Erin knew her life could more closely resemble this if she wasn’t a single mom paying for all of her child’s things on her own, but that thought wasn’t enough to make her regret her past. Without her ex-wife, she wouldn’t have Nolan, and without Nolan, well, honestly, she wouldn’t have much of anything. He was her whole world. Living in a modest townhouse was a more than fair trade-off for getting to be his mom.

Blair’s house was just as big as the others in the neighborhood, if not even bigger. She pulled into the driveway and parked on the right side of it as Blair had instructed her to do, then walked to the front door.

Immediately after hitting the doorbell, a high-pitched voice that definitely didn’t belong to Blair shouted, “Coming!”

A few seconds later, a woman with brown hair and blue eyes opened the door. Even though this woman was shorter than Blair and her eye color was different, it was still very obvious that she was Blair’s mom.

Erin held out her hand. “You must be Mrs. Breckenridge. It’s very nice to meet you. Thank you for letting my son crash your pool today.”

Mrs. Breckenridge accepted Erin’s hand and gave it a firm shake. “Oh, it’s my pleasure. I’m just happy it’s getting used. With Blair and her brother, Blake, both having jobs this summer, the pool has been sitting vacant most days.” Mrs. Breckenridge stepped to the side so Erin could walk in. “Also, please call me Brandy. Being called Missus  makes me feel old.”

“Of course,” Erin said with a laugh. “I completely understand.”

When Erin took the time to look around, she noticed the hallway she was in seemed to be half the size of her whole house. A few feet away was a staircase and to her left was a room with the door closed. To the right was what appeared to be a living room or family room (Erin had never quite understood the difference between those two and switched between both terms when referring to the TV room downstairs in her house).

Brandy led her past the stairs and down the hallway into what appeared to be the dining room. To the left of the dining room was the TV room and to the right, the kitchen. Everything was gorgeous and Erin loved the open layout of the house. It made the interior of the house appear even bigger than it already was, which would have been overwhelming if it didn’t have such a welcoming feel. Pictures were scattered all over the walls, along with quotes about love and family. The house wasn’t messy, per se, but you could definitely tell it was lived in, which Erin appreciated. She hated walking into a house that she felt like she could mess up just from breathing.