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Reese’s head shot up, connecting with the top of the oven. Her eyes narrowed as she listed to what her father was spouting on the other end.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass about inheritance taxes. You realize the man is still alive, right?”
Returning to her task, she scrubbed harder. Reese knew there was no way to get the money from the sale of her grandparent’s home. Not that she wanted it, but it would put Pappy’s mind at ease knowing he had a nest egg. Rinsing her rag and wiping the remaining grime away, she snapped the oven door closed.
“Let me help you out with that one. You are old enough to move into the condo. If it is as great as you say, why don’t you live there? You can take advantage of all the amenities the exorbitant HOA charges. I can tell you right now, Pappy is not coming back to North Carolina to live in some yuppy retirement haven. You aren’t going to get any money from us. You can go ahead and sue for your supposed damages. Let me ask you this. When is this going to end? How many lives do you have to ruin before you are happy? When is it going to be enough? Enough money, a big enough house, enough expensive cars, enough crap to show off to all your friends, when will it be enough?”
Reese waited while her father sputtered, trying to come up with an answer. “No good answer, huh?” She heaved in a breath, holding back tears. “Goodbye, Dad. Don’t call back here again. We don’t want or need you in our lives.”
The lonely beep of the end button was the only sound in the house as she sank to the floor. The cleaning could wait. She needed a minute. Reese held her head in her hands, and her back was leaning on the cabinets behind her. Not for the first time that day, she thought about how her family could have ended up so different. It made her wonder what her father actually wanted. Money, for sure, but why would he need that kind of money?
“Mom,” Mav called from the front door.
“In the kitchen,” Reese answered. It wasn’t quite the minute she was hoping for, but it seemed that was all she was going to get.
“Cash wants to talk to you about your car.” Mav skidded to a halt when he saw her sitting on the kitchen floor. “Talk to grandpa?”
“Yeah,” she sighed.
“Want to talk about it?”
“Nope,” Reese eyes her son curiously. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
“Nope.”
Reese held his gaze, studying him only the way a mother could. “What is on your mind?”
Mav dug the toe of his sneaker against the floor. A habit he only did when he had something to tell her, but he wasn’t sure how to say it.
“I just thought you might want to talk. You always listen to me. I can listen if you want me to. I guess I didn’t realize how stressed you were until I heard you talking to Cash last night. I know grandpa is a grade-A dick, and he treats everyone like crap. Just because he is your dad doesn’t give him the right to yell at you and take all of Pappy’s stuff.”
“Mav,” Reese choked out. If she let go of the tears that were threatening to fall, he would feel bad for making her cry. It was an ingrained response deep within him. Anytime she shed a tear, he panicked or felt like dirt.
“I am sorry I keep getting in trouble at school. I promise to try and do better,” Mav told her, watching the water in her eyes closely.
Reese sniffed back her tears and got up from her spot on the floor. She crossed the kitchen to take her son in a hug. “Maybe Brecken will have learned some manners from this last time. Walking around with a bruised-up face would have to suck,” she teased, lightening the mood.
“Naw, I think he is made like your sperm donor. He will be a grade-A dick all his life.”
“Probably, true.” Reese knew she should correct him about the sperm donor comment and probably the dick thing too. She didn’t have the heart to do it. Her kid was right. Brecken and his parents were cut from the same cloth as her father.
“Alright, let’s go see about the car.” Releasing her son, they headed out the door to tackle the next obstacle of the day.
“Hey, Beautiful,” Cash’s easy smile fell as he studied her.
Reese ignored his stare and concentrated on what was in front of her. Somehow, they managed to get the car turned around and backed into the tiny garage without Reese hearing anything. Then again, they probably could have landed a jet in the driveway without her knowing. Reese had been too focused on her conversation with her father to notice much else. At least the stove was shiny and clean inside and out.
With the hood up and tools spread across a piece of plywood in a makeshift workbench, it was hard to tell if the car was winning or if her guys were winning. Her guys. Nope, I can’t think like that, Reese reminded herself. She didn’t have any hold over the hot hunk of man-candy standing in front of her.
It was all his fault. Cash was wearing another pair of those jeans that made his ass look better than any man should. The tattoos decorating his arms were on display today. The old tee with the arms cut out gave her the view she imagined yesterday. Not that she was checking out the view or anything, Reese yanked her eyes away from his well-defined arms and the chest she rubbed against last night.
“You okay?” Cash asked, knowing full well he was being ogled. He didn’t mind one bit because he was doing some checking out of his own.
“She was talking to her sperm donor,” Mav interjected, missing the heated look Cash sent his mother.
“Mav, we can talk about it later. How expensive is it going to be to fix it?” Reese quickly changed the subject. She might have caved a little last night, but it wasn’t going to happen again. Her life was none of his business.
“It isn’t going to be as bad as you think. You need a new starter. I called and got the parts coming. They should be here in a day or two.”
