Housekeeping

by Summer Cooper

  “So this is your new place,” Dad said as he looked where Mom had gone off to, then looked around the yard and the neighborhood. “It’s quiet. Not too far from the city, and not too close either. It’s good.”

  I smiled wryly. “As much as I’m grateful for your approval, it doesn’t matter in the long run. I only called you here because there’s something I wanted you to know. I would have told you before…”

  “I had to cancel the earlier meeting because something important came up.”

  “This is important, too,” I said. But I moved on quickly. I wasn’t trying to pick a fight. “Anyway, this works out much better. I was too busy to come anyway, so it’s a good thing you came to me instead.”

  “I heard about the new house and I was curious,” he admitted. “I did ask you to change, but I don’t remember asking you to change this much, Mason.”

  “That’s because you didn’t. All that change… I didn’t do it for you. I did it for myself, and for the woman I’m in love with.”

  With Dad, there was no point in mincing words, so I was just blurting everything as it came to mind. This was the man I’d learned confidence from though, and usually it was around him my confidence threatened to fail. There was always cracks in it, but what was behind the crack was the hurt, anger, and resentment.

  Right then, it was only nervousness. In the end, it wouldn’t matter to me whether he approved of us or not. I was determined to go along with my plans anyway. But it would be nice to receive his approval for once, so I wasn’t always fighting against him, even if only in my head.

  “Woman you’re in love with?” Dad repeated, looking unfazed as he raised an eyebrow. “Well, that’s certainly not something I expected from you. But I’m listening.”

  I hesitated to say more, and I actually had to muster the courage to get the words out. I decided to go the blunt route once more because it was something Dad appreciated.

  “I’ve been dating someone,” I said. “Her name is Laura and she’s one of the maids at the hotel, though you probably don’t know who she is. I plan to marry her, and this is the house I bought for us to live in.”

  I clamped my lips together before I overshared. Dad didn’t need all the details about Laura and our life together. This much would be okay for him.

  “I know who she is,” Dad said, and it surprised me enough that I gaped at him. “You’d be surprised what I know about my employees, at least in this particular hotel. And she’s friends with Emily, your sister has told me so much about her. Including how sick she was.”

  This was something I hadn’t expected. My dad, who’d always preached to us about upholding the family tradition, was okay with my intention to marry a hotel maid? I would have thought it would take more convincing than this.

  “So… you’re really…”

  “She’s a good match,” Dad continued, not waiting for me to finish. “From the little I know about her, and just how much you’ve changed since you started going out with this woman, she is definitely an excellent choice for you. I’ve always worried about you since you were young, Mason, but I also knew that you were going to make it.”

  He stepped closer to pat my arm, then walked slowly past me toward the house.

  “I know you think I don’t realize, or don’t know… though there was certainly a lot I didn’t know until I talked to Trent. I was hard on all of you boys, and in the end, it seems to have affected all of you negatively in ways I didn’t expect. I didn't know what to do at the time, and the last thing I’d wanted was for you kids to grow up with regret. I know it might be a little late to ask forgiveness, but I’ve always been a father simply looking out for his children, in somewhat unorthodox ways. We aren’t given a guidebook, you know, us parents?”

  He began to walk towards the house as he spoke, not waiting for me to interrupt. I didn’t have anything to argue back, and just followed him. In my time with Laura, I’d come to understand at least part of his behavior growing up. If Laura could forgive me for being controlling, then I could definitely do the same for Dad, especially when he looked like he was ready to change his dead-set ways.

  We went into the house where I found Laura and Mom sitting at the table together, both with pleasant looks on their faces.

  “Honey, you’re up,” I said, walking closer and leaning down to give Laura a peck on the cheek. When Mom pouted at me, I sighed out a chuckle and gave her the same treatment.

  “I’m supposed to be moving around little by little, not just staying in bed all day, you know,” Laura returned with a roll of her eyes.

  Everything with Laura was taken care of. She’d already had her surgery and gained her clean bill of health from her doctor, as promised. She was still recovering and gaining back her strength before she resumed her life fully, and as I’d promised, I’d stuck with her every step of the way.

  “Laura and I are looking at wedding dresses,” Mom said enthusiastically, holding up the tablet she held in her lap. “I’m sorry if I’m being too much, son, but your big brother is taking too long, and he might not even let me plan the wedding…”

  I sighed, knowing Mom was saying it all that way just to bait me, and I knew I would let myself be baited anyway.

  Emily had told her the moment I mentioned a proposal to her, and I was lucky enough that they didn’t both blow it for me before I actually proposed. Emily had brought Mom to the hospital where she and Laura had first met. Laura was mostly embarrassed about the encounter, but the three women had become friendly after that. They were a perfect little foursome, with Trent’s girlfriend, Jessi, who I finally got to meet. I was surprised to learn that she was the same Jessi who’d grown up in the house with us. Her parents worked for my father and they’d always had their own quarters. I’d never really seen her much, but I knew who she was. What shocked me was learning she was a childhood friend of my brother.

