Chapter 7 #2
“Some are worse than others. Is Carson in his office?”
“Haven’t seen him yet today. Want me to track him down?”
“Nah, I’ll text him. Any word from Marlon Beckett?
” Julian was eager to get Cresley’s situation resolved before Beckett decided to go ahead and release dirt on her to the media.
The picture of them having lunch at the Ivy hadn’t helped the situation, as Cresley was now concerned about publicity she didn’t need with a potential custody battle looming.
“Nothing yet. I’ve left him multiple messages and tracked down his management and left a message with them, too. He probably looked you up and realized it’d be easier to avoid you than deal with you.”
“That’s on-brand for him. Thanks for being thorough.”
Denny and the kids came down the hallway toward Julian’s office.
His friend’s gaze met his, full of questions.
Julian gave a subtle nod, indicating that Isla was still in his office.
“Is she okay?” Denny asked.
“She will be. I explained what could’ve happened to her assets if you’d told her about them sooner. I think she understands why you did it.”
“So she doesn’t hate my guts?”
“I don’t think so, but you’d have to ask her about that.”
“Come on, kiddos,” Denny said. “Let’s go find Mommy.”
Isla was quiet as Denny drove them back to the apartment complex where she planned to spend the rest of the day cleaning up the mess her soon-to-be ex-husband had made of their home.
While she was in the meeting with Julian Remington, she’d received a text from Officer Samuelson, letting her know that her apartment had been fully processed, and she was cleared to return.
Please be careful, he’d added. There’s glass everywhere.
Even though she was relieved to hear she could return to her home, several other thoughts cycled through her mind on repeat as she processed the eventful morning.
First was that Denny had hidden money from her parents because he was afraid Gabriel would spend it all. Second, his friend Julian might be the most gorgeous, kind, sincere man Isla had ever met, and why in the hell was she thinking about him when she had much bigger concerns?
“What’s his story?” she asked Denny, to make conversation, or so she told herself to justify the question.
“Who?”
“Julian Remington.”
“Oh. Um. Like, you want to know about…”
“Is he married?”
“God no,” Denny said with a snort. “He’d rather have gonorrhea than a wife.”
“So he’s got commitment issues, then?”
“Nah, nothing like that. His folks, both of them high-powered family lawyers, dragged him and his siblings through an endless custody battle back in the day. It cured them of wanting marriage or permanence. Not to mention, they spend their days unraveling other people’s happily ever afters.”
“I suppose that’d spoil all things romance for them.”
“For real.” He glanced over at her when they were stopped at a light. “Are you pissed?”
“I was, for a minute… And then Julian explained what you saved me from, and now… I’m sad.”
“Because of what I did?”
“No. I’m sad you felt it was necessary.”
“I’m sorry, Islander. I never trusted him. I wish I’d been wrong.”
“I should’ve listened to you.”
“If you had, we wouldn’t have your babies, and that would’ve been tragic. They’re the best. I like them better than my own kids.”
“Haha, that’s because one of your kids is a teenager, and the other will be soon.”
“Exactly. I hear they’re not dicks for the rest of their lives.”
“Language!”
“Sorry. I’m so out of practice with watching my mouth.”
“Get it together before Theo’s talking like a construction worker.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
After a long silence, Isla said, “I want you to know… I’m pissed with you for holding out on me about the inheritance, but I understand why you did it, even if the reason you did it breaks my heart.”
“You’ve had enough heartbreak to last a lifetime, kid. It’s time to turn the ship around and chase joy.”
Isla glanced at him. “Where’d you hear that?”
“My therapist.”
“You have a therapist?”
“Have for a long time. You ought to get one. Highly recommend.”
“What do you talk about?”
“Everything. All the hard stuff no one else wants to hear about.”
“I want to hear about that stuff.”
“You’ve got enough of your own.”
“That doesn’t mean I can’t be there for you the way you’ve been for me. I mean… you gave up your whole life for me.”
“Temporarily.”
“For five years. That’s not nothing.”
“I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
“Did I ever say thank you?”
“You don’t have to.”
“Yes, Denny, I really do. What would’ve become of me if you hadn’t stepped up?”
Their parents had both been only children, and their grandparents had died years before their parents did. She would’ve ended up in foster care without him.
“It was never a question that I’d take care of you.”
“But it meant putting your own dreams on hold for five important years.” When their parents died, he’d been playing with a band that had gone on to secure a recording deal, without him. They were still together and opening for some big acts these days.
“Eh, whatever. If I hadn’t stepped up for you, I wouldn’t have met Kath and had my kids. Things work out the way they’re meant to.”
“Do you believe that? Really?”
“I want to. I mean… Everything in life is so fu—”
“Denny!”
He grinned at her. “Freaking random. I like to believe there’s some sort of higher power at work. Otherwise, most of it would never make sense.”
“I can’t believe Mom and Dad dying was meant to be.”
“The thing about believing in meant-to-be is that you have to take the bad with the good. It’s all preordained, before we’re even born.”
