by Stella
I leaned forward until the edge of the table bit into my ribcage. Katie couldn’t be serious. There were so many things wrong with what she said that I didn’t know if I’d be able to address them all. “Why would you want them to? Airbags are there for a reason. Not to mention, you’d have to find a really questionable body shop to do that, and by then, what makes you think they’d do a decent job fixing the other things the right way? You’d take that kind of risk to save two grand?”
She covered her face and bowed her head. That was when I noticed she hadn’t touched her soup. I was about to ask if she was hungry when she said, “Did he happen to say how much they’d pay for the car?”
“He didn’t give me a quote, but he said somewhere around two or three hundred.”
“That’s it? How is that supposed to be a down payment?”
“It’s not. The money you’re saving by not having it fixed is your down payment.”
She hadn’t taken her hands away from her face, so I had no idea what she looked like—although her shoulders weren’t shaking, so I assumed she wasn’t in tears. However, she was silent, not saying a word or making a sound, which in my experience, was worse than crying.
“It’ll be fine. You can drive Stevie until we get something figured out.”
“Who’s Stevie?” She didn’t even sound like she cared to know.
“My Jeep. Stevie Nix.”
Rather than mock me like I’d expected her to, she pushed away from the table to leave. When I stood and grabbed her wrist to keep her from walking away, she simply muttered, “I’m sorry. I need to lay down. I’m tired and stressed. But thank you for going to the shop today to handle this. I appreciate it.”
I could’ve corrected her about where I’d been, but I chose not to when she wrapped her arms around my waist and pressed the side of her face to my chest. She very rarely showed me this kind of affection outside of trying to play on my pogo stick. It was enough to calm my earlier fears of her wanting to leave.
A guarded smile lingered on her lips when she pulled away. “I’m sorry for ruining your only day off.” Her eyes cut to my shoulder, and before I could make a comment regarding her apology, she narrowed her gaze at whatever she saw and brushed her fingers along the fabric of my shirt.
“What is it?” I asked, unsure what it was she tried to wipe away.
Katie took a deep breath and fought hard to keep the smile on her face. When her eyes met mine, the pale blue lacked the light I was so used to seeing. “Nothing.”
“Did you get it?” I tucked my chin and tried to see the part on my shirt around my neck that she had picked at. Whatever had been there, did something to her. I wasn’t sure what, considering she wasn’t a ball of energy before seeing it, but it had turned what little bit of contentment she’d had into something dark and cold, distant and protective, even though she tried to hide it.
“Yeah. I got it. It’s gone.” She stepped away until my arms fell to my sides. “I think I’m just going to lay on the couch and watch some TV in the living room. Staying in bed all day makes me feel lazy and worthless. Maybe lounging on the couch will be different.”
Hearing her admit that she felt lazy and worthless gave me an opening to take Ellie’s fantastic advice. “If you’re feeling up to it, maybe you can run a load of wash. And I don’t know when the last time the floors were swept. Oh, and if you have time after that, the fans are dusty. Don’t worry about the lunch dishes, I’ll get those before dinner.”
She stared at me, blinking and nodding so slowly it made me wonder if she’d fallen asleep standing up. She did say she was tired, so it wasn’t out of the question. “Sure. I can do that.”
“Thanks,” I said with a pat on her ass as she walked past me to the couch.
Feeling somewhat accomplished, I headed upstairs to make a few phone calls. There was something about Katie that didn’t sit well with me, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. It started with the whole job situation, so I figured my first call would be to Bill, my money guy—he had a real title, but I thought it just made him, and me, sound a bit pretentious.
“I wasn’t expecting your call today. Is everything all right?” He had me on speakerphone; he sounded like he was in a tunnel.
“Yeah, I just had a couple of questions, and I was hoping you’d check on them for me.”
“Sure, what are they?” His fingers tapped away on a keyboard in the background.
“Katie Crisp, the nurse I hired about five years ago to assist with Granny.”
“Yeah, what about her?”
“When is her next quarterly bonus supposed to be paid out?”
He was quiet for a moment, nothing but the taps of his keyboard and clicks of his mouse. “Um…well, there isn’t one.”
“There has to be. I gave her four bonuses a year to keep quiet about who she worked for. I didn’t want the press to get personal information about me, so I specifically remember making that part of the salary.”
“Yes, but it’s showing that payroll account is closed. You’re no longer paying her, which means she no longer receives bonuses. I assume it was scheduled to end when your grandmother passed away. Ms. Crisp was hired to take care of her, and now that she’s gone, she’d no longer have that job. I can’t see the details of the account, but if you want to give me a bit to look into it, I can call you back.”
“I just don’t understand…”
I didn’t remember that clause being in the contract, but it had been years since I’d read through it. If Katie hadn’t received a paycheck since Granny died, then she’d gone almost a year without any sort of income. The bonuses I’d given were generous, but I had no idea how many she had saved over the years and how long they would’ve lasted her. I assumed she didn’t have much left when I thought back to her desperation over paying to get her car fixed, her refusal to discuss buying a new one, and how her insurance had lapsed.
