Chapter 5 Paige
Paige
“What do you think?” My mom holds up a lacy black dress. It’s a classic.
“It’s nice. Kinda has a vintage vibe.”
“Yeah.” Mom drops it on her bed next to the other dresses she’s pulled from her closet. “It’s a knock-off Valentino, but I love it.”
“What?” My fingers trace the intricate pattern of the lace. “It’s fake?”
“I wouldn’t say it like that. It looks exactly like an haute couture evening gown one of the supermodels wore back in the day.” She swings around to face me, resting her head on the doorframe of her closet. “I looked hot in that thing.”
“Olivia Cassidy, you were a poser,” Bas, my teenage brother, says, sauntering into the room with his phone in one hand and a bag of chips in the other.
“I wasn’t. There was nothing false about me and how I looked and felt in that dress.” Mom places a hand on her hip.
He stops in his tracks, and in a rare moment, he actually gives our mother his undivided attention, as fascinated as I am by what she has to say.
“Being fake is being something you’re not. I was true to myself and let’s just say people liked what they saw.” She gives us a naughty smirk and wink, and we groan at what our mother is suggesting.
“Hey, bud.” I pull his ball cap off his head as he’s near me.
“Stop.” He lunges and tackles me to the bed.
“You two. The dresses,” Mom scolds. “And my clothes. I’m packing.”
Mom and Sam, her husband and a celebrated chef, are off to Montreal for two weeks. They are frequent visitors to the fair city. It’s Sam’s hometown and where he has several restaurants.
Bas makes space on the bed, carelessly tossing clothes to the side, obviously here to stay and sure to get in the way. Mom growls but doesn’t say a word to him.
Studying the black dress, I worry my bottom lip.
Friday is three days away and I’ve yet to find a dress to wear to dinner with Zach.
He’ll be coming over tomorrow with dinner, an update on the landlord situation, and a dress.
I’m not sure how I feel about him providing a dress and would feel better if I had my own.
As for dinner, I’d rather he not see how the other half lives, or more specifically, me.
The internet can be both a good and bad thing. I looked him up—as well as the Rothwell empire—after our meeting and I was nearly sick to my stomach.
The Rothwells are worth billions.
Yes, billions.
Nan Rothwell lives in Rosedale, the classiest neighborhood in Toronto, where the wealthiest of the wealthy live and while I couldn’t find any details on Zach’s home, there were endless photos of him with actresses, models, and other wealthy women.
No matter what dress my mom finds in the back of her closet, it won’t compare to what his other dates have worn. Let alone what the other guests will be wearing. What have I gotten myself into? I’m way out of my league.
“Did you pack?” Mom looks to Bas with another armload of clothes for her suitcase.
“Uh, I thought you’d do it.” His gaze is fixed on his phone.
Bas is staying with Pippa’s parents, Sin and Colin, while his parents are in Montreal. He wanted to skip school, but with this being his first year of high school and exams coming up, Mom and Sam wouldn’t hear of it.
Our mother hits the sole of his foot. “Nope, I’m not. We leave early tomorrow morning. Go pack.”
He moans and gripes at actually having to do something.
I’ve got no sympathy. The boy is the baby of the family, Sam and Mom’s love child, and we all spoil him.
It’s hard not to. He may have a teen attitude and be a pain in the ass some of the time, but he’s a good kid and proof that second chances are worth it.
“Hey, go pack,” Sam says to his son as he enters the bedroom. My brother grumbles some more before grunting a goodbye when I call after him.
“What are my favorite girls doing?” Sam places a hand behind my neck and kisses the top of my head before giving my mother one on the lips.
“We’re trying to find Miss Paige an evening gown.”
He arches a brow. “What’s it for?”
“A work dinner for this guy I’m seeing.” My tone is cool and indifferent.
When I asked my mom if she had anything I could wear, she had questions. Lots of questions. But she quickly got the hint that I wasn’t going to say more, not yet anyway. It doesn’t feel right lying to her. To my family.
“This guy has a job?” Sam’s sarcasm goes along with the ongoing joke about the men I date. He thinks I’m selling myself short and disliked Terry—and pretty much most of my exes.
“Har, har. You’re hilarious!”
He snickers, pulling me in for a side hug. “Tell me more about him.”
“There’s nothing to tell.” I shrug and my mom says, “He’s Zachary Rothwell.”
Sam’s eyes widen, looking to Mom and then me. “Yeah, that Rothwell,” I say sheepishly.
“He’s a billionaire,” Mom says, adoration in her tone like we’re talking about Jason Momoa, our mutual and life-long celebrity crush.
“It’s nothing serious.” My protest is in direct contrast to what Zach said we had to show and tell the world.
I can’t spring this relationship on them when I’ve never talked about Zach before. In telling my mom the details, I stuck to the truth, or as much as I could.
“Shit, you sure know how to go from one extreme to another,” Sam laughs.
“Drew introduced them. He’s helping her with her landlord.” Mom keeps talking, bringing Sam up to speed on the whole Joel Hummel situation.
My landlord contacted me on Monday about fixing the front door and he’s coming over on Thursday when I’m working from home. Fortunately, Tom is going to be there.
“Paige, let me fix what needs working on. I’ll see what I can get done before we go,” Sam says, cutting into my thoughts.
“I’m giving him notice next week that I’m moving. Zach’s lawyers are drafting something, so I don’t care if nothing else gets fixed.”
“Have you found a place?” Mom closes the suitcase.
“No. I might have to ask Drew if I can rent his condo.”
“That’s a great idea. The lease is up in a month. You could stay here in the meantime.” Sam smiles, happy with that solution, and I stifle my groan.
“Yeah, I might have to.”
“Honey.” Mom takes my hand and I lift my chin to face her.
“It isn’t forever and look at it as a way to save some money in the short term.
And if you’d prefer, you could stay here.
We leave for the cruise in a few weeks and then Montreal for the summer.
We won’t be in your hair. It’ll be like your own place. This is your home.”
I force a smile and nod, not wanting to be ungrateful. She doesn’t mention Bas because we both know he’ll want to stay with me when they’re on their cruise instead of Jonah’s or Sin’s, Mom’s closest friends.
“I better get going. Can I borrow this?” I hold up the black dress and her eyes glitter with excitement as she nods her head up and down.
“You’ll look gorgeous in it. Send pics,” Sam says, and I say my goodbyes.
The black dress may not be the real deal, but it is beautiful, and if it was good enough for my mother, then it’s good enough for me.