She looked away. “It’s just until he’s done the course he’s taking. Till he can get us a good house. He’s doing what he has to to provide for his family.”
By fucking another woman? Oh, Amy.
She glanced up, tears glimmering on her long lashes, and he felt so bad for her and the poor choices she continued to make.
“Denise forgave me for our past arguments. But she can’t help me right now. I had to go apologize to Mom and Dad and play by their rules.” She started crying. “They kicked us out.”
He hated to see her cry and fetched her some tissues. “Here.”
She wiped her eyes.
“How does Devon feel about you coming to me for help?”
“He doesn’t know.” She grabbed him before he could sit, clutching his wrist with both hands. “Please, Reggie. I know I didn’t handle our breakup the right way. But I wouldn’t have asked for help if it wasn’t for Rachel. Can’t you just let us stay here for another month or two? That should be enough time for me to find work and a place to live.”
“Seriously?” He stared at her. “You break my heart, rip Rachel away without even letting me say goodbye, and expect me to let you move right back in here? Oh, and while you’re still with Devon?” He frowned at her. “I used to wonder if you and he were getting together while we were dating. But I never asked, because I guess I didn’t want to know.”
She cried silent tears and looked at him, so sad. “I didn’t want to come here. I’m so sorry, Reggie. But I need your help. No one else will help me.”
A feeling of, not compassion, but pity for her filled him.
Yet…he’d read the guilt in what she didn’t deny—that she had been cheating on him with Devon when they’d been dating. And that fucking hurt. He wanted to say no to her moving in and would have, but she called for Rachel.
The little girl came out. “What, Mom?”
“How would you like it if we stayed here with Reggie for a while?”
Rachel lit up. “Oh, could we? I missed you so much, Reggie.”
He wavered.
“Devon and I aren’t in a good place. I want Rachel to be stable, just for a little while.”
Rachel, the innocent in all of this.“One week,” he said and wondered how much of a mistake he was making. “Enough time for you to find another place to live. Sorry, but that’s the best I can do.”
“Thank—”
“You know where everything is. I have someplace to be.” He kissed Rachel on the head and left before he started talking to Amy, laughing with her, forgetting what she’d done while they reminisced about the old times and how great they’d been. Back when she’d been cheating on him and he’d been so in love and wanting a family, he’d ignored the signs.
And he’d known. Idiot that he was, he’d pretended they’d been tight for the two years they’d dated. It hurt to know that about himself now, something he’d never before admitted.
The more he thought about their “glory days,” the more he realized that anytime in the past that he’d thought about breaking off with her, she’d make love to him or get him to spend more time with Rachel. Sweet, innocent Rachel and sexy, lovely, fragile Amy. They’d needed him, she’d say. And they needed him again now.
But he had Maggie. And Emily. He couldn’t mess that up.
One week shouldn’t matter though. If Maggie broke up with him over helping someone who needed it, was she really the right woman for him in the long run?
He sighed, wishing life were simple again.
***
Monday afternoon, Reggie came to visit, and Maggie felt the same butterflies inside that she always did around him. She and Reggie had decided to tell Emily together that they were dating, to gently feel her out and field any questions as a united front.
But after he’d chatted with Emily, who left to get something from her room, he turned to Maggie and with a too-wide smile and too-happy tone, asked, “Maggie, do you think Emily could hang with Doug and Benny while we talk for a bit?”
The smile stayed in place but didn’t reach his eyes. He looked serious. Nervous. Maybe even scared.
Anxious, she sent Benny a quick text. “Let me see.” A minute later, she heard a knock on the door. “Come in.”
