by Eden Finley
“I mean don’t stay at your mother’s. I want you here with us. As a family.”
He nodded. “I’ll have Elliot’s bassinette moved to your room then.”
“Spence—”
“I just can’t, Reece. I can’t be the guy chasing after you anymore. I’m not going to follow you around like a puppy. Without being too sexist here, I need my balls back.”
I snorted.
“I get it, okay? You’re pissed and neither of us know where we stand. I’ll be here when you’re ready, but I’m done trying to convince you we’re perfect for each other. If you can’t see it …” His words died, and I didn’t know what to say. “I’ll be back this afternoon.”
And then he was gone.
24
REECE
Two weeks. Two weeks of pure civility between Spencer and me. We agreed we wouldn’t fight in front of Cody who was old enough to know we were fighting, and he was home every day because it was summer break from school.
Spencer went back to work today—earlier than he’d told them he was on leave for. He used the excuse he wanted to make sure everything was ready for when the company shut down over the holidays, but it was just an excuse. We both knew it.
My first day of being a single mother of two was going horribly. With Spencer having been home the past two weeks, he’d been entertaining Cody for me while I had to feed Elliot. Even that wasn’t enough for Spencer to put a stop to our argument. Too little, too late apparently.
Now, Cody was bouncing off the walls because he was bored, but I couldn’t take him out because Elliot hadn’t been vaccinated yet. Well, I could if I was desperate, but I was freaking out about a whooping cough outbreak in the area, and I didn’t want to risk exposing him.
I finally got some reprieve when I sent Cody into the backyard to shoot some hoops and Elliot fell asleep. And my reprieve came in the form of folding laundry, because newborns went through a lot of blankets and onesies and there was already a mountain of them piling up.
“Best aunty ever,” came a singsong voice and a knock at the front door.
It sure as shit wasn’t Amber, but which one of Spencer’s sisters would it be? When I answered and saw Tammy standing there, I realised I should’ve known only one sister would announce herself like that.
“Spencer thought you might’ve wanted a visitor. He said you’re all suffering cabin fever because the little nugget can’t go out yet.”
“Come in.”
“Where’s my gorgeous nephew?”
“I just got him to sleep. Sorry. But if the past few weeks are anything to go by, he’ll be awake in half an hour.”
“Oh. Then where’s Cody?”
“Outside playing.”
“Oh good. You can tell me how you’ve been then.”
“Uh … great.” I smiled.
“Wow. You suck at lying. Did anyone ever tell you that? And I’m not even offended. You have shit going on. Did you want coffee?”
“Uh, no, I’m good.”
“I need coffee. Mind if I help myself?”
“Knock yourself out.”
While she was fiddling in the kitchen, I went back to folding laundry.
And when she sat in the opposite chair with her cup of coffee, I felt her eyes on me.
“So. You and my brother.”
“What did he tell you?” I croaked.
“Nothing. I just know these things. Hey, maybe I should go to psychic school.”
“I don’t think that’s a thing.”
“Damn.” She took a sip of coffee. “Are you glummy because you’re sleep deprived or am I sensing more to it than that? You and booger get in a fight?”
I snorted. “I love that nickname, by the way.”
“No deflecting, woman. Spencer is in love with you.”
“I know. He yelled that at me a few weeks ago when we broke up.”
“You broke up?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know. Those were his words by the way.”
“Why?”
“He didn’t tell me he was loaded.”
“And?”
“And he lied to me. He thinks I’m a gold-digger and didn’t trust to tell me the truth.”
“Reece—”
“No, don’t sigh at me,” I snapped. “Sorry. I don’t know you well enough to yell at you, but you don’t understand. My whole life, my family, people at school, nearly everyone has looked at me like I wasn’t good enough or they didn’t trust me for one reason or another. When my own parents found out Spencer was rich, they thought I trapped him by getting pregnant. Like it was my plan or something. Spencer was the only person who never looked at me that way. He’s always been the one to see the real me but like me anyway. And I loved him for it. I love him so damn much it hurts. I don’t know when I fell for him, how it happened, or what. We’ve always been friends and—”
“You know, Mum always told us we should marry someone who’s our friend first. Because to have a successful relationship, you have to at least like each other. I always thought she was trying to tell us she hated Dad, but maybe she has a point.”
“Marriage,” I scoffed. “I don’t know if I want to get on that crazy train again.”
“If Spencer asked you, would you say yes, though?”
Tears welled in my eyes. “Yeah … I think I would. I’ve been so cautious going into our relationship because I was scared of ruining it, but I think deep down I was going slow because I was scared of being hurt again. I’ve never been able to trust my emotions before.”
“Preach it, sister,” she joked. “That’s why I’m so lost and don’t know what I want to do with my life. It’s like my emotions have ADD or something.”
I laughed. “God, you sound so much like me.”
She pursed her lips. “Should I be freaked out that my brother is dating someone who’s just like me?”
I shuddered. “Geez, when you put it that way. But I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that. The fact he thought I could use him for money kills me. It tears at my heart that he doesn’t trust me. He says he does, but I can’t really believe that when he hid it from me for so long. I don’t know how to get past that.”
