Chapter 28 #2
I still feel awful about last night. I promised I would be here when Koa was on the road. I promised. But it was too late to text or call when I realized Coach D had changed plans.
But all I could think about all night was the stack of pregnancy tests shoved behind a box of cold medicine I shouldn’t have seen, then the ones with negative results crumpled in the bathroom trash when I was emptying basket to take the bag of dirty diapers out.
Last night she seemed fine when I left, and the fact she hasn’t told me, means she doesn’t want to talk about it and that’s okay. But me breaking a promise isn’t.
So, I had to come this morning. Had to.
Savannah is warm in her carrier, half-asleep, making those tiny satisfied hums she does after an early morning feed. I kiss the top of her fuzzy head and quietly climb the stairs, listening for any sound that tells me Nalani is awake.
Halfway up, I hear it. A soft, awful retching sound. My stomach drops.
I pick up my pace, careful but fast, and round the corner at the top of the stairs.
The bathroom door is cracked open. Light spills across the hallway carpet and inside, Nalani is hunched over the sink one hand braced on the faucet, the other gripping the edge of the sink.
She does not see me yet. Her whole body tightens as another wave hits, her hair falling forward until it brushes the counter. My heart squeezes.
“Nalani,” I say softly as I step in.
She jerks slightly, then slumps, exhausted and shaky. “Claudia,” she whispers, voice hoarse. “God. I did not hear you come in.”
I set Savannah’s carrier gently by the door and kneel beside her, grab a hair tie and pull her hair into a ponytail.
She tries to wipe her mouth on the back of her hand. “It hit me out of nowhere. I thought it was just a little nausea but then…”
Another wave rolls through her and she leans forward again. I grab a hand towel, dampen it under the sink, and gently press it to the back of her neck.
She breathes out a shaky sigh. “Thank you.”
Her lashes flutter, wet and heavy, and she swallows, “I was sure I was,” she shakes her head. “I’m not.”
She lets out a breath that is almost a sob. Not sad. Not happy. Something in between. Something raw. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, and that’s totally okay, but maybe you should… pee again?”
Her eyes light up and she stands, “Really?”
“I mean,” I wave my hand toward the sink. “Sometimes we jump the gun and…”
“I want to talk about this but,” Nalani holds her hand over her belly.
“This is none of my business,” I smile feeling tears sting my eyes, these ones the happy kind. “If you need me.”
Savannah makes a soft chuffing sound, waking and Nalani’s eyes drift toward her. “She is such a good baby.”
“She thinks so,” I say. “She woke up at five and insisted we start our day.”
Nalani tries to laugh. It comes out thin. “Good timing.”
“Yeah,” I whisper. “Perfect timing.”
She leans back against the tub, breathing slow, trying to steady herself.
And I stay right there beside her, holding the towel to her neck as she leans into me.
Nalani:
After last night’s game, I’m surprising Koa in Philly tonight.
Sofie:
YES. GO GET YOUR MAN. Emotional support, girlfriend has entered the chat.
Noelle:
Valid. Also, I cannot come tonight, I have to work till close.
Sofie:
I have a meeting, so I won’t make it until the third period anyway.
Me:
I’m ordering in food. Come if you can. We will be hen and house setting.
Sofie:
Ha! Savannah is all mine!
Nalani:
I love you all. I’ll send updates when I get to Philly.
Paul:
The house will be fine. Hens will be fine. Savannah’s not all yours, Sassy.
Sofie:
Sir. I will fight you.
Paul:
I have a cane.
Sofie:
I have teeth.
Nalani:
Leaving work to pack. Wish me luck. If Koa isn’t surprised, it’s one of your faults.
Me:
Go get him, Nalani. We love you.
Sofie:
So, the two of you are sitting at lunch together, messaging the group?
Nalani holds her phone up, “Smile.”
My phone chimes and I see a picture of Paul and Savannah light up my screen.
Paul:
You and the little one mind meeting me at the house when you’re done with work?
