Home Sweet Home Ch. 10

Whitney found her mother's reaction to Riley's departure almost comical. Her mother had never had a relationship worth mentioning. She knew her mother had a few dates, and some of those ended with sex, but the absence of those men hadn't put her mother into a depression. She did her best to keep her mother occupied.

"Let's go work on the car mom."

Joey Ballard had let them keep the car in his garage after Riley left. They promised they'd move it soon, but Joey didn't hold them to a hard timeline. He was too busy building a fence for his dog. Either way, he was happy to help his old Deputy Chief who gave him more slack than he ever deserved.

Early October was the first time they crossed their fingers and drove the car around the block. It ran like a dream. They pulled the convertible down and took it to the highway for a proper test drive. The car held together and roared down the road twenty over the speed limit. Diana had never exceeded the speed limit that much in her entire life, making Whitney clinch the seat in quiet panic.

They pulled into the first drive through they saw off the exit and stopped behind the cars in line. Whitney was overjoyed they had finished the car. It was road ready. When she looked at her mother, her forehead was on the steering wheel and her lap was slowly becoming a puddle.

"Mom?" Whitney asked.

"Sorry. Marcus...*hiccup*...Marcus would have loved this," Diana said. Whitney placed her hand on her mother's shoulder and rubbed.

"You should call Aunt Crystal," Whitney recommended, and Diana agreed she should. "Maybe stop crying first."

"It's not just Marcus," Diana admitted, and Whitney already knew.

"You fell pretty hard. Didn't you?"

"I love him," she said. "I haven't said that to him yet. Seems rather desperate to say it now."

"Then what the hell are you waiting for?" Whitney asked. "Take your pimp ass car and go get him."

"It's not that easy. You still have school," Diana said.

"Gee mom, if only I had another parent who lived nearby," Whitney said. "Please, I take care of you. I need the break more than you do."

"You go to school here."

"Yeah, no I don't. Not next semester anyway," Whitney said, and Diana slowly turned her face to her. "I didn't drop out, relax. I just, forged your signature on a transfer to Chicago."

"You did what!?" Diana exploded. She felt the car lunge forward from letting her foot off the brake, but quickly reapplied pressure and put it in park. "Ferry Grove is a nationally ranked high school."

"I've already been accepted by a prep school in the city. Also nationally ranked. Actually it's number two in the entire state," Whitney said to alleviate her mother's fears of her academic future. Her mother had strong, and negative, opinions of public schools in Chicago.

"You forged my signature?" Diana asked, still trying to wrap her head around that part of Whitney's behavior.

"And you've never wondered why you haven't had to sign a permission slip in six years?" That certainly explained a lot.

"You still need to finish the semester..."

"...Aunt Crystal said she'll stay with me until the semester is done," Whitney said, and Diana leaned into her seat with her arms crossed. Now her sister was colluding behind her back too. She raised them both, so she only had herself to blame. "Mom, I'll be fine. I'm worried about you."

"Why?" Diana asked.

"You don't take care of yourself."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, you've done enough mom. You protected your sisters. Saved Crystal from that life and got me this far. It's time for you to live for yourself. Do what you want to do."

Diana exhaled and uncrossed her arms. She put the car in drive to move forward, then put it back into park.

"I don't like how you did this without telling me," Diana said.

"You have to let me make my own decisions. Even bad ones. Even the ones that scare the shit out of you. Language, I know," Whitney said to preempt her mother. "I'll be fine. Crystal is a badass lawyer. Ferry Grove isn't going to explode. The training wheels are off and now you need to let me ride. Even if I crash into a mailbox."

"You did crash into a mailbox," Diana said with a giggle. When Whitney was learning to ride a bike, the training wheels came off and after the initial push off, she swerved straight into a mailbox.

"I did, but then what happened next?" Whitney asked.

"You dusted yourself off, and jumped back onto the bike, and then crashed into a parked car."

"Can I just have my metaphor, please?" Whitney said with a laugh. "I crashed a lot. I even got frustrated and stopped riding for a while. But did I learn how to ride a bike?"

"You did," Diana admitted.

Diana decided Whitney was right, and that her daughter could be trusted to make her own decisions. Whitney grew up before she could blink. Crystal would always be her baby sister, so it was hard to imagine she went out on her own ten years ago. Her girls were women now, and she needed to accept it.

"Your GPA drops below 3.7 and I'm coming back," she said, just to remind her she would never stop being her mother.

* * * * *

Jo Zielinski didn't know why she answered the phone after someone called her twice. It was a number she didn't recognize, and she normally would ignore it. Unless it was clearly cloning her area code, then she'd answer and tell the scammer she'd hunt them down and gauge their eyes out.

On the first call she rejected before it rang twice. Her curiosity was piqued, so she quickly searched the area code. Alabama. The phone rang again. Same number. She answered.

"Who's this?" Jo asked.

"Odette O'Hara," a thick southern accent replied.

"Who?"

"The PI who kicked David Titsgerald in the dick." Jo paused, wondering why this woman was calling her. "You there?"

"Yeah. Umm...what do you want?"

"What does a former detective do on a Friday night?" Odette asked.

