The door swung open sooner than I’d expected, and Nan’s expression immediately turned into a disgusted sneer. “What are you doing here? I called the agency and had you fired. Do I need to call the cops, too?”
I went over what I had practiced in my head. “Here is a check with everything I have right now. I’ll get you more as soon as I can. I’m really sorry about the mirror,” I said, my voice only cracking once from nerves.
Rush Finlay walked up behind Nan. He wasn’t smiling. What was he doing here?
“Nan? What’s going on? Did you just say you had—” He stopped and looked at me. “It’s Reese, correct?” I nodded. “Did you have Reese fired?”
“She stole a five-thousand-dollar mirror from my house! Yes, I had her fired. This is a check for not even half of it, and she thinks that makes it OK,” Nan spat out.
Rush didn’t look like he believed her. He turned back to me. “Reese, did you steal a mirror?”
I shook my head. “No. I did break it, though. I fell. It was an accident. I explained, but—”
“She’s lying! She’s the cleaning lady, Rush! God! Do you always have to take everyone else’s side over mine? I’ve been gone for months, and this is what I get as a welcome home? A thieving housecleaner and my brother once again taking other people’s sides against me?” She was yelling now. But the fact that she’d called Rush her brother confused me. How was Rush her brother? Mase was her brother, but Rush and Mase weren’t brothers to each other.
“She brought you a check and is promising to bring you more when she can. Does that sound like someone who stole your mirror? No, it doesn’t. Calm the fuck down, and think about this shit before you react. You’re not ten goddamn years old anymore, Nan. Grow up.” Rush was clearly annoyed.
“I’m going to go. I’ll be back with the rest of the money as soon as I can,” I said again, then hurried down the steps.
I probably should have stuck around and continued to defend myself. There was a good chance Rush might start to believe her, and then I wouldn’t get that job working at his house. I would have to wait to call Blaire about the job. At least I had a witness who saw that I’d paid her some for the mirror and promised to pay more soon.
It was an eight-mile walk home from here. I had enough time to think about what I would do the rest of the week since I no longer had houses to clean.
Mase
My phone rang as I was pulling into the house after a long day at the stockyards.
It was Rush.
“Hello,” I said, not used to getting calls from him.
“Nan’s back home,” he said, not sounding real happy about it. Couldn’t say I blamed him, but then, I thought he loved his sister.
“Yeah,” I said, wondering what this shit had to do with me.
“You know anything about a mirror at Nan’s house?”
Shit! I had forgotten about the mirror. And Nan being home. Motherfucker. Reese would have gone to clean yesterday. Suddenly, her headache made a hell of a lot more sense.
“First morning I met Reese, she fell cleaning the window, and the fucking mirror crashed down around her. Sliced open her hand. I had to take her to get stitches. I forgot about that damn thing. I figured Nan wouldn’t even notice.” But I knew she had. Because Rush was calling me. If she’d been cruel to Reese, I’d be paying her a visit, and it wouldn’t be one she fucking wanted.
“She probably wouldn’t have. Except Reese told her about it and promised to pay her back,” Rush said, still sounding annoyed by something.
“Shit! I should’ve replaced the damn thing. I just got . . . busy with stuff and forgot.”
“Yeah, you should have. She brought Nan a check for two thousand four hundred dollars today after Nan had her fired from the agency. My guess is she lost all her jobs. And she’s fucking broke. I was going to take the check away from Nan, but I was afraid she’d press charges against Reese or some stupid shit like that. I’m thinking Reese might need a little help right now.”
“Two thousand? What the hell! How much does Nan want for the damn mirror?”
She was the meanest, most vindictive bitch I had ever met. When she’d offered to help Harlow with a blood transfusion after Lila Kate’s birth, I thought for a moment that she’d found a heart. But apparently not.
“She’s claiming it cost five grand and came from Paris. I’m calling bullshit on that, but she’s determined to get her money for it. I figured I would stop this if you didn’t. I just know that if it was Blaire being fucked with, I’d want to be the one righting the wrong. Not someone else.”
“I’ll be there by morning. Don’t let Nan get near Reese again. I’m coming to settle this shit and bring Reese back with me. I can’t get things done, because my mind’s always on her. I want her here.”