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“I have the lease agreement in my briefcase over by the desk. I can show you if you don’t believe me.”
“I... I believe you.” She sounded a little breathless, like he’d punched her in the stomach instead of telling her that he was renting her house. He wasn’t quite sure why this would be so upsetting for her unless... He’d heard her Aunt Tricia had swindled her out of her mother’s house. Surely with the great settlement that Todd had told everyone he’d given her she had plenty of money to afford something else.
Unless, of course, Todd lied.
“You look a little...odd. Would you like to sit down?” He opened the door wider, hardly daring to think she would come in. But he must have given her a more stunning blow than what he realized, because she wandered in, almost as though he hadn’t invited her, but like she was seeing the place for the first time, looking around, walking slowly, the way one would walk in a museum, not into a house they were familiar with.
“Haven’t you ever been here before?”
She took a breath and said, “No.”
Her throat worked, like she was pushing past something, and then she looked at him. “I just recently learned about it. I... I was planning on living here. When is your lease up?”
“I have six more months.”
It hurt his heart the way she looked disappointed. Like that had been a shock and an unwelcome surprise.
He knew, having lived almost forty years, that sometimes a person liked someone, really liked them, maybe even loved them, and the feelings were not returned. It had happened more than once to him, people he would have enjoyed being friends with just weren’t interested in being friends with him. A few different times, he had been casually interested in ladies and his interest had not been returned.
“Is that a problem?” he asked, not wanting to but also knowing that the look on her face indicated that there was some kind of issue.
In fact, as he looked closer, her lashes seemed to be wet, and he almost wondered if... Maybe she had been sitting on the steps crying.
He’d heard her pull in and waited for her to knock. Not wanting to open the door and possibly scare her away before she had made it to the door.
He had wondered if she’d known he lived there and if she was trying to get her nerve up to see him.
He supposed he had been engaging in denial or some kind of fantasy, because he almost had himself convinced that she had come, knowing he lived there, and had wanted to see him again.
Such was not the case. Obviously.
“I... I was planning on living here. I... I suppose you find it hard to believe, but I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
That set off some warning bells in his head. Todd had bragged about what a huge settlement he’d given his first wife. Complained was more like it, although Todd loved to brag about what a family man he was, which was odd, since no one who knew him would say he was a great husband or dad.
Davis had a good idea that Kim could back that up with facts.
“What about the home Todd gave you in the divorce settlement?” His eyes narrowed as her widened eyes confirmed his suspicions.
She knew nothing about it.
“There was no home,” she stated flatly.
He pursed his lips. He should have known, after all the lying Todd had done, that wouldn’t be true either.
She huffed out a breath. “I suppose he told you there was?” Her lips flattened, like it was his fault for believing Todd. And he supposed he couldn’t blame her for being annoyed. After all, if anyone knew what a liar Todd was, he did.
“Right.” He nodded. His fingers tightened on the doorknob. “I suppose there was no money either?”
“Enough to pay off my share of the debts he incurred. That was it.”
“I see.”
She probably knew about the lies Todd had been telling. He knew Alyssa, their daughter, thought her mom was rich. And she thought so because her dad said so. Saying that Kim had taken more money than he could afford to pay, and he had to struggle to provide a decent home for his new wife and child. Davis had heard him tell Alyssa that he couldn’t afford to give her any money, so she needed to hit up her mother, because her mother had soaked him in the divorce.
He hardly thought Kim would be here, at this small cottage, hoping to live here, if she had as much money as Todd said.
He finally had the presence of mind to close the door behind her and lead her to one of the stools in the kitchen.
