Stella wasn’t exactly thrilled about the shotgun marriage when Brooke and I first got together. I’d spent months slowly earning her trust. But asking her to meet me like this, behind Brooke’s back? Yeah. That probably blew whatever progress I’d made to smithereens.
And from the tightness around her mouth, and her cold reception I can tell she knows this isn’t about a surprise party.
She raises an eyebrow at me and gestures to take a seat. “Come on. Whatever it is, say it.”
She sits opposite me, crossing her arms, watching. She’s not hostile, exactly, just wary. Like she knows I didn’t drive all the way here for a casual chat.
For a few seconds, neither of us says anything. I clear my throat, then clear it again when nothing comes out. “Uh. How’ve you been?”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “Seriously?”
“Yeah,” I mumble. “That was… stupid.”
She exhales, sits back. “Look, Matthew, I’m tired, and I’ve got a meeting in an hour. Whatever this is, just say it.”
Right. No warm-up. Just jump.
“You remember Brooke’s baby shower?” I finally say.
Stella blinks. “Yeah. I threw it.”
I nod, rubbing my palms on my jeans. “When I took the kids to the park that day, a man came up to us. Lil and Micha called himDad.It was your ex.”
Her face goes tight. “Yeah,” she says, clipped. “I figured.”
“Brooke told me he’d been trying to come back, and you weren’t open to it.”
Her eyes narrow a little, but she doesn’t interrupt.
I lean forward, elbows on my knees. “I grew up without a dad. And when I saw him with the kids… I felt bad. I didn’t want to betray you, so I told him to leave. But before he did, we exchanged numbers. A few weeks later, he texted. Said he wanted to earn back your trust and Brooke’s. Asked if I’d help him.”
Her jaw tightens.
“I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.” My laugh comes out short and bitter. “I felt sorry for him, I guess. So, I agreed to meet him. A few times. We… kind of became friends.”
Her brows pull together, and I can tell she’s trying to decide if she wants to kick me out or hear the rest.
“And then,” I say, running a hand through my hair, “one day I got an email from the bank. My credit card, the one I got specifically for emergencies and hospital bills, had been maxedout. I’d never used it. And when I checked my wallet… it was gone.”
Her mouth falls open.
“Yeah,” I mutter. “When I confronted him, he swore he’d pay me back. Promised me. And then he skipped town. Just vanished.”
Stella sits back, blinking like she’s trying to process the words.
“I’m on the hook for twenty-eight thousand dollars,” I say quietly. “Unless I press charges.”
I let out a long breath. “I didn’t come here to make excuses. I came because I can’t keep lying to Brooke. And if I go through with this, it’s going to blow up everything, for me, for her, for you, for the kids. For all of us.”
Her hands lower from their crossed position. She doesn’t speak yet. Just stares at me. And the longer the silence stretches, the heavier it gets.
“I didn’t tell Brooke,” I say finally, voice cracking a little. “I thought I could, I don’t know, fix it. Somehow. And apart from asking my mom for money, which isn’t even an option, I’ve got nothing. I have no other way out of this.”
Stella exhales, and when she speaks, her voice is small, almost absentminded. “She’d hate that.”
I nod. “That’s why I haven’t told her. Look, Stell, I don’t have a choice here.”
She studies me for a long moment, then lets out a humourless laugh. “First of all, you’re an idiot.”
