33. Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Three
Simeon
“ W e have something to discuss with you.” Nanny sat on her spot on the couch, with her knitting needles clacking away. She knit little hats for preemie babies in the hospitals in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and Maple Ridge. Mission City didn’t have a maternity ward. I’d discovered this while driving Nanny to the various hospitals to drop off the hats. All our births were in Abbotsford, and high-risk cases were sometimes sent to either New Westminster or the women’s hospital in Vancouver. That brought home the small-town nature of Mission City. I worried a bit about other specialty care, but hopefully none of us would need it, and Abbotsford was close.
I was also grateful Nanny’s arthritis was mild and she could continue knitting.
Bops shut off the television.
Curious, I sat a little straighter.
Nanny eyed me. “We got a phone call today from the retirement village on 7 th Avenue.”
I blinked.
Bops grinned. “This is great news.”
My grandmother laid her knitting on her lap.
My gaze caught on her work. That doesn’t look like a baby’s hat. But then what did I know?
Nanny caught my gaze. “Oh, this is a scarf for Ryan.”
Tears pricked my eyes. She said it so casually. As if she expected Ryan to be around at Christmas. Which was still just over two weeks away.
“R-retirement village?” I couldn’t think of which one. There were several large buildings on the street—including a school—but I couldn’t place this.
Nanny nodded. “We’ve been on the waiting list for almost four years.”
My mouth opened as I tried to find words. When I couldn’t, I shut it. I’d assumed they’d be staying here until they died. That eventually I’d move upstairs to care for them. This was their home…how could they not want to stay?
“We’ve surprised you.” Nanny laid her hand over mine.
“S-shocked. I d-don’t understand.”
“It’s simple, my boy.” Bops grinned. “We miss our friends. We love you, okay? Don’t ever doubt that. But we’re isolated up here. Several people we know have moved into the village, and they love it. Nanny and I put our names on the waiting list. We had a specific request, though. Two rooms next to each other with a shared door. There are only a couple of those.” He eyed me. “You know we don’t sleep in the same room anymore.”
I did, and so I nodded. Bops’ snoring had worsened, and since it wasn’t apnea that could be treated, the solution for Nanny to get any sleep was separate rooms. And so they slept in different rooms. But still loved each other fiercely.
I cleared my throat. “When?”
“In the new year. We’ll have one last Christmas here and start the new year in our new home.”
“Oh.” I sought fortitude. “I g-guess we s-should call Cadence.”
Nanny’s brow knit. “Whatever for?”
“You’ll w-want to sell the house, right? Or need to? Retirement v-villages must be expensive.” I had no idea the cost, but I saw plenty of dollar signs.
Bops and Nanny exchanged a look.
She tilted her head.
He nodded.
She squeezed my hand. “We’re going to tell you two important things, but we have something very important to ask. Do you promise to answer truthfully?”
I nodded. “Of c-course.” I couldn’t fathom was she was about to ask. I also couldn’t consider lying.
“Do you want to stay in this house? Even if we’re gone?”
I blinked. I’d always thought I’d stay here, even after they passed. This was my home. Had been for seventeen long years. Almost as long as my home in Surrey had been. Again, I cleared my throat. “It’ll b-be empty without you. B-but yes, I’d stay. I love it h-here. This is m-my home.”
“That’s what we hoped.” She squeezed my hand yet again. She understood, even if I couldn’t articulate it, how much I needed her reassurances right now. The forthcoming upheaval sort of blew my mind. “And you’ll move into the primary bedroom? And live in this house as if it’s yours? Because it will be.”
“Uh…” Did you think you were going to continue sleeping in a windowless room in the basement? Yeah…perhaps I had. I loathed change. As I gazed into my grandmother’s expectant look, though, the answer came to me clearly. “Of c-course.” Then I had to be honest again. “I c-can’t afford to buy the house.”
Nanny and Bops exchanged another look I couldn’t decipher.
“W-what?”
Bops fidgeted. “We’re going to tell you something and it’s likely to upset you.”
I winced. I didn’t like bad things. Most of my time was spent avoiding bad things.
Nanny patted my hand. “Your mother paid back the money we’d given her.”
I blinked. I didn’t understand.
Nanny winced. “We don’t think she married your father for money…but she probably stayed in the relationship because of it. In the early days, we tried to warn her. Then, when your trouble became clear, we asked her to move home with you. That we’d take care of you both. Your father…”
“Yeah. My f-father.” The less said, the better. “Okay. So h-how much do you have. Or is t-that a bad question to ask?”
