Page 141 of Trust Me

Chapter 37

Dean

“Are you sure you don’t want to be here when they discharge him?” Mom asked, glancing at Dad’s room. “I can take care of things at home.”

I shook my head hard. “We’re going to make sure things are in order when he gets back. There’s this system I found that will let Dad open the drapes without getting out of his chair.”

“You shouldn’t spend your money on that. Here.” She started to reach into her purse, but I put my hand over hers.

“I’ve got it, Mom. It’s not fancy or anything.”

She huffed but didn’t argue. “Fine. While you two are out, could you stop at the store for me? I haven’t gone grocery shopping.”

I saw the way her lips tightened, her pride warring with her need for help. She pulled out her wallet, and even though I wanted to decline, I didn’t have all that much available money.

“We’ve got it, Teresa,” Oli said as he stepped out of Dad’s room into the hall.

She tried to pass me the money, but Oli shook his head at me. When she moved to put it in my pocket, he pulled me backward and shook his finger at her.

“Don’t be like that,” she pleaded. Her eyes dropped to his neck, but she didn’t say anything about the mark there. Maybe she didn’t know what it was, but I wasn’t counting on that.

“We’ll take care of everything,” Oli called as he dragged me down the hall.

It was hard not to laugh. Clearly, stubbornness didn’t only run in my family.

The ride he’d called pulled up after only a few minutes, and I rushed to open the door for him. He waggled his brows before he ducked inside, and I shook my head as I slid in next to him.

“I can’t get too much by way of food,” I admitted. “But we should be able to make it work.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

I sighed. “You’re not paying.”

“You’re right.”

“You’re not making any sense.”

“Brooks gave me money.”

My mouth dropped open. “What the hell? That guy needs boundaries.”

“Yeah, well, it’ll give your parents a house stocked with food for a while.”

“I think you’re severely underestimating the cost of, well, everything in this city.”

He pulled his wallet out and opened it to show me the stack of cash inside, mostly hundreds. I stared at it, just blinking for a full minute.

“How much did he give you exactly?”

“Fifteen hundred.”

“Fifteen hundred?”

“He just had it on him,” he laughed. “This wasn’t even all of it.”

“God, he could use a dose of reality.”

“Pretty sure Tilian gives him that every day.”