She pursed her lips. “Did he tell you about his ex?”
“Shayla? Just that she cheated on him.”
“She was never interested in him for anything more than his bank account. That was obvious to us but not to him. He didn’t actually know until, umm, okay, so don’t hate me. Just remember we all like you—especially Mum—and we want you and Spence to be together, but …”
“But what?”
“That night we met you? At the dinner? We may’ve told Spencer to be careful you weren’t another Shayla. I mean, we’d just met you and found out you didn’t exactly hook up under the best circumstances. Shayla did try to trap him. When they broke up, Spence told us she tried everything to get him to propose. She basically forced moving in together on him. She was constantly asking for money. She had a credit card of his and racked up over ten thousand dollars’ worth of useless crap like hair appointments, shopping, and getting her nails done. He didn’t know that until they broke up. When he tried to get her to pay it, she said she was going to sue him for … I forget what she called it, but it’s basically like alimony for domestic couples. She was with him and living with him when his company took off and claimed she was entitled to some of his money. His lawyers said to offer to pay off the credit card because even though they weren’t together long enough to have a proper claim, dragging it through the courts would cost him more in lawyers’ fees than the credit card debt.”
“Why didn’t he tell me that?”
“Would it have made a difference? Or would you have gotten angry that he thought you could be as horrible as Shayla?”
I sighed. “I dunno. But it explains a lot.”
“It was only recently that he found out it’d been Shayla’s plan from the beginning. He thought she went money crazy after he got rich. So you ca
n understand why he was hesitant to tell you.”
“And maybe now I know how to fix it. I think.”
Her face lit up. “You do?”
“The answer is the simplest thing in the world.”
I pulled out my phone. My hand hesitated on the call button for a few seconds, but I didn’t know anyone else who could do it. Or if she’d do it at all.
She answered after a few rings. “Is this a butt dial? Because I’m sure my ex-stepmother wouldn’t be calling her ex-husband’s girlfriend on purpose.”
“Funny, Paige. Glad we can joke about that mess now,” I said dryly. “But, I need your help.”
***
A few days later, I pulled up to Cole’s apartment to drop Cody off for the weekend. Spencer had Elliot at his mother’s house, and if everything went to plan, I’d be back in Spencer’s arms by tonight. Maybe.
Paige answered the door. “Come in.”
“Thanks.”
“Cody, your dad’s down in the basement storage unit if you want to go find him.” Paige made it sound like fun to go poke around dusty old furniture and crap. Cody was back outside, running down to the basement in no time.
“Have you got—” I started.
“Everything’s right here.” She grabbed a manila folder off the dining table. “You know I’m not a family lawyer, right?”
“I figured you were the best person to ask, considering the only other lawyer I know is…”
“My dad,” she finished for me. “Good idea. I outsourced to a friend of mine in family law, but I did some work on it. I have to admit, this was way more fun than the corporate stuff I do. Maybe I should talk to Dad about opening his own family law firm.”
“It’s all here?”
She nodded. “It’s standard stuff, but I made the amendments you wanted. All it needs is signatures, and then I’ll send it to my colleague to be notarised and filed through their firm. If Spence wants any amendments done, bring it back to me with his stipulations. Although, I don’t see why he wouldn’t agree to it.”
“Thanks for this. Tell Cole I’ll pick Cody up at five on Sunday.”
Before I could reach the front door, she stopped me.
“Are you sure this is what you want? I’m not trying to be mean here. I just want to make sure you’re not making the same mistakes and hurting more people.”
I went to open my mouth, but she stopped me again.
“I understand you and Dad were wrong for each other, and I even understand why you’re cautious when it comes to Cole because of the horrible shit he’s done in the past, but this”—she pointed to the manila folder—“is extreme. You know that, right?”
“I’ve never wanted anything more in my entire life.”
“Okay. Good luck then.”
“Thanks. I may need it.”
25
SPENCER
“You know, Reece has stopped taking my calls,” my mother cooed. She was talking to me but was in Elliot’s face, so her soothing voice didn’t match the accusation in her words.
Elliot didn’t seem impressed by his nanna. His wide eyes and confused expression made me wonder if he already knew his grandmother was a nutcase.
“Has she? I didn’t know you were calling her.”
“You can’t lie to your mother, Spencer. She went from speaking about you with adoration and awe to ignoring me completely. And don’t think for one second I didn’t know about you two being more than friends.”
I sighed. “Fine. We’re … I dunno. In a weird state of limbo.”
And it fucking sucked.
I loved being a dad. At first, I was freaked out because I had no idea what to do, but I didn’t realise I could love something as much as I loved Elliot. Even if all he did was eat, sleep, and poop. Oh my God, so much poop.
The only thing I hated about fatherhood was the fact I had to see Elliot’s mother every day, and it killed me that we weren’t together.
I didn’t know what was going on with us. Part of me wanted to say “Fuck it” and grovel at her feet, but the bigger part of me knew that’d be a dumb idea.
If we weren’t going to be equals, we weren’t going to be anything. Money had nothing to do with it. It was her mentality that was separating us and preventing her from giving me all of her.
