Molly took up the story. “Your father always shooed us out when Charles came. I cooked dinner for them and went home.”
“He’s a con artist. Has to be.” I was scrolling through my phone looking for a lawyer. As head of a homeless shelter, I was confronted with heartbreaking stories every day. And now I was homeless.”
“The clock and the watch.” Before Saul could grab me, I stormed into the study and retrieved my mother’s clock. “Where’s the watch?” I demanded. Mr. James pulled out a desk drawer and handed the watch to me. Charles said nothing. He was lounging on the sofa reading the will. Probably counting his freaking millions ‘cause that was how much my dad was worth.
Leaving the doors open, I ran back to the kitchen. Molly was packing food in a cooler and Saul had slipped down to the cellar and brought up a bottle of wine that he tucked in a bag.
Molly’s eyes glistened with tears as she bit her lip before saying, “You’d better go and pack.”
“My car’s in the shop.” Probably a good thing or Charles mayhave confiscated it.
“I’ll drive you in the van. Gotta put the motorbike in there too.” Saul held up the bag he was holding. “And the food.”
“Drive me where?” I had nowhere to go. The office? I could sleep on the couch.
Saul handed me his phone with a pic of a two story house. “This morning my buddy at the market mentioned his nephews were looking for a roommate.” They inherited a house with four bedrooms apparently. “Want me to give him a call?”
Lucky them. Their parents loved them enough to leave them a house. I nodded. I could stay there for a week until this mess got sorted out.
Racing upstairs, I pulled suitcases out of my walk-in closet, and stuffed my clothes and toiletries in. Books went in a box and I grabbed photos of me and my mom. It wasn’t until I picked up one of me with Father that I remembered the letter Mr. James had given me.
I slumped onto the bed and pulled it out of my inside pocket.
Dear Candrin
If you’re reading this and I haven’t introduced you to Charles, you must be in shock. It has been a joy to discover I had another son. He grew up with very little and you had everything handed to you. Please don’t be angry at my decision to cut you out of my will. You are more than capable of making a good life without my millions. I love you son. Your loving father.
Fuck. He really did it.
Footsteps on the stairs had me wiping away my tears thinking it was Charles. But it was Saul and he made the first trip downstairs with two suitcases. As I peered around, wondering what I’d forgotten, I tore into Father’s room. In his large walk-in closet, there was a small statue. I used to admire it as a kid when I’d sit on his dressing room floor and watch him getting ready for work. I wanted it and it would mean nothing to fucking Charles.
I picked it up to reveal a pile of folded notes underneath. Maybe Father knew I’d take the statue. It wasn’t a lot, but it’d pay my rent for the next month, whatever that was.
I’d never taken a salary at work. it would have been obscene to accept whenthat money could be plowed back into the charity. That might have to change until I sorted this out.
With everything stowed in the van, I hugged Molly. She kissed me and whispered, “I’ll drop more food around tomorrow. His Highness, the new owner, will never know.”
Saul’s phone beeped. “They’ve agreed. You can rent the room.”
They must be very trusting to let me stay sight unseen.
2
TANNER
Maybe this wasn’t the best idea
When Uncle Davy called and said he found us a roommate, my initial reaction was relief. We paid our bills, but it was tight… too tight. And having the extra income was going to be huge.
When we inherited this place it felt like the solution to our problems. We could give up our shitty apartment and come live in this huge house with plenty of land for our bears to run free and it was already paid for. How foolish we were. Between the taxes and the utilities for this old place, we were paying more than our rent ever was. And the worst part? If something broke there was no landlord tocall and get it fixed. We had to either repair it ourselves or fork over the money for someone else to.
We’d managed so far. We loved our home and the money was getting us by. But it kept me on edge playing move the line items in the budget every few months. I wanted a cushion, and a tenant slash roommate would be that.
Until I had enough hours in to get a good commercial gig, my career as a pilot wasn’t paying what people assumed it did or even would. I just needed to put in the time and I’d end up with a great salary, unlike my brothers. Librarians would always be underpaid and working at a nursery watering and feeding the plants was a lower income job. It was up to me to work my way up and make it so we didn’t need a roommate.
“My brothers are going to kill me,” I mumbled as I heard a vehicle pull up.
Technically I hadn’t told them that I was looking for a person to share the house. Sure, I mentioned it in passing once that we had a spare room that could be easing our burden, but no one would consider that full disclosure. And really at the time it was just a notion, one that I also shared with our Uncle Davy.
