My brother-in-law finally answers the call. “Hey man.”
“How much money did I win?”
He chuckles, “That’s one way to start a conversation. After taxes... would have been something like $400 million. Maybe less.” Renée’s eyes go wide as reality strikes her like a bolt of lighting. “Did you forget?” he laughs.
“No, I just needed Renée to hear you say that.”
His laughter dies. “Wait—”
I hang up and switch the phone to silent. “That was my brother-in-law,” I explain to the frozen woman before me. “Only my immediate family and closest friends know about this.”
“So you... bought this place,” she says with a pointed finger, “because?”
I shrug. “I had the money and my dogs were pretty cramped in my west Philly townhouse.”
Her humorless laugh is adorable. “You bought a farm for your dogs?”
“Kinda, yeah.”
“Okay,” she breathes. “This is going to sound blunt, and I’m sorry but, what are you doing with your life?”
A quiet curve tugs at my lips. “Trying to make you a part of it.”
She bites back a smile and slowly shakes her head—the way you do when the punch line is you. “I mean, what are your career aspirations? Obviously you don’t need to work, but...”
“Well, I’m going to play rugby as long as I can. I donated a bunch of money to the team for a new training facility and to maintain the neighborhood around it. Other than that, I haven’t really decided what I want to do yet. I have to do something though. It feels weird keeping all this locked away. I’d like to do something meaningful with the money and my time. Like an animal sanctuary!”
“I think you have enough for several hundred animal sanctuaries.”
“If you have any suggestions, I’m all ears.”
“You really haven’t told anyone about your money?”
I shake my head. “I was told I couldn’t say anything because people might take advantage of me.”
She looks away for a moment like she’s agreeing peoplewouldtake advantage of me. “This is blowing my mind,” she says.
“Are you mad I didn’t tell you?”
She exhales long and hard, no less setting me at ease. “Now that I know, I’m not mad. I understand why you couldn’t.”
Relief rolls through me like a warm tide, sweeping away my fear.
“Thank you for telling me,” she says.
My heart takes the driver’s seat and I hop out of my chair, kneel in front of her, and take both of her hands in mine. “Renée, what we have together is already more than I’ve ever had. I’ve never feltthisconnected to someone. And your girls, my God...” I groan. “I swear I’m not just saying this because I’m over-the-moon for you, but your girls are amazing. They’re so smart and fun and creative! Like, legit, I wanna hang out with them all the time.”
She laughs quietly.
“Whatever this is between us,” I say, before kissing her fingers, “I’ll take it at whatever pace you need. I know I’m not the brightest knife in the toolbox, but I have enough sense to know you need control.”
She’s eyeing me like she’s torn between saying more and asking for a repeat of the night we reconnected. “I do Jonah.” Her voice drops to a hushed seriousness. “He took so much from me.”
“I know.”
“I’m done having my voice taken away.”
I dip my head in agreement. “I would never. I wanna know what you think day in and day out. I wanna hear you speakbecause your voice...” I trail off trying to collect the right description. “Your voice is like that hum you get in your chest when you hear a live orchestra. Like when the music starts low and the crescendo is long. It’s gentle but... you’ve never felt so alive and hopeful.”