My grandparents exchanged yet another look.
“Almost a million.” Nanny shrugged. “The money paid back plus seventeen years of interest. Some years have been better than others. The past two have been remarkable. We didn’t put the money into anything other than GICs and bonds. Nothing that would ever lose its value. Nothing risky.”
“A million dollars?” I might’ve squeaked that.
In unison, they nodded.
“And you have this house.” I ran through the listings I’d seen recently. For fun, I perused listings of properties for sale. Partly out of genuine curiosity and partly to see what the realtor was up to. From the number of houses he was trying to sell at any given time, I’d say pretty damn busy. “I should c-call Cadence.”
“Why?” Nanny cocked her head. “I thought you just said you want to stay.” Another look between my grandparents. Why can’t they just say everything at once and let me sort it out? These dribs and drabs is driving me nuts. But, of course, I wasn’t going to say anything.
“We have that money.” Bops held my gaze. “Also, when I sold my accounting practice, I got a decent amount of money. Which I’ve also invested. Your grandmother has a pension from the school board for having worked so long. We have our Canada Pension Plan and our Old Age Security.”
I shook my head.
“What he’s trying to say, dear, is we’re just fine. We’re gifting you the house. It will be your primary residence. It’s yours, my dear. Everett is preparing the paperwork, and it’ll be done by the time we move. He’ll explain all that to you when we transfer the house to you. There are papers you have to file with the government for that. Carrie, the nice young woman who bought your father’s accounting firm, files all those taxes.”
I frowned. “I k-know her. She d-does my business tax returns.” And my personal ones. Young was very relative. She was almost a decade older than me. I drew in a deep breath. “Are there any o-other surprises?” I hadn’t taken in all that had just been dropped on me, but I preferred to know now instead of later.
“Well, there is one thing…” My grandmother gave me her brightest smile.
An hour later, as I sifted through all the paperwork my grandparents had given me—even knowing much more awaited me after I saw Everett and Carrie—my head spun at their last suggestion .
We think you should ask that nice young man, Ryan, to move in. He’s always here. Seems silly for him to be paying rent for an apartment downtown, doesn’t it?
Chia sat on the end of my bed and watched me as she licked her paw.
“You’re g-going to have to learn to b-be alone during the day.”
She blinked and continue to lick her paw. As if saying, yeah…so what?
I’d have to speak to her trainer, Torah, about what the protocol would be. I certainly didn’t want to crate Chia, but if that was the best way, then I needed to consider it seriously. I jotted a note on the pad of paper I’d snagged. My to-do list was growing.
My grandparents were at least letting me organize their move. I’d already emailed a company I’d worked with before, and they’d sent me a quote that felt reasonable.
I’m a millionaire. Between the money in the trust and this house, plus my small savings, I was really in a good spot. Nothing was to change, though, as far as I was concerned. Except I couldn’t work until all hours on projects. Nope. Chia needed me.
Ryan.
Nanny’s suggestion kept circling in my mind. I’d considered asking him to move in a week ago for a hot minute, then rejected the idea. I essentially lived in a one-bedroom basement apartment. We had a storage room I could probably clear out for him, but it didn’t have a window either. And yeah, he was welcome upstairs at any time—in fact, my grandparents adored him, but the basement wasn’t a great place. I’d glimpsed his studio apartment. For all the industrial feel to the older building, he had huge windows that faced due west. He got tons of sunlight. Down here, I never got direct light.
But Nanny and Bops had suggested that I move into the master suite. With Ryan, no less. I blinked again, trying to take this all in.
Chia huffed and put her chin on her paws as she gazed up at me with those puppy-dog eyes.
“W-what?”
She blinked. As if conveying, I didn’t say anything…
To my relief, Helen hadn’t maintained a fancy poodle haircut. We’d need to give Chia trims from time to time, but otherwise, she was fine. I’d have done the fancy stuff if I’d had to, but I’d googled poodles and the pictures of those dogs in their poofs and puffs…I’d managed not to laugh. But barely.
You’re off track.
Because I didn’t want to think about Ryan moving in.
Well, maybe I did. The idea of him living with me made my heart want to dance. Was like a blast of sunshine in the windowless room. There were obstacles, though. Emotional and practical ones. He’d need, at the very least, snow tires. Better yet, an SUV. But stuff like that was way out of his reach, and if I knew one thing for certain about Ryan, it was that he didn’t want money, gifts, or praise. He wouldn’t let me just pay for stuff. He wanted to live humbly—both physically and emotionally.
