“My mom opened a bank account in her name and gave me access to it. Colleen never pushed the issue to open a joint checking or savings account, just asked that I made sure the bills were paid. So I paid her mortgage, car loan, and all the other household bills, which let her keep every paycheck she earned to do with as she pleased. I put this house in my dad’s name after having a lawyer draw up a contract that would protect us both.”
“That’s a lot of hoops to jump through to keep things from the woman you planned to marry and spend the rest of your life with.” Out of everything he’d told me, that was the one thing that left a sour taste in my mouth. If he was willing to be so deceitful to the person he claimed to love, I couldn’t imagine the lengths he’d go to so he could lie to me, someone he barely knew.
“I have really good instincts about people, but back then, I think I was just learning how to listen to them. Now, I can look back and see the writing on the wall, but at the time, I was young and in love. I refused to believe she would hurt me. It’d been my parents’ persuasion that made me do all those things in the first place. Trust me…I fought them. In my mind, I was only worried about the money I’d been saving for years, not caring to have that wasted on shoes Colleen didn’t need, or her purse collection that she kept in the corner of her closet. They convinced me to do it, saying we could reverse it at any time, but that they felt it was needed for at least the first two years. That’s the only reason I agreed.”
“But you never changed it?”
He shook his head and sucked in a full inhalation before relaxing his shoulders again. “Nah. I’d gotten used to the way things were and never really thought about it again. It wasn’t like I needed to have my name on all those things, and Colleen had no idea they even existed.”
“So this house is still in your dad’s name?” When he nodded, something hit me that I hadn’t thought about before. “You said he’s full Italian. So where did Nicholson come from? That doesn’t sound like a very Italian name.”
A slow smile stretched across his chiseled face, bringing my attention to the shadow of scruff he’d yet to shave. “My dad was adopted.” His answer almost made me roll my eyes, but I refrained in lieu of hearing him out. “His biological parents were both really young—I don’t remember how old they were, though. Anyway, they had to go back to Italy to deal with a family emergency, but they couldn’t take their baby with them. I was told their families didn’t know they had a baby, and for whatever reason, they couldn’t tell them. So they decided to leave my dad, who was only a few months old, with an older couple who lived next door until they came back. But they never returned, so the neighbors ended up adopting him.”
As much as I wished I could pick apart the story and find holes, reassuring me it was a lie, that was hard to do. So I just sat there and nodded slowly, letting it all sink in. He must’ve sensed my hesitation, because he pushed himself off the mattress, walked around me to the dresser against the wall across from the bed, and grabbed a framed photo from the corner. When he handed it to me, I realized I could try to pick his words apart until the end of time, but I wouldn’t find any holes.
Behind the glass sat a picture of an older man with green eyes so bright they reminded me of grass in the spring, just coming back to life after a dry winter. His skin was light and his hair a copper color. To the side, slightly in front of him, stood another man, younger than the first. His short, black hair was combed to the side with an off-center part, reminding me very much of Cash’s, just worn in a different style. His eyes squinted with his infectious grin, making it appear that the image had been snapped mid-laugh. So much about this man, from his olive skin color to his muscular build resembled Cash, who I assumed was the child in the photo, standing in front of both men. They all looked happy, and I could tell they were a family, even though it was obvious the eldest didn’t share the same blood.
I handed it back to him with a smile.
After returning the frame to its original place, he ran his finger along the edge and came back to sit next to me, facing me. “What other concerns or doubts do you have?”
I was amazed at how much of an open book he was, considering he’d always come across so closed off—guarded. He’d given me opportunities to ask questions before, and even though I had, I’d never expected him to be so willing to offer such personal information. Then again, that wasn’t his fault. It was mine for assuming.
With only one question left weighing on my mind, I opened my mouth and asked, “Why did you offer to let me live here?” I held out my hand to stop him from responding before I could clarify my question. “I understand you were looking for a roommate and the rent check wasn’t important to you, but why me? You were aware I didn’t have a job, no income, and I’d be bringing along a two-year-old. Good deeds aside, you had to have some motivation behind your decision. Anyone else would’ve walked out of that restaurant, but you didn’t, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out a reasonable explanation that doesn’t make you look either pathetic or criminal.”
Cash dropped his chin close to his chest. At first, I thought it was to shield me from seeing the truth in his eyes, but when his shoulders began to bounce and he lifted his head to reward me with the same squinty eyes as the man in the photo, I recognized the humor he’d found in my question.
“I must be pathetic because I’m not a criminal.” His laughter slowed when I couldn’t bring myself to join him.
“I’m being serious, Cash.”
“So am I, Jade.” He swallowed so harshly his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat, his gaze now set to the open doorway leading out to the empty living room. I wasn’t sure if he was looking at something or staring off into the distance, but I could tell by the way his eyes softened, whatever ran through his mind wasn’t a joke. “In all honesty, I enjoyed our conversations and found you incredibly easy to talk to, which was exactly what I was looking for in a roommate. I thought you were funny and you made me laugh.”
“So you’re saying you only offered me a room because I made you laugh?”
“That…and I found myself looking forward to your calls and texts. That’s when I realized, lies or not, I was interested in seeing it through. And somehow, during that month we talked on the phone, I guess I started seeing you as a friend. You were literally the perfect roommate. But before I moved forward, I had to see your face.”
“Why? To make sure I wasn’t an ogre?”
He shook his head, lips pulled wide in a contagious smile. “No. Honestly, I was hoping you were.” He must’ve sensed the question burning the tip of my tongue, because he continued to explain. “Considering I was only looking for a friend, someone to talk to and spend the weekends with, it would’ve been a deal-breaker if I found that person sexually attractive.”