My daughter snatched my child support statement and looked it over. “Is this what you do on Monday mornings since I moved out? Holy Zeus. Rats belong outside. Also, while I was practically born yesterday and may have only learned to read this morning, I’m pretty sure this says you’re paying that ill-bred horse turd five hundred a month. What gives?”
Damn it. Hiding anything from a fledgling goddess took too much work. Groaning, I slumped over the kitchen counter. “I’m paying for my mistakes one month at a time.”
Then, I straightened and faced my daughter. She held the child support statement in one hand and the dead squirrel in the other. I hadn’t even noticed her pick the damned thing up. Closing my eyes, I sighed and counted to ten. When that didn’t help, I counted to ten again.
Damn it, damn it, damn it.
“It’s not fair, Mom. The sperm donor’s rich, and you’re—” Hestia clacked her teeth together.
I opened my eyes, focusing my attention on the statement in her hand. “I’m not. I know. Also, what have I told you about calling my ex-husband a sperm donor?”
“To not do it.”
“Yet here we are. I’m going to count to thirty, Hestia. When I’m done counting, my child support statement will be on the counter, the rest of my mail will remain untouched, and you’ll get rid of that dead animal and wash your hands like a civilized being. When you return, you won’t materialize behind me because you think it’s funny to scare a few years off my life. Am I understood?”
“Yes, Mom.”
I waited.
“Hey, Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Why is there a drowned rat in your kitchen?”
Kids. “I don’t know, baby. I found it in the sink. I guess the sides were too slick for it to climb out. I don’t even know how it got into the apartment. And it’s not a rat, it’s a squirrel.”
“Oh. Okay.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, closed my eyes, and began counting. A pop announced my daughter’s departure. Cracking open an eye, I checked to see if she’d done as told. The statement was on the counter, the squirrel was gone, and she’d left a new bottle of dish soap and a note, which informed me a thorough scrubbing would sanitize my dishes.
Why couldn’t my ex-husband drown himself in my sink? A drowned ex would make for a memorable and pleasant Monday. In fact, I’d help him drown in my sink.
My daughter reappeared in a flash of golden light. “So, Mom. Question.”
“Yes?”
“What are you looking for in a man?”
Lovely. My daughter was already growing into her profile, although I suspected the Greeks and Romans had made a few important omissions in their naming of her. Of all the women in the world, how had I ended up with the goddess of hearth, home, and havoc as my daughter? “I’m not, Hestia. There aren’t any good men left in the world. The smart women have already claimed them. Do yourself a favor. Don’t make any deals with the devil, and should a man want you to sign any papers before marrying you, run, do not walk. He’ll never love you, and as soon as you give him what he wants, that’s when the trouble starts.”
“I see I have my work cut out for me. Thanks, Mom. Have a good day at work.” My daughter kissed my cheek before popping out of existence.
When my daughter schemed, I had reason to worry. I just hoped she wouldn’t cause too much mayhem before I managed to rein her in.