Suddenly, my heart about pounded out of my chest. “She still has health insurance, right?”
“Yes. You provided health insurance during her employment, and in the event she was still working for you at the time of your grandmother’s passing, she would remain covered under her current plan for twelve months or until she found another job, whichever came first.”
“That would mean her health insurance will end next month.”
A long sigh filled the line just before, “Yes. That’s correct.”
“She’s pregnant, Bill. She can’t lose that.”
“I’m sorry, Gage, but that’s how the agreement was written.”
“Any way to fix it?”
More silence. More tapping and clicking. More tightness in my chest. I was such an idiot. I’d thought she was trying to get a job so she could leave me, when this whole time, it was because she wasn’t getting paid. And then I took Ellie’s horrible advice and asked the poor woman to clean the house so she wouldn’t be bored.
Finally, Bill came back on the line. “You have a couple options. You can hire her for another position and sign a new contract with new specifics, or you can just extend the current insurance policy. Since you caught this before the beginning of next month, it’ll be simple to do.”
There was no way in hell Katie would accept a new employment offer from me. Especially since I technically didn’t have a job for her, and she would more than likely have a problem if I tried to hire her as a nanny for my son. She’d see it as charity, and even though there was a chance she’d accept it, she’d never be able to look me in the eyes again. Regardless, she needed the insurance, so I told him to lift the cancelation note for next month and make sure it was set to be paid until further notice.
“It’s been forever since I looked at that agreement. What else is in there that I need to be aware of?” My throat tightened, making it difficult to breathe. I worried I’d find out about other things I wouldn’t be able to fix.
“Looks like her cell is covered under your plan as an additional line, though I assume you already
knew that.” Actually, I didn’t. If the bills were left for me to handle, they’d never get paid. That’s why I had Bill. It seemed he gave me far too much credit. “There was a grocery allowance, but again, that would’ve ended at the time her employment was terminated.”
“By chance is there anything in there about a car?”
He hummed for a moment and then said, “I don’t see anything on the spreadsheet.”
At least some of her expenses were covered, although not all. She needed new clothes and a car, yet I didn’t have the faintest idea how to give her those without admitting I’d found out about her financial situation. If anything, it would only humiliate her, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.
I sat on the edge of my bed with my head in my hands for so long I wasn’t sure what time it was when I finally dragged myself down the stairs. Katie was still on the couch, but she wasn’t asleep, so I took the seat next to her and pulled her feet into my lap.
“Don’t worry about cleaning. I can get it later.”
“It’s not a problem,” she droned on next to me. “I can do it.”
“You need to be resting, not dusting.” When she didn’t respond, I asked, “Anything good on?” I was surprised she wasn’t watching the sports channel. She had her face glued to it any chance she got.
“Nope. Unless you count a story about my accident on the local midday news.”
“What’d they say?”
She lifted one shoulder and then continued in the same unenthusiastic voice as last time. “Just that they’d received a tip about it being me—you know, Gage Nix’s rumored girlfriend. I guess a few witnesses made comments about me touching my belly, and then they reported that I’d been taken to the hospital for an evaluation.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah. Exciting, right? They never said my name, though. So I’m sure it’s far from over. I just don’t know why anyone would dream of being under a microscope like this.” She hated it, and I hated it for her, but there wasn’t much I could do to make it go away. “Anyway, I take it you’re done with your call?”
I didn’t know she was aware I’d been on the phone, but with the wood floors, voices carried. I just hoped she hadn’t heard what was said. I nodded and mumbled, “Yeah.”
“She must’ve been quick.” It was nothing more than a muffled grumble, but I heard it all the same.
Although, I had to have heard her wrong. I wasn’t sure why she would assume I’d be on the phone with a woman, let alone while I was at the house with her, but with her current mood, I didn’t find it to be an important issue to press.
Katie’s somber mood lasted days, and I was nearing the end of my run of home games. I didn’t want to leave with her like this, although I wasn’t sure how to fix it. The rumors in the news had gotten worse. I didn’t care what they said; I was used to it, but she wasn’t. The day after her accident was reported, her name had been leaked. And it went downhill from there. They’d discovered her criminal record, and now, the media ran nonstop. The newest story was that I’d hired her—although not as a nurse for Granny, but as my own personal prostitute—and that’s how she got pregnant. Just seeing an article online or hearing a reporter on the TV made her fall even deeper into the black hole she’d been hiding in.
Luckily, I’d come up with an idea that would kill two birds with one stone—give me something to pay her for, and give her something to do with her time other than obsess over the numerous ways the media could spin a story about us.
“The one-year anniversary of Granny’s death is coming up.” God, I couldn’t believe it’d been a year already. So much had happened, both good and bad, and I hated that she would never meet her grandson. “It made me realize how far behind I am with settling her estate. I’ve basically only gotten as far as contacting the banks she owed money to for credit cards or whatnot. I haven’t even gotten to the part of going through all the legal shit or reading the will.”
“You haven’t read the will?”