“Are you going to tell me about it?” Mum asked.
“Nah.”
“Spencer,” she warned.
“Mu-um,” I mimicked.
“Did you screw it up?”
“No. Maybe. I dunno. We both fucked up. She didn’t know I was rich, and when she found out, she kinda lost it. Apparently because I kept it a secret, she thinks I see her as some gold-digger. All I wanted was for us to come out as a real couple, but she couldn’t even give me that. We’ve been sleeping together for months, but she wanted to keep it a secret.”
Most guys wouldn’t talk to their mother that way, but as I once told Reece, I was a mumma’s boy through and through. Plus, she was awesome at advice.
“Wow. Sounds like there’s too many secrets going on in that house.”
I scoffed. “We started out by having an affair. Our whole relationship was based on a secret.”
“That’s not healthy.”
“No shit.”
“You should learn to tone down the language, hon. Won’t be long before this one’s copying you.”
“He’s a few weeks old. I think I’m good for another year or so.”
“Still, it’s a habit. One you have to break before it’s too late. As cute as it is hearing toddlers swear, it’s frowned upon by society.”
I smiled. “Okay, Mum.”
“And do something about getting your woman out of limbo. I don’t even know what that means, but do it anyway.”
I pursed my lips, because I was so confused. “Okay, I need you to answer me something.”
“What?”
“Why do you like Reece?”
“Why do you?” she asked.
“I don’t think you want to know my answers.” Like her ass, her tits, and her mouth.
“There’s gotta be more than the physical stuff.”
I shrugged. “When it’s good between us, it’s easy. I’m happy. I know we’re capable of being great together, but she’s always holding back.”
“I’ve seen the way you look at her. You, my dear boy, are in love. As for why I like her? I’ll tell you what I told her the night I gave her that letter you wrote. She doesn’t see the act of leaving Cole as bravery, but I do. She’s made some mistakes, and she isn’t afraid to own up to them. The shitty things she’s done doesn’t define her. She’ll do anything to protect her children. She looks at you with awe in her eyes. Aaaand, you’ve been in love with her since you were twelve. What kind of mother would I be if I hated the woman my son chose?”
In the few times Mum and Reece had met and spoken on the phone, Mum saw what I’d always seen in Reece.
“You hated Shayla, and I chose her,” I mumbled.
“Because she was clearly after one thing, and trust me when I say it wasn’t the same thing you wanted from her.”
“And this conversation just took a weird turn. Mothers and innuendo should never mix.”
“All I’m saying is Reece isn’t like Shayla. She didn’t know you had money.”
“I know.”
“So, what’s the problem?”
“Fuck, I don’t know anymore. All I know is, I can’t be the one chasing after her anymore. If we’re going to happen, she needs to come to me.”
Mum exaggeratedly covered Elliot’s ears with a mocking shocked look on her face over the F-bomb. If I didn’t love her so much, I’d roll my eyes.
***
Rose petals trailed from the entryway up the hall, disappearing from view. Candles were alight on the kitchen table.
Reece came out of her bedroom wearing that deep green sundress that made me weak in the knees and my balls tighten.
She smiled, and I had no idea what was going
on.
I placed Elliot’s car capsule on the ground next to the couch. “Last time I walked in to find this, I ended up mauling you on the dining table.”
Her smile widened. “As much as I wish that was my plan, I’m still out of action for another three weeks.”
I groaned. “Then you shouldn’t have worn that dress. You’re killing me here.” How was I meant to go on pretending I was okay with being apart from her? Fuck, dammit.
“Is Elliot asleep?” she asked.
I nodded.
“Good. We have some things to discuss. Obviously, I suck at big grand gestures. All the options in the world, and twice now, all I could come up with was shitty candles and a dress.”
“Hey, there are rose petals this time. Don’t sell yourself short.” I smirked.
“Come. Sit.” She gestured to the head of the table, but instead of a dinner plate, there was a stack of papers.
“What’s this?” I lifted them and flipped the first page. I didn’t know whether to be pissed, confused, or jump for Goddamn joy. “A prenup? Did I miss the part where I proposed?” I scanned the page in front of me but wasn’t entirely sure what I was reading.
“Okay, frowning. That’s not a good sign.” She dragged the closest chair next to me and sat to face me. “Hear me out.”
“No way I’m signing this,” I said and shoved it away from me.
“You haven’t even read all of it. And it’s not just for you. This is for me too.”
“We don’t need a prenup, Reece. I don’t care—”
“I know you don’t care about money, but I do. I want to be with you, and I want to give you everything. I want to marry you, and possibly have more kids with you … although, let’s put a pin in that for a few years. I’m in love with you, but my stupid insecurity over money and the way my family accused me of—”
“I know you’re not after my money.”
“And it wasn’t until your sister told me about Shayla that I truly understood why you kept it from me. That wasn’t about me and my baggage. Those were your issues. Why didn’t you tell me Shayla was like that?”
“Because it made it seem worse that I wasn’t willing to tell you about my money. Shayla made me paranoid. So, I guess you had every right to be pissed, but this”—I gestured to the prenup—“we don’t need it. I don’t want you to think I don’t trust you.”
