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“Tell you what?” I asked, my voice breaking.
“Clay, I already know. I just need to hear it from you.” Tilting her body, she sighed, her shoulders relaxing. “Why are you so scared to tell me?”
I shuffled, not exactly sure how to form the words. If she knew I had been lying, why push the matter? I bit the insides of my lips, moving my feet back and forth and kicking the rocks on the ground. I placed one hand on my neck and the other I shoved into my jeans pocket. Just by looking at me, you could tell I was a nervous wreck. My body language screamed it, and yet I couldn’t bring myself to relax.
“Clay. . .” Ophelia said softly.
I broke.
“I was embarrassed. I didn’t know how to tell the woman I broke up with that I failed miserably. I wanted you to think I still had my shit together. I didn’t know how to form the words to say that you were right, and I was wrong. Fuck, Phe. . .” I took a deep breath, avoiding her eyes. “I didn’t want to give you another reason to hate me because after all these years, you’re my biggest regret.”
I let out my breath and finally made eye contact with her. I could feel tears welling in my eyes, but I didn’t cry. I refused to cry, so I held them back. I stiffened my jaw and clenched my teeth, completely unsure with how to follow that. I word-vomited everywhere and maybe said too much. Ophelia’s stance had relaxed. Her eyebrows were raised, and her eyes were full of uncertainty. We were both stone.
What seemed like hours after, Ophelia took a deep breath, raising her shoulders before exhaling and dropping them back down. She took a step toward me and reached her arm out, offering her hand to me.
“Come on.” She motioned down the road, where Milo’s truck sat waiting for us. “We need to talk.”
We sat in the truck, having yet to turn it on, both of us just staring at the front window. I wasn’t sure where to begin, but thankfully, Ophelia made sure I didn't have to.
“When did you lose your job?” she asked softly, almost sounding as if she were afraid to ask.
“How long have you known?” I asked instead of answering.
She turned toward me and sighed. “Since I got in. Madeline told me about the party planning and then mentioned you were going through a hard time. Then I was told to act as if I knew nothing.” Ophelia tucked her hair behind her ear. “I think I was doing a pretty good job at that.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, you were.” I shook my head and pinched my brow. “I should have known Maddy would have told you.”
“Clay.” She reached over the middle console and placed her hand on my arm. “When did you lose your job?” she asked again.
I counted back in my head. “About nine months ago, maybe. I’ve honestly lost count.” I finally met her gaze. “You had to have seen the news on it?”
“I don’t watch the news, Clay. I avoid it like the plague. Honestly, all I see is what Google gives me and fashion bloggers. I think if I had seen your name, I would have. . .” She paused, taking a deep breath before turning back to me. “But you’ve been living with Milo for nine months?”
I shook my head. “No, only for the last couple of months. I kept my apartment until the last second. A part of me was hoping it would blow over, like they would come asking for me back.” I laughed. “We see how that turned out.”
“No, tell me, Clay. If I trusted you enough to jump off a flippin’ bridge, you can trust me to tell me everything.” Her hand lightly squeezed my arm.
I rolled my neck and licked my lips, heaving a sigh. “There’s not much to tell. A member of my team was embezzling right under my nose. I was in charge of them and their accounts, and it slipped right past me. Four million dollars fell through the cracks, and I didn’t notice it. How could I miss four million? Since they couldn’t pin who exactly it was, they terminated the entire team, including me. Then they sued me for the four million and instead of going to multiple court battles and jail, I settled. Admitted guilt and paid them off.”
“You justhadfour million dollars to give them?”
“Pretty damn close.” I rolled my eyes at myself. I was starting to really hate Seattle Clay. Who had I become? “In stocks and in savings. The first thing I did when I got home was paid off my Tesla. That's how I at least have that. Then I found a lawyer, one who I thought was damn good, and started to figure out how I could get through it. When we agreed to settle, I paid them the four million, plus interest, and then their lawyers' fees, my lawyer fees, and by the time everyone was paid. . . I had enough to make it a few months. I had to sell my condo, making only enough to pay off the remaining loan, I couldn’t even take the equity that was in it; and then I came here.”
Ophelia was hanging on my every word. She had shifted her body to face me, both hands now resting on my forearm. I reached over and took one of her hands in mine, our fingers lacing together. A simple comfort I didn’t know I needed.
“Milo’s been letting me sleep on the couch and use his truck since I couldn’t afford to register the Tesla, and have been without car insurance for a while now. Holly was welcoming, very accepting that ‘Uncle Clay’ just needed to crash for a bit. He’s been leaving me little amounts of cash some morning, not a lot, but I’ve kept track and I intend to pay everything back once I get another job.” I scoffed. “IfI get another job.”
“Home Depot,” she muttered, remembering my comment from the other night.
“The only place who would hire a felon.” I shrugged. “I had a job interview at a small law firm, a data entry accountant, but I should have known they knew about everything. Yet, they still brought me in for an interview. She said she had been in touch with my lawyer, and that he’s trying to clear my name. They think they know who was actually embezzling. She said she’d hire me if I got my name cleared.”
“Can that happen?” Ophelia asked softly.
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “My lawyer seems to be working on it without giving me too much detail, which I think is wrong, but it’s happening. So, until then, I’m keeping track of things, even down to when Milo came to tow my Tesla to the charging station.”
“I would have paid for a tow truck, you know.” She smiled.
“I wouldn’t have let you. I already owe Milo so much. I didn’t want to have to ask you for anything.”