  I watched as Dad moved to sit beside Mom, and I moved to sit next to Laura. Where I’d once felt anger, I now only felt love. Where there had been fear, we all now had happiness. These were words she’d spoken to me before, and they meant everything in the picture that we painted. Time seemed to fly by as the four of us sat and chatted about the wedding, the house and Laura’s positive influence on me, in what must have been the nicest conversation I’d had with my dad in a long time.

  Later that evening, after my parents had left, as I was about to help Laura up so we could go to bed, she held me back with a hand on my arm.

  “Is something wrong?” I asked, a little worried.

  She shook her head with a serene smile, her hand flexing on my arm. “I just… wanted you to know something. At one point, I was so afraid at the idea of not living, and I let it rule my actions. I’m sorry, and I’m happy with how things are now. I’m not afraid anymore, and it’s because I have you to look after me.”

  “Me and my family are a package deal,” I warned, only half joking.

  “And I don’t mind it. You’ve compromised more than enough for me, especially since you quit partying,” she said, teasing. Then her expression went serious. “You know what matters most in life, and I’m glad. So do I. This is an oath I made to myself after the first time I battled my illness, and I’ll say it again for you to hear it, because I’m hoping it’s something we can do together.”

  I waited as she took a deep breath to steady her breathing, my heart already going out to her and agreeing before she even let a word out of her mouth.

  “I am going to take each day as it comes, and I am going to continue living to the fullest, out of joy, not fear. I’m going to face our future together with you, and I won’t run away, no matter what.”

  With that little speech, I didn’t think I’d have the patience to hold myself back from showing her that same promise. So I picked her up bridal style and carried my fiancée up the stairs to our bedroom to start on that bright future her words painted for us.

  The End

  Author’s Note

  Thank y
ou for reading Housekeeping.

  This book also contains free bonus stories for your enjoyment. Please refer to the Table of Contents to find out more.

  Menage Romance Collection

  Part I

  Double Billionaire

  Chapter One

  It was the phone call that changed their lives forever, but Jacky Ryan had no idea when she picked up the receiver. She listened attentively and barely let the woman on the other end finish before she rushed to the boardroom to tell her bosses the exciting news.

  She threw the door open without bothering to knock. They were busy with a strategy meeting but she knew them better than that—they went back more than 15 years after all. Their version of corporate meetings was always far from conventional.

  Nick Thomas looked up first, putting down the ping pong ball he was aiming at the red beer cups on the table. He pushed a strand of his perfect blonde hair from his bright blue gaze to quizzically smile at the dark-haired beauty in the doorway. They’d known each other since they were teenagers, but she still brought a grin to his face whenever her radiant character entered his vicinity.

  “Why do you look like you’re about to start squealing? What’s up, Jax?” Adam Mason asked from the opposite side of the table. There were significantly fewer beer cups standing on his side. Nick had always been better at beer pong than his best friend with the compassionate brown eyes and wavy hair of the same color. He couldn’t help but smile at the shapely woman standing excitedly in the doorway.

  “Guys! Guys… guess what?”

  “Tell us already, stop keeping us in suspense,” Nick insisted in his usual direct manner.

  “So, I just got this phone call…”

  “Jax!” Nick insisted.

  “Guess who’s going to the 2017 App Design Awards?”

  “As guests?” Adam hesitantly queried, always the more cautious of ‘The Dream Team’ they liked to call themselves.

  “No, silly! As in like nominees for those new financial apps you guys designed last year!”

  “Yes!” Nick threw the ball onto the table, meeting Adam halfway for a high-five before grabbing Jacky for an elated hug, spinning her around in his muscular arms.

  “Congrats!” She smiled at Adam when Nick put her down, and she hugged the more reserved of the men behind the apps that would “change the financial world forever” according to an article in The Financial Mail. The article was framed in the reception area of their expensive offices on the 20th floor with a view of the whole Valley.

  “I can’t believe this is real!” Adam said.

  “That’s what you said six months ago when they bought our first app!” Garret laughed, patting his friend on the back and walking to the fridge in the corner.

  “Has it really been that long?” Adam asked.

  “You’ve been a billionaire for half a year, my friend, and you still dress like a scruffy frat boy—I’ll never understand.” Nick grinned, grabbing a bottle of Bollinger champagne from the fridge. “I’ve been waiting for an excuse to open this baby!”

  “To the big leagues, kids!” he exclaimed as he shook the bottle and popped the cork out dramatically, expensive champagne pouring over his hands and onto the floor. He hurriedly put his mouth to the bottle to try and stop the fizz, with little success.

  Adam laughed and took the bottle from him, tilting his head back as he swallowed down the bubbling liquid before passing the bottle to Jacky.

  “When is the event?” Nick asked.

  “On Friday. You guys better get some tuxedos. Speaking of wardrobes, I’ll call in the tailor tomorrow. I mean, that is what you pay me for after all.”

  “You know we pay you for more than that,” Nick said as he put his arm around her waist, taking the bottle from her and having another swig. “You know you’re going with us to that event, right? We can’t show up without a lovely lady on our side—what would those other nerds think?”