Nalani smiles, “Told you he loves you.”
She pops a kiss to my cheek. “And Miss Holloway? Look at your last text.” I glance at my screen. “You said you love me.”
That shouldn’t make me emotional, but it does. Because all the homes I’ve lived, all the families truly good families I have lived with, I have never been able to return that sentiment.
She pops another kiss to my cheek and holds her hand on her stomach and whispers, “Baby steps.”
The car pulls up as close as it can to Paul’s driveway while two massive dump trucks rumble away. Perfect timing.
“This is good,” I tell the driver as I unbuckle Savannah’s carrier. “Thank you.”
Savannah blinks up at me and kicks her feet the whole walk to the entrance. This place really does give me butterflies. The second I open the door, I freeze.
The entire downstairs is gutted. Like HGTV “before the commercial break” gutted.
Every wall Paul has ever cursed at is gone. The floors are covered in brown paper.
The whole place is wide open, bright, a blank slate waiting to breathe again.
Paul stands at a temporary island made from two sawhorses and a huge sheet of plywood. Blueprints are spread across it. Beside him is a man in a work jacket, jeans, and boots.
Paul looks up the second he hears me and his whole chest lifts, like he has been waiting.
“Kid,” he says with a smile. “Just in time.”
As I walk over, he gestures between us. “This is Claudia Holloway. Woman of the house. And this is our GC, Timmy Bricks.”
I shake Timmy’s hand and do not correct Paul. If he needs me to be the woman of the house right now, I will be.
Paul flips to a new page in the plans. “Need your opinion. Settle something.”
Timmy gives me a patient smile. “We are discussing a second front entrance. One dedicated to the office. Keeps client foot traffic out of the main living areas.”
“Bitty,” Paul mutters like it is a medical condition. “And the women like her. I do not need them marching in here all hours messing with the flow.”
I swallow a laugh and glance at the plans.
“So,” he says. “What do you think.”
“I think it is your house,” I answer. “Whatever you want, Paul.”
He waves me off. “No. What do you think.”
I look at the gutted house, the blueprints, the temporary island. He is serious. He genuinely wants my opinion.
I tap the spot he is pointing at. “Okay. If you add a secondary entrance, it gives you flexibility. Especially when you get sick of people treating the front door like it’s meant to revolve.”
Timmy snorts.
“And if you ever have out-of-town guests, they can come and go without disturbing the house.”
Paul nods like that was exactly what he wanted to hear. “Perfect.” He points at Timmy. “We are adding it.”
Timmy makes a note. “Done.”
Then Paul looks down at Savannah. “Hey there, cutie. You miss me.” She kicks and coos.
“Yeah, I know. We are getting there, kiddo.” He looks back at me. “Another thing.”
“Yes,” I say slowly.
“You mind if I give him your number,” he asks, jerking his thumb at the GC. “When it comes to colors, appliances, finishings, decorating, everything Patsy used to do. I know nothing about that stuff.”
“You want me to pick… everything.”
“Not everything,” he says. “Just everything important.”
I laugh. “Paul, that is everything.”
He shrugs. “You have good taste. And you will not pick nonsense.”
“High praise,” I murmur.
Timmy clears his throat. “Electricians will be here tomorrow to start in the basement. HVAC following. We will work around them as fast as we can.”
I exhale, smiling despite myself. “Alright. You can give him my number.”
Paul grins. Full grin. “Good. Then we have a plan.”
I look around the gutted space again. The echoing rooms. The covered floors. The way this place feels like a new beginning for Paul to begin living again.
“It is going to be beautiful, Paul,” I whisper.
He nods once, staring at the plans. “Yeah, kid. It is.”
When Timmy heads out, I turn to Paul. “Share a ride back to Koa and Nalani’s.”
He shakes his head. “Wanna sit on the steps for a minute.”
“Sure,” I say, because even though it is chilly, this was his home for decades, and I am not rushing him out just to go sit in an empty house and order takeout.
