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“It’s nice that you came back to Blossom Berry Falls. I heard you and Hannah were back together.”
I shrugged.
“Sorry, small town. She’s a sweet person. Our daughter, Lucy, was in her art class. She deserves to be happy. You both do.”
I gave him a tight smile. Maybe he saw something in my expression because out of the blue, he asked, “Did you know a burned log burns brighter the second time around?”
A little confused at the question, I shook my head, still waiting for the printer to stop. What was it printing, a novel? “No.”
“It’s true. Kind of like love in that respect, don’t you think? I mean, you get”—he lifted his fingers to make air quotes—“burned, so to speak. Then a spark reignites the romance, and it shines brighter than it did the first time. But I don’t need to tell you that since you have that with Hannah.”
He reached over, grabbed what seemed to be a quarter ream of paper, stapled a small stack that was their privacy policy and another of online banking directions, and then he handed me the pages that needed my signature. Once they were signed, he gave me the routing and account numbers, and I moved the money in it. “I’d like Hannah’s name somewhere on the account to have access to it.”
“I’ll make a note that she can discuss this account. Was there anything else?”
“No, thank you.”
With the paperwork in hand, I walked out of the bank and drove to the vital records office to get the paperwork for amending Jimmy’s birth certificate. There had been no doubt that by the time my errands were over, all of Blossom Berry Falls would be buzzing with suspicions.
Except I didn’t care. I got in my car and, before going to the house, decided to take a detour around town. I found myself cruising down one of the tree-lined streets that hadn’t changed a bit since I’d lived there. It almost seemed to have been frozen in time. People strolled down the street, greeting one another.
Glancing at the storefronts, I remembered when Hannah and I would share an ice cream cone on a hot summer day. She’d giggle when I’d lick the melting drips off her hand. We’d go to the park and talk for hours, every so often stealing kisses. It felt like everywhere I looked, I had a memory of Hannah.
As I kept going, I admired the vintage architecture and remembered Jimmy’s sketchbook. It had me wondering where he came up with the impressive cityscape he’d drawn, and then there was that house—which I still hadn’t stopped thinking about.
Finally home, I had gone inside and headed for the stairs when, in a whoosh, the back door slid open, and Hannah marched straight into my house.
“Breaking and entering now?”
“I got your email.”
“You could have just hit reply. That’s generally what people do.”
“I’m sorry that I jumped to the wrong conclusion.” All I could do was nod. She ran her tongue under her top lip. “I heard you went to the bank.”
Fucking small-ass town.My plan had been to give Jimmy the papers when I saw him. Cowardly, maybe, but I was still annoyed. Then Mr. Lima’s words popped into my head. He wasn’t wrong. I fell more in love with Hannah than I ever thought I could. Add Jimmy to the mix, and my soul burned like an inferno for them.
“So much for a privacy policy,” I murmured.
“A million dollars, Cash?”
I shrugged. “Fourteen years of child support.”
“That’s absurd. Whose calculation was that?”
“Mine. I looked it up, but the website was so complicated even I couldn’t figure it out. There was some word problem about Antonio and Felicia that was supposed to explain the formula. I read that damn thing at least ten times and couldn’t figure out the right amount. And I’m good at math.”
“Well, it’s an absurd amount.”
“Not to me. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to my signing bonus and player salary. I could give him my current wages and not miss it.”
Had that been a cocky thing to say? Fuck yes it was, but I didn’t care.
“Right. I remember how excited you were when you saw all those zeros. We went out for ice cream.”
“Was there anything else you needed? Because that money isn’t going anywhere.”
“Yes, I’d like to explain.”
