Exposed - Chapter 22
Monday
Brooklyn
“We should do this all over again tomorrow,” Matt said as he pulled to a stop outside my house.
I mean…his house. I stared at him. Our house? “Don’t you have a company to run, Mr. Hot Shot CEO?” We’d spent all day at his parents’ house.
“Get this,” he said. “I’m so good at it that it kind of runs itself in my absence. And I have more important things to do than work.” He looked over his shoulder to make sure Jacob was sleeping. “Like buying you two dozen more bouquets of roses every day until I win you back.”
“What about coaching the Empire High football team?”
“They deserved a day off after that epic homecoming win. Which they did without my help, since I was a little preoccupied. But you should come to practice tomorrow. It’ll be fun. You can meet my Henry.”
“Jacob would really like that.” I bit the inside of my lip. “Isn’t it going to be a little weird though? With Kennedy? She’s your assistant coach.”
“Kennedy and I will always be friends,” said Matt. “Just like you’ll always be friends with her. And we’re moving forward, remember?”
I took a deep breath. “You guys just looked really good together down on that field.”
“Kennedy distanced herself from me as soon as she found out you were back. Trust me, it wasn’t all hearts and roses down on that field. She practically cringed at my touch.”
I laughed. “That’s not how it looked.”
“She could barely even look at me. I actually thought she was going to tell me she was in love with Felix after the game.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. We had dinner with him last week. Well, I crashed their dinner. Tanner was meddling. It’s not important.
What’s important is that Kennedy reacted differently to seeing him than she did to seeing me.
I think I may have messed up their chance back in high school.
And now that I’m seeing everything a little clearer… they’re a really good fit.”
“I hope so. I want her to be happy. I want both of them to be happy. I can’t believe Felix never got married.”
“We all took your death hard, Brooklyn. But now that you’re back? Hopefully we can all just move forward.”
“He looks almost exactly the same,” I said.
“Please don’t put me back into that love triangle.”
I laughed.
Matt grabbed my hand. “I’ll be your dirty little secret, but I won’t do that again.” His eyes dropped to my lips.
Matthew Caldwell was no one’s dirty little secret. And I was done over thinking all of this. “Do you want to come in?”
He smiled. “I thought you’d never ask.” He climbed out of the car in a hurry, like he was worried I’d change my mind. Or maybe he was just excited to get upstairs. But instead of pulling me inside, he opened up the back seat and picked a sleeping Jacob up into his arms.
Matt was really good with him. And seeing them together made my heart beat better. It made it feel like I’d eventually be okay again.
I followed Matt up the front steps. He pulled out his key and let himself in. Yeah, this definitely just felt like our house. Especially with all the amazing things Matt had added this morning.
Matt froze in the entranceway and I almost bumped into him.
I stepped to the side to see what he was staring at.
The tops of all the roses had been cut clean off.
The vases were just filled with thorny stems. It would have been a little menacing looking if there weren’t yellow rose petals scattered everywhere.
Creating a path upstairs. It was like a romantic scene you’d see in a movie.
How had Matt arranged this? I hadn’t seen him on the phone all day.
I walked around him and started to follow the path.
“Brooklyn, stop,” Matt said.
But I was already running up the stairs, following the path. I was getting used to surprises from Matt. And I couldn’t wait to see what this one was.
“Wait!” Matt yelled. I heard him bounding up the steps behind me. “Brooklyn!”
I pushed the bathroom door open and screamed at the top of my lungs. There was a man leaning over the tub with a machete.
He screamed when I screamed, and dropped his machete onto the tiled floor. He stepped away from the tub that was filled with yellow rose petals.
Matt pulled me out of the way, somehow shielding me and Jacob even though Jacob was still in his arms. “Nigel, what the fuck?” Matt said.
“What does that word mean?” Jacob asked. But his eyes were glued to Nigel. And there was a scowl on his face, like he knew Nigel and didn’t like him.
I grabbed Jacob out of Matt’s arms. “Wait, you two know this guy?” I asked.
“That’s Mr. Nigel,” Jacob said. “He lives in Abuelo’s castle too.” He kept scowling at him.
Nigel scowled back. “Mr. Jacob,” he said.
They both kept glaring at each other.
“Nigel, seriously, what the heck?” Matt asked. It really seemed like he wanted to drop the F bomb again, but I was glad that he didn’t. The last thing I needed was for Jacob to be a nudist and love profanity.
Nigel stopped glaring at my son and looked up at Matt. “Have I done something to offend?” He kicked the machete out of the way. But it was a machete and he hadn’t hidden it at all.
“Why did you cut up all those roses I got for Brooklyn?”
Now Nigel was glaring at Matt. “You know why.”
“No, I definitely don’t,” Matt said. “And how did you even get in here?”
“You gave me a key to your place.”
“I definitely didn’t do that.”
“No? Oh. I must have made a key. I have so many keys, sometimes it’s hard to remember which ones were given to me or which ones I taketh.”
“I’ve seen your crazy big keyring. But that’s no excuse to break into my house.” He shook his head. “Brooklyn’s house, I mean. And why did you ruin all those bouquets?”
“Because Tanner is not always right. And you’re my friend too, so I’m looking out for you. And I’m a master of sabotage.”
“Nigel, you can’t sabotage what I have with Brooklyn. I love…” Matt’s voice trailed off. He couldn’t say he loved me in front of Jacob.
I didn’t really know what the two of them were talking about. But it seemed like a good time to jump in. And I wanted Nigel to like me if the two of them were friends. Even if this weird little man didn’t seem fond of my son. Maybe Jacob had stabbed him with a stick or something.