  “Oh, so now I’m your hired escort too? Cute.” She uncoupled from him in mock anger.

  Jacky’s wit had always been razor sharp—that’s how they knew her. Since she first joined their class when they were all 14. At 27 she was still as beautiful as she was then, if not more so.

  “Well, it’s better than that waitressing BS you were doing back home,” Nick said.

  “Don’t forget the dog-walking,” Adam added.

  “Oh yes, and the dog-walking.”

  “Fuck off, guys.”

  “We’re just teasing, Jax. You know we’d be lost without you. You keep the ship running while we’re hard at work coming up with new ideas.”

  “Define ‘work’.” She raised her eyebrow and they all burst out laughing.

  “Still, don’t tell me you regret packing up and moving to the city? It’s been so much fun!” Nick said.

  “It was a timing thing and you know it,” she said, taking another swig from the bottle. “If that cheating asshole didn’t decide to get sloppy a week before then I’d probably still be at home playing the domestic girlfriend.”

  “Things work out for a reason,” Adam said, smiling. “Besides, he was never going to let you study like you want to.”

  “True,” she admitted, handing the bottle over. “Eventually. When I have the money.”

  “I’ll never understand why you won’t just let us give you the money,” Adam said.

  “We’ve been over this a million times! I want to earn my own way. I don’t need any handouts,” she insisted.

  “Put on the music already and stop talking about the past. Our future is here, kids!” Nick exclaimed, taking another bottle from the fridge. “Today we celebrate!”

  “Famous last words.”

  Adam smiled as the very drunk Nick lay passed out on the leather couch in the corner of the massive boardroom. The room was cluttered with empty bottles of champagne and tequila, a few beer bottles in between. Jacky always kept the fridge stocked to the brim.

  “I always thought he was better at holding his alcohol,” Jacky said.

  “We started early,” Adam said, shrugging. They were all way past tipsy and the mood was still jovial.

  “I should get back. There’s a lot to do tomorrow,” Jacky said, heading to the door.

  “I’ll walk you,” Adam said, grabbing his jacket and following her out.

  “You don’t have to,” she said, locking the door behind them. Nick would be fine, he often passed out in the office. That’s why there was a fully kitted out bathroom on site as well. Not to mention the wardrobe full of those brightly-colored collared shirts he was so fond of.

  “It’s a nice night for it,” Adam answered as he took her hand, walking down the street merrily.

  “I can’t believe this is our life now.” Jacky smiled as they walked down the street, swinging their hands like school kids and swaying over the pavement in uncoordinated drunkenness.

  “This is what we always wanted.”

  “I don’t think I ever thanked you guys for convincing me to come to the city. It’s been so magical! You really are good at being rich.”

  “You mean we spend money so frivolously?”

  “Hey, hedonism is a fine art.”

  “I’m glad you decided to come to the city too. It wouldn’t have been the same without you.”

  They stopped outside her flat. It wasn’t far from the office, Adam and Nick had made sure of it when they organized her a new life in the city.

  Adam stared deeply into her eyes as they paused for a moment. He’d always liked her so much, but she’d always belonged to someone else…

  She smiled at him.

  Without even thinking about it, Adam suddenly pulled her close, cupping her face as he passionately kissed her—something he’d been fantasizing about for the better part of 15 years.

  For an instant they lost themselves in the moment before she hurriedly pushed him away, mumbling something as she ran towards her door without turning back.

  Adam remained standing in the street for a w
hile longer.

  Jacky didn’t notice as she flung herself on her bed, clothes and all, trying not to think about what just happened.

  Tomorrow was going to be weird at work.

  Chapter Two

  Nick’s office door was closed when Jacky arrived at work the next day at her usual nine o’clock. She was pretty sure it would be closed for the rest of the morning. There was no sign of Adam’s fancy new blue Bugatti Chiron that Nick had talked him into buying only a few weeks prior. She was somewhat relieved.

  Jacky sat down behind her desk and switched on the computer, more out of habit than any intention of actually doing any work. The truth was, there wasn’t really much day-to-day secretarial work for her to do other than answering the phones. The boys had a separate accountant who took care of the actual financial stuff and the coffee machine only really needed switching on—it did everything else automatically.

  She knew they didn’t really need her, but she was glad Nick convinced her to pack up her bags and move to the city to ‘live the dream’ with them. After she found out Paul was cheating on her, she wasn’t really sure what to do with her life. They’d been together since high school and the plan was always to get married as soon as he finished his law degree. They were going to move to Europe. He’d finished his degree years ago already but for some reason kept delaying their plans. She assumed he was too busy at work to organize the finer details, which was what he always said. And with all the late nights he was working all the time, who was she to question? He was the breadwinner after all.

  Her own dreams of studying a journalism degree were put on hold as she took on the full-time job of running the household and Paul’s life. There simply wasn’t money for her to study. She came from a family of modest means and she was too proud to ever ask her folks for more hand outs. But her independence meant a complete dependence on the cheating man she eventually caught when he carelessly left a receipt for a pair of fancy earrings in his jacket pocket.