Jo lifted her beer bottle to her lips. "Drink alone in my living room watching the game show network."

"No one should drink alone. You ever go to McCoy's? Irish Pub right off the Metra in Parrington?"

"What?"

"You got a smartphone? Google it. Next train leaves in thirty minutes. See you there."

"What? I never said I was..." Jo said, then heard the call disconnect. "The fuck?"

Jo didn't know what possessed her, but she caught the next train and stepped off in Parrington. She followed her phone to the pub which was lively with it being a Friday night. She called back the number as she walked in, then immediately stepped out just to hear because of the music and the conversation within.

"Right side of the bar. Saved you a seat."

Jo walked back inside and pushed her way through to the bar. Odette sat at the right most seat, her purse saving the seat next to her. She placed her purse on the bar to make room for Jo. Jo ordered a bottle of Heineken and Odette had her whiskey topped off.

Taking her first drink, Jo shook her head while laughing. "Why the fuck am I here?"

"Are you asking me or yourself?"

"Yes."

"I don't like drinking alone, and I figured if anyone needed a drink it'd be you," Odette said, and playfully tapped her glass against Jo's bottle.

"How'd you get my number?"

"The same way I got that asshole's stock portfolio; I'm really good at my job. Part of why I wanted to talk. You need a job?"

"I fucked any credibility I had. No police force in this state will ever hire me, and no one will ever hire a PI with my track record. Unless your job is outside of Illinois, thanks for the beer," Jo said. They hadn't spoken at all regarding who was paying for drinks, but Jo decided to slip it in there.

"You ever been to Ohio?" Odette asked with a grin.

"Just passing through. Your job is in Ohio?"

"When I was still Army CID, I ran a case with an out of state Internal Affairs investigator. We became friends and still talk from time to time. Her and her husband have started their own firm and are looking for an investigator. She asked me, but I like Chicago too much. If you want to start over, this is as good as anything else you'd find. She sent me this."

Odette reached into her purse and found an open white enveloped address to her with the information. Inside was a letter and a business card. She handed the card to Jo who read it aloud.

"C & H Investigations?" She flipped the card over and saw a salary estimation. "I was making more as a cop."

"It's more than you're making now," Odette poked back. "They live out in the boonies too. Cost of living is pretty cheap."

"I'll think about it," Jo said, placing the card into her pocket and continuing her beer.

* * * * *

Diana put her house on the market with a note to the realtor not to close until January. Whitney had already moved a majority of her belongings to her father's and was planning to live with him in Chicago when the semester was complete. In the meantime, Crystal was in charge at her house until Whitney could transfer.

Crystal was prepping for a big case to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, so liked the isolation. It made it easier to focus on it away from home. Diana hadn't seen Crystal since last Christmas, the only occasion they never missed a reunion. They talked regularly, but their careers prevented in person gatherings.

Together they helped Diana pack her bags into the Cadillac. She hadn't told Riley she was coming. Maybe she got there and he had already forgotten her. It was a risk she would take.

"Be safe on the road. Call if you need anything," Crystal said once the last bag was loaded into the car. "I've never seen you so spontaneous."

"You've never seen her in love," Whitney teased from the other side of the car as she arranged the luggage with Alice.

"It's a fifteen-hour drive. You sure you want to do it in one leg?" Crystal asked.

"I'm sure," Diana said, and debated if she put the top down. The forecast was clear, so she decided she would. How else do you road trip in a convertible?

"We'll get to work on finding him. I'm sure the other fangirls are trying to find the set for the show. We'll get you a good guess by the time you get there," Whitney said, Alice confirming a forum already had a good lead. The power of fangirls.

"Speaking of," Diana said and reached into the car for two packages. "These came from Riley this morning. Addressed to you two."

"Really?" Whitney asked and took the white package that felt like something firm protected by bubble wrap. "What is it?" Whitney opened the package and screamed. "No fucking way!"

"Language," Crystal said.

Alice reacted the same way moments later.

Riley had sent the girls an advance copy of the third book. Hardcover, first print, autographed. There was a picture of him taking the first two books off the press. They literally had the first two books. He intentionally didn't label which one was which to avoid a potential fight.

"It's not even coming out until February," Whitney said in awe, holding it above her head like it was the holy grail. There was also a note saying he'd be in trouble if the plot leaked. He asked them kindly not to do that.

"Something for you as well. I made it with my dad for your new house," Alice said. She handed her a gift wrapped box and told Diana not to open it until she got there.

"I gotta go before traffic builds up. Take care of each other," Diana said, and wrapped her girls in a hug.

"Love you mom," they both said at the same time.

"I'm not your mother," Diana said to Crystal.

"Yes you are," Crystal said with a grin.

The hug took over a full minute to disengage, but Diana did finally get onto the road with her dream car. Whitney waved goodbye and watched her mother speed away like she never would have mere months ago.

* * * * *

Riley had turned the third floor of his townhouse into his office space. The home was in the heart of Savannah's Historic District. He stepped out of his house and onto the brick sidewalk. It was nearly the opposite of his last house where his neighbors wouldn't even be seen. Now he shared walls with them.