“This is actually really lovely,” I said. “The rose petal trail up the stairs? And this bath?” I looked at all the rose petals in the bathtub. It really was pretty. It seemed like something prepared for honeymooners. Not any kind of sabotage…
Nigel followed my gaze. “Gah! I’m too good at baths!” He turned back to me. “Wait. You like it?”
“Yeah, it’s beautiful.”
“You…you appreciate it?”
“Of course,” I said. “It was so nice of you. This must have taken a long time. And I love baths.”
He just stared at me. But at least he’d stopped scowling.
“I’m Brooklyn, by the way.” I put my hand out for him. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Nigel.” I’d heard a little about him. But he didn’t need to know that.
He looked at my hand for a few beats too long before finally taking it. “And I, you, mademoiselle.” He kissed the back of my hand.
I laughed.
He smiled up at me. And then he turned to Jacob and stuck his tongue out at him. I looked down at my son, whose tongue was also sticking out. I wasn’t sure who had started that, but that was quite enough.
“Put those away,” I said.
Both of them stopped sticking their tongues out.
“I knew I’d like you,” Nigel said. “Master Tanner usually is right about these things. I shouldn’t have doubted him. Shall I strip you for your bath now?”
Whoa…What?
“That’s entirely inappropriate, Nigel,” Matt said.
“Oh. I can only strip you, Master Matthew?”
“Nigel, get out.”
“But…”
“Nigel.”
“But she likes it. Sabotage turned glorious surprise! Brooklyn likes me. She said so. She appreciates me. Let me at least get the temperature just right.” He turned the spigot back on.
This was the weirdest thing I’d ever witnessed in my life.
“I’m so sorry,” Matt mouthed silently at me.
I just shrugged. Honestly, this was all very entertaining. “So you’re Tanner’s assistant?” I asked Nigel.
“Houseboy.”
“A houseboy?”
“You got a problem with that?”
I laughed. “No. I just…I’ve heard that term before. That’s what Isabella wanted.” I turned to Matt. “For you to be her houseboy.”
“You want to be like me?” Nigel said. He abandoned the tub and walked right up to Matt. Really close. Way too close.
“Isabella was a crazy person,” Matt said.
“I can teach you all my ways. It’s always important to be prepared.
Like the key thing. I stole your key in your sleep to make a duplicate.
And then I lied. Because lies are also important to safeguard your master’s secretses.
You must also demand time off. Because time off accumulates over the years.
Don’t tell Master Tanner, but I only work three hours a week.
Oh, and you must blend into the walls. No orange clothing. ”
“You just learned that last thing over the weekend,” Matt said.
“Good houseboys are always learning what their masters want. Come with me. I’ll show you my journal.
We’ll be houseboys together. Excuse me, Brooklyn,” he said.
“I’ll need him for the rest of the night.
And the next few days. I have so many lessons.
And so little work to do otherwise. This will be my new special project. Because I just finished my last one.”
There was so much to unpack there. “What was your last project?” I asked.
“My renovations.”
“Did you buy a property and restore it too?”
“I like that you ask me questions, Mistress Brooklyn. Yes. Another one of the reasons I have a key. Because neighbors have keys. And I’m your new neighbor. I bought the house next door.”
“What?” Matt said. He sounded very annoyed.
But Nigel just beamed up at him, nodding.
I’d remembered seeing a sold sign out front when Tanner first brought me here. I’d thought that was the house he was letting me stay in. “The house to the right?”
“Yes. And don’t worry. I’ll put a door in between our houses. Better to serve you that way.”
“Oh…I don’t think that’s necessary…”
“Of course it is. Much easier than using a key. This way it’ll be more like one big house. For all three of us.” He sighed. “I mean four. Mr. Jacob,” he said and stared at my son.
Jacob stuck his tongue out again.
Where had he learned that? “Jacob, be sweet.”
“Mr. Nigel started it.”
I had a feeling that was true. But still.
“Shall I strip you for your bath now, Mistress Brooklyn?” Nigel asked.
“Cut it out,” Matt said. “You’re not seeing Brooklyn naked.”
“I won’t look that much,” Nigel said.
This was too weird. “I’m actually going to give the two of you a moment. It’s Jacob’s bedtime.”
“Noooo,” Jacob said. “I want to play in the bath too.”
“You like baths, Mr. Jacob?” Nigel asked.
“Yessie.”
“Oh. I presumed you were too uncouth for such luxuries.”
“I don’t know what that means,” Jacob said.
“That’s kind of my point. But alas, a fellow bath lover is a friend of mine. I guess I will stop glaring at you.”
“Okay,” Jacob said.
“Good.” Nigel turned to me. “Can I stay now? Since I’m friends with you and the little one? I believe there is a Monday night game on. Master Matthew and I usually watch them together. I’ll make the snacks.” He hurried out of the room.
I turned to Matt. “Um…”
“I’ll handle it. I watched the game with him one time. What the heck?” He followed Nigel out of the bathroom.
“Do you not like Nigel?” I asked Jacob.
He yawned. “I think he’s funny, Mommy.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“And he makes really yummy snacks. Can I watch the game too?”
It was way past his bedtime. But I was terrible at saying no to him. Besides, he’d probably just fall asleep in a few minutes snuggled up on the couch. “Sounds good.”
“Can Coach come for breakfast again? I like his doughnuts.”
I think those were actually Nigel’s doughnuts. But I couldn’t hide my smile. “You like him too?”
Jacob nodded. “He plays football with me. And jumps in leaves. And has hot chocolate. And he makes you smile like Daddy.”
Oh, sweet boy. I peppered his face in kisses and sent him into a fit of giggles.
“Maybe he can move in next door with Mr. Nigel?” Jacob asked. “And then they can visit whenever they want. Abuelo too.”
I laughed. Honestly that didn’t sound that bad to me.