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“That inheritance should have gone to you, instead of me. I mean it would have, if the two of you hadn’t divorced.”
This mother of mine seems bewildered by the conversation I’m trying to have with her. “I told you about this because I want us to have a relationship. I want to know my grandkids if you ever have any. And I want us to spend time together during the holidays. I don’t know why you’re bringing up money right now.”
I reach out to touch her hand. “I’m telling you that you’re a wealthy woman. So wealthy, you never need to worry about working another day in your life. Take early retirement if you want, after what that asshole put you through you deserve to be spoilt and pampered.”
She smiles shyly, “Well, I’m not saying it wouldn’t be nice not to have to worry about money but let’s save that conversation for another time.”
“I get that you don’t care about money, but I care about taking care of you. That’s what a good son does, right?”
“The thing that would make me happiest is to be able to continue working with you. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do with my time.”
I’m so pleased with this latest turn of events. I give her hand a little squeeze. “If you want to continue working here, then that’s fine too, I just wanted you to know, that now you have a choice. But I’ll bet that when the grandkids start coming, you’re going to want to spend all your time playing with them.”
There is a slight pause and then she asks, “Are you trying to tell me something, son?”
“Yeah, I’m trying to tell you that I plan to ask Serena to marry me in the very near future. I want you to dance with me at our wedding and be happy for me.”
Her hands come up to cover her mouth. “I just knew you were smitten with her. I could tell by how you reacted the minute she walked through the door. It’s one of the reasons I was so excited about having her work with us. I hoped that the two of you would fall in love and end up together.”
I smile at her. “I knew you were up to something devious. I just couldn’t figure out what it was.”
She lifts both hands in the air. “I swear I didn’t interfere at all. I just welcomed her into our little firm and let nature take its course.”
“Does Serena know you’re my mom? She gave me a heads up that you wanted to talk to me about something important and I needed to pay close attention to your words.”
“I did talk to her. I was worried that you wouldn’t want me, but she convinced me that you might be open to having me in your life as more than an employee. Don’t be angry with her for keeping it a secret.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not angry at Serena or you. If I’m angry about anything, it’s that my father lied about you being dead. Please tell me that he at least gave you a living stipend.”
“No, and the judge said that we hadn’t been married long enough for me to be awarded alimony. I found work and managed to get by, but it took me some time to get on my feet, and as I lived from paycheck to paycheck, I knew it was pointless going to the courts for custody. No matter what I did, he wouldn’t let me see you. He knew just how to hurt me most.”
The moment she mentioned being my mother, I knew my old man had left her indigent. She was right about him spending his money as fast as he made it. My inheritance had to be liquidated because he’d locked most of his wealth up in rental properties.
We settle down to talk. As my mom launches into long drawn-out story about how she ended up divorced from my father, I pull out my phone and cancel my appointment with Rex Corp via text. I can always reschedule that meeting—while my work is important, my newly found family is more so.
Chapter 22
Serena
I’ve been living and working with Smoke for just over two months now, and on one hand I am happier than I’ve ever been in my entire life. On the other hand, I sometimes feel like I’m going to burst from the secrets I’m keeping from him. Knowing that Marge is his mother and not letting on is hard, but I trust that she’s going to tell him when she finds the right time. My other secret is far bigger, and I’ll have to tell him soon, before it becomes obvious.
When I went to see my new OB-GYN last month to get my birth control shot, they did a bunch of tests. I’d missed my period and had put it down to the stress of moving and what happened with Gina. Turns out I’m pregnant and it’s definitely Smoke’s, because I hadn’t slept with Stan since he shoved me into the cabinet. Despite it being a shock and coming at the worst possible time, I was in no doubt about what I wanted to do—I was having our baby. But I hadn’t yet gathered the courage to tell him, I’d confessed to Marge, because I needed to tell someone, and there was no way that Cleo would have kept this from my brother. So there we were, the two women in his life keeping the biggest imaginable secrets from him.
I’ve got to be in court in an hour and haven’t had my morning coffee. As I walk along the sidewalk, I’m not too surprised to find Evan waiting outside when I head to the local coffee shop. I’m not entirely sure why, but he seems to hang around in town a lot. Since he’s a talker and a coffee fanatic, I continue to buy him caramel frappé when he shows up.
“You going to get coffee, Miss Serena?” Evan asks, as he falls into step with me.
“Yes sir, I sure am. How’s your morning been?” I ask chipperly.
He glances suspiciously over his shoulder before answering. “So far, so good.”
It occurs to me to ask, “Shouldn’t you be in school?” When he doesn’t immediately answer, I explain. “It’s only April. School doesn’t let out until May or June. Ergo you should be in school.”
Instead of flipping his head to the side like he normally does to get his hair out of his face, Evan brings up one hand and rakes it nervously to the side. “It’s spring break, but anyway my mom made arrangements for me to finish out this school year doing online classes. In the fall, I’m going to start the new school year with everyone else my age. My parents think I need some down time to recover from my trauma.”
“That makes perfect sense,” I say without missing a beat. “Anyone would need downtime after being abducted and held hostage.”
Evan glanced across the street and made eye contact with another prospect before responding to my statement. “Describing it as being held hostage makes it seem a lot worse than it really was. It’s not like I was getting beat up or anything bad.”