Unlike the last house which he walked into fully furnished, this house was empty. The showrunner Alvin Sinclair gave him the number for his decorator, but Riley wasn't that accustomed to his lifestyle. Part of the fun was doing it himself. Even if he had never done it before. The only thing he brought with him was his bed, television, clothes, and books. The show started filming days after he arrived, so he didn't have much time to furnish his home. When he came home, it was still a shell with only a television on the floor.

Grace Weatherby was a sight to behold in full costume. Aaron Westland and been rehearsing his character to a mirror shine, perfectly capturing a seasoned agent of the Shattered Cross. The other performers fit into their roles nicely, and filming began with relative ease. They planned on filming the first two episodes essentially at the same time. A small warehouse was used to build a set for the interior of an abandoned mental hospital in Florida. Exteriors were filmed months ago.

Riley was on set every day, and every morning the writers sat down with the day's scenes to confirm or make changes to the script. This line didn't work. Netflix wanted this line gone. Timothy Augustine is too quiet in this scene. Michelle Frost should say something regarding this. Regardless of the changes, they filmed the original draft as well, and would worry about which flowed better in the editing process. The director was unfortunately a perfectionist, and nearly every seen had twenty to thirty takes.

All scenes with Grace Weatherby were filmed at each set, regardless of which episode they were working on. Three other girls with similar profiles were hired to be her stand in. Child labor laws prevented her from working more than eight hours, so they'd film her speaking parts as much as they could with the other actors but had her stand ins when needed. Thankfully, parts of her role were only a voice in Timothy's head, so she could record her lines whenever they needed to.

On the first day of the filming of episode seven, which was the third in production order, Riley sat in his designated chair watching the actors work. The scenes took place in several of the same locations from episode one, so they filmed episode seven when the set was still available.

A production assistant tapped Riley on the shoulder between takes.

"Sir, there's someone here to see you. I'm thinking another fan who found the location," the assistant said. Riley had been accommodating. Taking pictures, signing books, but it was started to get annoying.

"You get a name?" Riley asked.

"She said her name was, um...she said her name was Nobody." Riley laughed.

"Thank you," Riley said, and left his seat immediately, excusing himself from the set to go to the front of the warehouse. Diana was on the other side of the security line with a large grin just from seeing him. Riley walked past the security line and wrapped her in a hug, spinning her around for good measure.

"You fly out?" Riley asked.

"Nope," Diana said, pointing over her shoulder. Riley leaned around her and saw the tail of the fully restored Cadillac in the row of cars.

"No way," Riley said, jogging over to the car. "It made the drive?"

"Like a champ."

Riley noticed how much she had packed and smiled as he turned to her.

"Plan on staying for a while?"

Diana had run this conversation in her head for the last fifteen hours. Sometimes it went well. Sometimes it didn't. She took a deep breath and started the conversation with the person she planned it for.

"I love you," Diana said, and Riley kissed her.

"I love you too," Riley said without hesitation. "What's the plan?"

"I put my house on the market. Whitney forged my signature to go to school in Chicago and live with her dad, and I'm oddly okay with that," Diana said with laugh. "And I drove halfway across the country in a car that could have exploded just to say I love you in person."

Riley knew what her plan was. Diana said it without saying it. She wanted to be with him. Riley wanted to be with her.

"Riley," a voice from behind the line said. It was Alvin Sinclair with large over ear headphones pulled down to his shoulders. "Director called action, you're missing it. We're running the rewrites from this morning."

"I'll see you tomorrow. Going home early. You mind covering for me?" Riley asked. Alvin identified Diana as his girlfriend, and simply nodded.

"I gotcha. Have fun," Alvin said, and then returned to set.

Riley left his car at the set and drove back in the Cadillac with Diana. Traffic was backed up, but the convertible made it a comfortable wait. He directed her to his townhouse, instructing her on the parking. Together, they carried her belongings into the living room.

"Little empty in here," Diana said, clapping her hands to hear the echo.

"Haven't had time to fill it in," Riley said. "I do have coffee though."

"Of course you do," Diana said.

"You mind helping me make the place feel like home?" Riley asked, walking toward the kitchen to his coffeepot. He had finally purchased a Keurig that made both individual cups or pots.

"It can stay empty, and it'll still feel like home," Diana said. Riley started the coffee, and Diana wrapped her arms around his back, resting her face on his shoulder. Riley turned around and she placed her head into the pocket of his shoulder. At that moment, she remembered Alice's gift and left to go find it.

"What's up?" Riley asked.

"Alice gave me something. Told me not to open it until I got here," she said, digging through her pile of stuff until she found the box.

Diana returned to the kitchen and placed the box on the counter. Riley opened it, and slide out a picture frame protected with a towel because she couldn't find bubble wrap.

Alice had kept her promise of giving everyone else the picture she took of everyone when Howie came home. Their weird little family together one last time before everyone had to go their separate ways. The frame was custom made with an engraving below and above the picture.

Home is not a place. Home is a Feeling.

Home Sweet Home.

The family would see each other again. They knew they would.

"Home Sweet Home?" Riley asked. Diana nodded and lifted her face to his, gave him a small kiss, and a large smile.

"Home Sweet Home."

* * * * *

The End