“When did you get all deep and philosophical?”
“I’ve always been that way.”
“How did I never know that?”
He shrugged. “We haven’t seen as much of each other lately as we used to.”
“Because of G.” Isla glanced at the kids, who were watching a movie on an iPad.
“I never wanted that. I hope you know…”
“Yeah, I do. I didn’t at the time. I thought you’d be an AH to any guy I brought home.”
“I wouldn’t have been. I liked Aaron. Remember?”
Isla hadn’t thought of her high school boyfriend in ages, so long that it seemed he’d been in another lifetime.
“Yeah, I do.” Aaron had gone to college out of state, while Isla stayed in LA, trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life, working in bars to pay the rent and chipping away at college one or two classes at a time.
She’d met Gabriel through work friends and had fallen madly in love over the course of that first heady week together.
“I might not have married him if things hadn’t happened the way they did.”
“You can still finish school and do all the things you wanted to do.”
“I suppose.” School felt daunting to her with two little ones to care for, but less so than it would have before she’d found out about the money. “I guess the good news is I can keep my apartment.”
“And not work.”
“Oh, I’m still going to work.”
“Not at a bar!”
“That’s where I can make big bucks.”
“You don’t need it.”
“Yes, I do. The money is a huge relief, but we both know how expensive life is, and with college to think about and all the other life expenses, I need to do this for me—and my kids.”
“Mama no work,” Theo said.
“It’s okay, honey. Don’t worry.”
“No work.”
“See?” Denny said. “He agrees with me.”
Isla glared at him.
They picked up lunch for the kids on the way home, and after they’d eaten, Isla put them down for a nap in Mrs. V’s guest room.
Once she was sure they were asleep, she and Denny took the baby monitor next door to deal with the carnage.
Because she’d tried not to look too closely on her way out of there the night before, she wasn’t at all prepared for just how bad it was.
“Holy fucking shit,” Denny whispered.
Isla was blinded by tears that she swiped away in furious disbelief that this was her life.
That the man she’d chosen to love, out of all the men in the world, could’ve done this to their home.
She was determined to hold it together and clean up so she and her kids could get back to some semblance of normal.
“Isla.”
She turned to face her brother.
“You can’t stay here. The minute he makes bail, he’ll be right back here, even with the restraining order.”
“Where am I supposed to go?”
“Let’s get you out of here. You can’t stay here or next door. You’ll be like sitting ducks, and who knows how angry he’ll be after a night in jail? He’s apt to blame you for everything. I… I can’t leave you here with the kids. Look at what he did. You’re not safe here.”
“I have no money to move, Denny. Even with this newfound investment account, I don’t currently have the money, and my cards are maxed out.”
“We can get you access to the money today. Whatever it takes to make it so he can’t find you.”
She glanced at him. “I’m not sure what to make of this new information about our finances when we’ve spent years trying to survive on next to nothing.” Another thought occurred to her. “Is this why you live in that shithole apartment? Because you didn’t want me to know there’s money?”
“I didn’t want Gabriel to know about it. I never felt right about keeping it from you, but after I had to give a chunk of mine to Kath, I was more determined than ever to protect yours.”
“Tell me how you were able to keep it from me.”
“You would’ve come into the money when you were twenty-five.
By then, you were all about him. Every instinct I had told me to keep your money away from that guy, so I petitioned the court to postpone the maturation date until you were thirty.
It’s in an account that you’ll have access to today because Julian told us Gabriel can’t get at anything that you didn’t have until after the date of separation. ”
Hearing the lengths he’d gone to in order to protect her softened her toward him. “Thank you for always doing what was necessary to protect me, even when I wasn’t looking out for myself.”
“If I’d had any idea it’d gotten this bad,” he said, gesturing to the shattered glass that covered every inch of the place, “I would’ve made the money available to you. I swear it.”
“I didn’t want you to know it’d gotten this bad.”
“I’m sorry you felt like you had to keep it from me. That’s my fault.”
“No, it’s Gabriel’s fault. All of this is his fault.”
“Yes, it is. Let’s find you a new place to live—today.”
Resigned to having to move to keep herself and her kids safe, Isla nodded. “Okay.”
They spent the next hour picking through the shattered remains of her home to salvage clothing, toys, bedding, towels and other things she’d need in her new place. When she’d gathered up as much as she could fit into the bins, boxes and suitcases she had on hand, they moved it all to Denny’s truck.
“What do I do about this place?”
“Is the lease in your name or his?”
“His.”
“Then you leave him to deal with his own mess.”
“If I can afford something better, let’s look for a house I can rent that has a little yard for the kids.”
“I have a friend who’s a Realtor. I’ll call her.”
“Thank you for everything, Denny. Not just today, but always.”
“We’re a team, you and me.”
He used to say that all the time after their parents died, leaving them to face an uncertain future on their own.
“Yes, we are.”
“Let’s figure out what’s next for you and your kids.”