When curiosity got the better of me, I abandoned the paperwork and left my office, stepping into the main one where a woman stood with both Alice and Rob surrounding her, thick tears streaming down her cheeks. I vaguely recognized her as one of my tenants, but I couldn’t remember her name.
“What’s going on?”I asked, crossing to the huddle.
Three sets of wide, fearful eyes landed on me.“Mr. McScroodge,”Rob started, his voice shaky.“Ms. Calloway isjusta little upset; she didn’t mean to disturb you. I’ll get this under control if you’d like to get back to work.”
A frown creased my brow at the way he stood almost protectively in front of her.“I asked what’s going on, Mr. Crutchens?”
“I’m…I’m so sorry for barging in here like this, Mr. McScroodge,”the woman—Ms. Calloway—cried.“Ijustdon’t know what else to do.”
She burst into body-wracking sobs, and Alice pulled the crying woman into her arms, rubbing her back in an attempt to calm her. My eyes fell back to Rob, an expectant look on my face as I waited for answers.
Rob’s eyes shuttered closed for a moment, and when he opened them again, resignation filled them.“Naomi’s daughter has been in hospital for the last week. She has pneumonia, and all of Naomi’s money is going into her daughter’s hospital care. She can’t afford this month’s rent.”
My gaze whipped to Naomi, my heart breaking at the anguish she was obviously experiencing.
Feeling my eyes on her, she pulled out of Alice’s grip.“Mr. McScroodge, I’m…I’m so sorry. I’ve always been on time with payments, but I have to make sure my daughter gets the treatment she needs.”She paused to wipe her eyes and sniffle.“I don’t have the money to pay this month’s rent, hell, I don’tevenhave money to buy any food, but I need the apartment. I can’t see my daughter homeless when she comes out of hospital, not after everything she’s been through.”
A fresh wave of tears hit her as Rob glowered at me, expecting me to no doubt tell herthatit wasn’t my problem, and to get the hell out of my office. In fairness to him, it’s what I would have done several weeks ago.
But as I stared at the broken woman, something clicked in my brain. Whether it was the memory of Jake appearing in my room, rattling his chains and telling me I had my own set waiting, or whether it was Tristan’s cheerful face, telling methatif people got to see a different side to me, they wouldn’t think I was a bad person, I didn’t know.
Either way, I found myself striding past Rob, stopping in front of Naomi with a hand on her shoulder.“What’s your daughter’s name?”
She blinked at me, her eyes still filled to the brim with tears.“Jessica.”
“And how is she doing?”I asked, hoping she could hear how genuine I was.
I’d never met Tristan’s sisters, but the thought of one of them being ill made my chest hurt, so I could only imagine how scared Naomi was.
Naomi blinked, her bewildered gaze flashing to Rob before coming back to me.“She’s doing a lot better now, but she’s not out of the woods.”
I chewed my lip in thought. I couldn’t make her daughter better with a wave of a wand, but I could help take the burden off Naomi’s shoulders.“Alice,”I said, directing my attention to my personal assistant.“Please arrange for a grocery shop to be delivered to Ms. Calloway’s apartment this afternoon.”
Alice stared at me like I’d turned into a madman.“Uh…okay?”
I rolled my eyes, fishing out a card from my wallet.“Here. Put the order on this.”Still gaping at me—as were Naomi and Rob—she took the card from me and scurried behind her desk before tapping away at her keyboard.“Now, Ms. Calloway, I don’t want you to worry about the rent for this month. I’m not going to kick you out.”
Her whole body slumped in relief, but her eyes remained wide and untrusting.“Mr. McScroodge, Ireallyappreciate it, but I won’t have the money next month to make up for the expense-”
“I don’t want you to make it up. The only thing you need to focus on is making sure your daughter gets better. Can you dothat?”I asked softly.
More tears slid down her face, and before I had a chance to brace myself, she launched herself into my arms.“Thank you, Mr. McScroodge, you have no idea how much this means to me.”
A wave of something warm spread through my body like a ray of sun. Happiness. Happiness at being able to help someone in a time of need. As I rubbed her back in soothing circles as Alice had done, Tristan’s face popped into my mind again, only this time he was wearing a smile of pride.
“I’m glad I could help,”I said, freeing myself from Naomi’s grip.“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some work to do, but please, speak with Alice and make sure you add any essentials to the shopping list.”
Her lip wobbled asevenmore tears filled her eyes.“Thank you.”
With a final nod, I walked back to my office, ignoring the startled look on Rob’s face.
Tristan
The day flew by and had been a lot of fun. If it wasn’t for needing to get back to Ben’s to carry on with the new project, I would have done it all over again tomorrow. With one exception: Ben would have been with us.
The twins and I started the day by watching a Christmas film, the three of us in our pajamas, cuddled up under a blanket,and eating chocolate cake for breakfast. After, Holly and I baked Christmas cookies while Ivy moaned about how much she hated cooking, only to argue with Holly about who got to decorate the cookies. Cue me making another batch so Ivy could decorate her own.
With cookies baked and decorated, we walked to the park where the girls spent an hour with their friends. I sat on the bench, watching them from a distance—apparently, it wasuncoolfor their big brother to be too close to them—with Ben on my mind.