I lifted one shoulder and then dropped it. “Nah. Didn’t seem all that important. Aside from my mom, I’m the only living relative she had left. And she took my mom out of it when I was a kid, so everything she had was left to me. She had the deed to the house put into my name before she died, and I have my own money, so it’s not like I needed to do it right away. Then Missy left, then you got pregnant, then I moved in, then the season started. It’s just been one thing after another, so the will has been on the back burner.”
“You should probably do that.”
“Yeah, I just don’t want to.”
“Gage, you have to.” She stopped spreading mayonnaise on the sliced bread in her hand to hold my gaze. “There are banks that need to be paid, debt that needs to be cleared up. You can’t just wait forever. It doesn’t matter how much money you have or whose name is on the deed to this house. People make wills for a reason, and you need to go through hers.”
“I was thinking…since I’m gone so much, and even when I’m here, I have games every day, I just don’t have the time to designate to it. By the time the season ends, the baby will be here, which just means one more thing to keep me from doing it. So I was wondering if you’d be able to handle it for me. Aside from doctor’s appointments, you’re home most of the time, so you’d be able to get it taken care of before the baby arrives.”
“You want me to take care of Granny’s estate?”
“Yeah, why not?”
“Because you’d have to make me power of attorney, which would give me total control over all decisions regarding you. I could sell your house if I wanted to.”
“So? I trust you. You loved Granny as much as I did, and I know she loved you, too. If you had her stamp of approval, then I don’t have anything to worry about. And if you wanna sell my house, go for it.”
“Wait…you’re selling your house?”
“No. But you said you could if you wanted to. I live here now, so what would I need with a place that’s been sitting empty for months?”
Slowly, she finished making her sandwich and wrapped it in a paper towel to take to bed. I wasn’t sure why she wanted a pickle and mayonnaise sandwich at almost midnight, but I wasn’t pregnant, so it didn’t matter if I understood it or not.
“I’ll pay you,” I offered. “To handle the estate, I mean. I don’t expect you to do it for free. I’m sure the bonuses you got when taking care of Granny are starting to dwindle, so maybe this will help out some.”
“Can we discuss this in the morning when I’m not tired and you’re not fresh off the diamond?” She circled her finger in the air to point to the uniform I hadn’t changed out of since the game.
“Sure. Let me toss my clothes in the washer, and I’ll meet you upstairs.”
I had my uniform top unbuttoned before she left the kitchen, and my undershirt over my head as soon as I stepped into the laundry room. I finished stripping in front of the dryer and tossed my clothes into the washing machine as each piece came off. There was a pile of dirty laundry in the hamper, so I grabbed them to add to the load in the machine when a stain caught my attention.
It was my T-shirt, the one I had on a few days ago after coming back from Kansas City. I’d put it on when I got dressed to go see Corinne after answering Katie’s phone. While studying the red smear on the collar of the shirt, I remembered Katie’s reaction to seeing something on my shoulder and the immediate shift in her demeanor right after. I realized now that she’d seen lipstick on my shirt, lipstick that wasn’t hers. She had no idea it came from a three-year-old. The sequence of events hit me like a ton of bricks, and I suddenly couldn’t ignore my feelings any longer.
I guess a part of me had been waiting for some kind of hint from Katie. Some clue or impression that maybe she had feelings for me, too. Because as soon as I received the message, I could no longer ignore the truth. Katie wasn’t just Granny’s nurse or the mother of my child. She wasn’t merely the woman I found myself thinking about all day every day,
wanting to share everything with, talk to every free moment.
Katie was the woman I’d been waiting my whole life to love.
Once upon a time, I’d believed that person might’ve been Missy. But I was confident now, without an ounce of doubt, that it wasn’t. The signs had been there all along, yet I’d been too blind to see them, too naïve and immature to accept them, too much of a rookie at love to comprehend them.
I finished tossing the clothes into the wash and ran up the stairs, taking two at a time. Katie had just finished her sandwich when I stormed into the room in nothing but a pair of boxers, and while watching me slowly stalk toward her, she took a big, cautious swallow.
I stood at the end of the bed and stared at her. “That lipstick on my shirt…it was from Corinne. She was wearing it when I gave her a hug that day. It wasn’t from another woman.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do. You saw it that day after lunch. After you hugged me.”
“It’s fine, Gage. Really, it doesn’t matter. But if you wanted me to believe you, you probably should’ve picked someone else to blame it on. Red isn’t really Corinne’s color.”
“So you do remember. And she was playing dress-up.”
“Okay. Fine, I believe you. You don’t have to explain it to me. You don’t owe me anything, and I’ve never asked you to do me any favors. I have no claim on you, so if you wanna date or screw other women, I can’t stop you.”
“Do you want to stop me?”
“We’ve talked about this. We aren’t together.”
“Do you want to be together?”
“Why are you asking me this? Where did this come from? Do you think I’m jealous or upset over a lipstick stain on your collar?”
I brought my knee to the mattress and leaned forward, falling onto my closed fists on either side of her legs. Before I crawled any farther up her body, I needed to hear her tell me the truth. “Just answer me, Katie.”
