CHAPTER 80: AUSTIN

“This is going to be a disaster,” Maggie muttered, pulling onto a street with houses worth more than I could ever dream of making. Most were three-story buildings, all with driveways, garages and perfectly pruned front yards.

I fidgeted in my seat. A small voice in the back of my mind whispered about the differences in our lives. It reminded me how different it was here compared to where I started life in San Francisco. I glanced at Maggie and told the voice to fuck off.

My past doesn’t define who I am. The here and now does.

Gramps whistled low. “What, you got a pool and all?”

“Hope you brought your swimming trunks,” she commented in a chipper voice.

“Good job I did, then.” Gramps patted his stomach. “Love a good swim.”

She turned the car onto a driveway leading to one of the three-story houses. The drive was lined by circular bushes and winter flowers. I looked up at the hou