He walks over to the stairs, barely using his cane now, and nods. “Have a seat.”
So, I sit.
“Back before people had fireproof safes,” he begins, “folks used to hide mortgages, deeds, important papers inside the newel posts on the stairs. You ever hear of that.”
“I have not.”
He pulls the cap off the end of the post. Inside is a tubular fireproof container. He sets it between us and opens it.
“Patsy and I had this made when her bastard nephew tried putting us in a home. Since he was her sister’s only child, he would have been our legal next of kin and inherited this house. He would have sold it and pissed it away like he did his parents’ home.”
He pulls out the original mortgage, stamped PAID IN FULL in big red letters. Then the first set of plans. Then my sketched version. Then the deed. He sits down beside me.
“Larry put Patsy’s sister in a home and visited her once a month to get her to sign her check.
When we tried to move her in with us, he took us off the approved visitor list and threatened to have us arrested.
Even after we told him to keep her damn money.
When she passed, we were waiting on a court date. ”
A tear slips down my cheek before I can stop it. “That is so unfair. I am sorry.”
He shrugs and taps his knee against mine. “Still boils my blood when I let it. Patsy forgave so she could move on. But I am not leaving a damn thing to him.”
“I do not blame you.”
He reaches down and pulls a leather briefcase from beside the steps and sets it on his lap. “Someone asked me once if she would be pissed I wrote Larry off. You know what I said.” I shake my head. “I said Claudia would understand.”
For a moment, I forget how to breathe.
He opens the briefcase and pulls out a thick packet.
“You girls showed up here on her birthday. The date a few of my brothers and I crashed that party, and I first laid eyes on my wife. The truth is,” He hands me the packet.
“I am not leaving a damn thing to him. I am leaving it to you and Savannah.”
My head shakes before I even know I am doing it. “I could never.”
He chuckles. “You already signed the papers.”
“I signed a lease.”
“Yeah. About that.”
“Paul.” I scold him, which only makes him laugh harder. “Nalani —”
“Nalani has a whole resort. Noelle was left money and has a bookstore. Sofie is running a company worth millions. I am leaving this to the person who needs it most.”
“I don’t understand why,” I say as tears fall freely. “You have brothers. You said that.”
“Had lots of them over the years,” he says gently. “But with every move, they got further behind.”
“You were in foster care.”
He nods. “You are catching on, kid.”
I put a hand to my chest. “I do not know what to say.”
“Then wait till I tell you, Patsy, and I were going to name our first daughter after her sister.”
“Paul, what if something happens and I cannot pay the taxes, or I have to move, or…”
“The house has been paid off for forty years. Money is sitting in an account for its upkeep for your lifetime and Savannah’s.
When I go to meet my wife, none of that can come with me.
” He nudges me. “The house comes with an old man who may be a little delusional, but he knows that you walking in here that day was a gift. Just hire a nurse when I get too much and do not send me to the old folks factory.”
“I would never,” I whisper.
I am overwhelmed. So, overwhelmed.
“I do not do emotions anymore,” he says. “But I do truths. And the truth is, I love you and Savannah. Love those other three too, even the sassy one, but they all had a start that you and I never got.”
“I… I feel that too,” I tell him, pressing a hand over my heart. “All of you. I just…”
He puts an arm around me. “Not leaving you behind until Patsy convinces the man upstairs that it’s time for me to go.”
“Same,” I say, hugging him tight. And then I cry.
After a few minutes, he leans back. “One more thing.”
“Anything.”
“Take your time. But at some point, let Moretti off the hook and tell him you are falling in love with him. The same way he is with you.”
“I…” I shake my head hard.
“He is one of the good ones, kid. Trust that.” He chuckles. “It does not mean I do not love that my plan worked, and his is still hanging in the wind.”
His plan. What plan. I look at him sharply.
“Aldridge still has not delivered on the deal he tried to secure.”
He sees my face.
“Shit. Kid. Forget I said anything.”
“Paul.” I cross my arms. “Spill it.”
And he does.