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She tilted her head. “No wonder you didn’t tear it open.”
There were two people who knew I’d been homeless, but only one who knew the reason why. And the sympathy in her eyes nearly broke me.
“I’m ready to call it a night.” I tucked the envelope under my arm and nudged Sadie.
She stirred, gave me a dirty look, and stretched before following us up the stairs.
When Miss Adeline reached her door, she paused. “Whatever’s in that envelope changes nothing.”
“I know,” I said quietly. And it wouldn’t as far as my life with her and the dogs.
But I had no idea if it would change my past life.
I tossed the package on the dresser.
Whatever was in there had been thirteen years coming.
It could wait.
Chapter Sixteen
Teague
Twenty-seven hours.
That was how long I’d been up.
If it weren’t for Beau and Lincoln, I’d have never made it through my first shift as a Hollingsworth Properties employee. They’d hung in with me the entire night, and there weren’t words to express how grateful I was to have them.
The lack of a relationship with my father didn’t matter when I had such a special one with them.
“Want a ride home?” Lincoln flicked his chin toward the car idling at the curb.
Beau yawned and climbed into the back.
“Nah.”
I had somewhere else I wanted to go first.
And judging by the smug upturn of his lips, he knew exactly what I had planned. “Give Pepper my best.”
“Don’t come home,” Beau called.
I nodded at my brother and ignored my sister.
As I strode to my truck, I realized what Beau had said.
Home.
Was she beginning to think of New York as home again? It had been cathartic to have them around. Even when they weren’t at Lincoln’s apartment, it still didn’t feel as lonely being in my own empty place. Hell, I’d barely spent a few nights there.
Everything was changing, and so quickly. While it seemed as if most of it were for the worst, maybe it wasn’t.
Lincoln and I had always been close, but we got busy. We’d go through periods where we didn’t take the time we should to grab dinner or watch a ball game.
In a strange way, our father and his antics had brought me closer than ever to my siblings. We were a united front.
I hadn’t realized how much I needed that reminder.