His story had aired Sunday night and, as Jake promised, the interview had been gentle. Probing, but respectful. Informative, but not gratuitous. My heart had ached, watching Ryan keep his composure as he talked about his losses. Such a strong man, even though he doesn’t recognize that.
To the best of my knowledge, Ryan’s dad hadn’t called. Apparently the man was in Macau on some business jaunt.
My phone rang.
Ryan.
“H-hey.”
“I miss you.”
I grinned. “I m-miss you too. B-but we had dinner together.” Chia and I had run over to Maddox’s house and had enjoyed fried chicken that Ryan had picked up in town after his physio appointment. The dogs devoured their kibble and then had watched us balefully as we’d indulged in fast food. Because of my grandparents’ health, we never ate fried chicken here anymore. Nothing fried at all. And since they were still going strong in their nineties, I planned to keep my indulgences to the minimum. I hoped to get their longevity and their health.
“I know…but that was hours ago.” Ryan’s tone was a playful whine.
“Y-you’re silly.” And I loved it.
“Because I have something serious to say.”
“Oh? W-well, I do too…although mine can wait until w-we see each other again.”
“Mine…” He sighed. “My dad called.”
I held myself still. I’d put him on speaker phone and had laid the phone on my bed, and I didn’t want him to hear me react. When he didn’t speak, however, I ventured, “Oh?”
He blew out a breath. “He…” Another pause. “He said he was proud of me. Like, really proud. And that he might not understand my choices, but he had to respect them.”
“W-wow.”
“Right? So fucking unexpected. Just…out of the blue.” He sighed. “It gets more complicated.”
“Oh?” Better to stick to one-syllable words and let him come to you.
“He says he’s set up a trust. And I’ll get a set amount of money each month for the rest of my life. Like a pension or something. Like I would’ve gotten if I’d been a soldier in the Canadian armed forces and had gotten injured and was forced to retire.”
“T-that’s great.”
“I don’t want it.”
“I know.” I didn’t have an iota of doubt that he wanted nothing to do with the money. “B-but you can do whatever you w-want with it.”
“Huh?”
Am I doing the right thing, or am I suggesting he do what I would do? I drew in a deep breath. “You c-could donate it. Find somewhere to be g-generous. P-plenty of good causes.” He could also keep enough to survive on, but that might feel like blood money to him—something I certainly wasn’t going to say.
“You mean like Ukraine?”
“S-sure. I think that’s a great idea.” Is that the right thing to say? “Or H-Healing Horses. Or a d-dog-rescue place.”
He chuckled. “Sofia’s curled against me. I’m on the bed in the spare room.”
“She’s a g-great dog. Chia’s on my b-bed with me.”
Another chuckle. “And here I was about to suggest phone sex.”
“R-really?” I might’ve squeaked that. We’d made out a couple of times at Maddox’s house, but we hadn’t actually climaxed. A bit of frotting and blue balls had been fine. Jizzing in someone else’s house felt weird.
“Nah. I’m just…” He blew out a breath. “He called, Simeon. I just…didn’t expect that. Well, I figured he might, but that he’d be derisive. Cruel.”
My heart ached. We hadn’t spoken much of our lives before. Before he’d gone to Ukraine. Before my parents died.
Ryan said in a much brisker tone, “So, what’s your news?”
I was suddenly unsure, shy about asking him something so vital over the phone. And if I shared one part of the news, I wouldn’t be able to stop. I gathered up the papers and dropped them off the side of the bed.
“What was that?”
“M-me getting ready for bed. I w-want you to talk to me while I f-fall asleep. I can share my n-news later.” I scooted under the covers, making myself comfortable while not disturbing Chia.
In the end, she moved up and plopped onto Ryan’s pillow. Her favorite spot.
I made a mental note to wash the pillowcase before he returned.
“What do you want me to talk about as I bore you to sleep?”
“Well…” I yawned. I’d worked bloody hard today on Kennedy’s bathroom. I wanted to have both bathrooms in the ranch house done by Christmas Eve. For Dean and Adam’s wedding. “T-tell me again how you think Quinton’s hitting on m-me.”
A low rumble. “Yeah, okay. So I know you think he’s all innocent, but he’s not…”
Yeah, Ryan’s favorite delusion. Within moments, I was out like a light.