“I have it. The money. Lots and lots of money.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh my goodness. Did your dad leave you something?”
My heart pounded against my rib bones, and the palms of my hands were damp. This wasn’t how I’d planned to tell her. But here we were. “Yeah. He did.”
“How much?” Esme asked.
I took a breath. “Twenty million dollars.”
Her mouth fell open. “Did you just say twenty million dollars?”
“Yeah.”
She studied me, blinking. “But I thought there wasn’t any money left after all the legal stuff?”
“He set up the trusts a long time ago that were untouchable. My mother asked him to. According to the attorney, it was when she was sick and knew she was dying. She wanted to make sure we were okay after she was gone. And I learned something else. She was the one who brought money into the marriage. It was because of her that my dad could get started in the business.”
“No way. I … I.” She stopped, then started again. “That’s an incomprehensible amount of money.”
“I know.”
“And you’re taking it?”
“I am.”
She pressed her hands to her mouth, tears spilling from her eyes as she swiped at them with the back of her hand. “I don’t know what to say.”
“It’s kind of hard to grasp. But I’ve done a lot of soul-searching over the last few days. I’ve realized it’s time to make different decisions about my life. Turning away from my father and everything he represented was necessary for me to figure out who I am. But now, there are about twenty million reasons to take the money. And my mother wanted me to have it.”
“Twenty million reasons?” Esme echoed, her voice as lonesome as a train whistle at midnight.
“The very first reason—the most important one of all—is you. Followed by Robbie and Madison. I can give you anything you need from now on. You won’t have to worry ever again.”
She stood abruptly. Trevor’s head slipped off her lap, and he whined softly. “Please tell me you didn’t take the money because of us.”
“What?”
“If we’re the reason you’re taking blood money from your father—it’s too much.” She pressed her hands to her temples. “It puts too much pressure on me. You’ll be just another person who had to come to my rescue.”
“But it’s not like that.”
“And you can’t just offer to buy Madison five hundred pairs of shoes like she’s your kid.”
That hurt. “I’m offering to help. Why is that wrong?”
“That’s exactly what you’re doing.” Her voice rose. “You come back here with twenty million dollars and suddenly youthink you can solve everything. Pay for Robbie’s program, buy Madison new shoes, probably pay off my hospital bills too, right? Maybe buy me a new car while you’re at it?”
“What’s wrong with doing any of those things?”
“Because, we’re not your family. And do you know what that makes me?” She whirled to face me. “It makes me a charity case. It makes me the poor single mom who can’t take care of her own kids. It makes me everything my parents said I was—irresponsible, incapable, someone who can’t make it on her own.”
“That’s not what I think.”
“But it is, or you wouldn’t be doing the whole knight in shining armor thing.” Her face had grown pink, and splotches of red showed on her neck. “You feel sorry for me. Everyone feels sorry for flaky Esme.”
“No. Absolutely not. You’re important to me. All three of you.”
“Important.” She laughed, but there was no humor in it. “That’s a nice word for pity.”
