18. Joshua
Chapter 18
Joshua
C assidy disappeared right after she proved to me that I once again have underestimated her and her abilities. I seem to keep fucking up that way.
I head outside to look for her in the backyard when I see a woman sitting out by the pool alone. It’s dark out. And I assume it’s her.
“Hey! Party’s downstairs, Princess,” I call out to her.
She turns and the second she does, I want to eat my words.
“Reece?”
“Hey, Joshy,” she smiles and starts walking over to me.
Why is s he here?
“You weren’t invited.”
“Not by you, no. One of the rookies did.”
I’ll fucking kill them.
“Who?”
She waves away my question and stalks toward me. “I’m not here for the party.”
“Then leave.”
She shakes her head. “No, because you see… there’s a little matter of payment we have yet to discuss, Joshy.”
“I paid you. Plenty. For the five days you lasted here.”
She tsks. “Oh, but I did so much more than take care of the kids, didn’t I?”
Her eyes narrow and she’s wearing a dark smile when she leans in and whispers, “I took pretty good care of you too. From what I recall.” She runs a hand across my chest and I could breathe fire from how pissed I am right now.
“You need to leave.”
“I hear she’s making a killing. And she’s living here. Lucky her.”
“What do you want, Reece.”
“Equal pay. For services rendered.”
I give her a blank stare. “Are you apart of some nanny/escort hybrid service I wasn’t aware of?”
“You’re funny,” she smiles. And it makes me sick.
“And you’re annoying. Please, leave.”
“One hundred thousand, right? For six weeks? If I do the math that comes to nearly twenty-five hundred a day. Seems kind of steep. And seems I was jipped.”
“Do I need to remind you that you only worked here for five days and that you were the one that quit on me ?”
“I just want what’s owed to me, Joshy. Let’s round up and call it twelve grand even.”’
“Get out of here.”
“Unless,” her voice is sultry. “You’re paying her a premium to give you her virginity.” She’s behind me now, rubbing a finger up my arm. I shake her off.
“I don’t need to pay her for her virginity just like I didn’t have to pay you to sleep with me. That was all of your own accord, Reece. It’s not in your job description.”
“Fine, if that’s how you want to play.”
“I’m not playing anything with you. This conversation is over. Leave.”
She steps up to me and leans in. “Then you just made a choice.” She gives me a peck on the cheek before turning on her heels and leaving through the side gate.
Reece was a mistake. One I've had to own up to. But she's not getting anything else out of me.
I look to the kitchen, and there through the sliding doors, I find Cassidy–staring at me.
Fuck.
I head inside and she doesn’t move from her spot.
“You sure know how to pick ‘em, don’t you?”
“Did she say something to you?”
She lifts a shoulder and lowers it. “Nothing that I haven’t already figured out myself.
I reach for her arm. “Cassidy–”
“No!’ she says, tearing it away. “You were right to stay away from me, Joshua. It’s unprofessional. We have an agreement, I’ll fulfill it. And then when it’s time for you guys to leave. I’ll be ready to go find a place of my own finally. It’s all planned out.”
“I see that,” I mutter.
“So, let’s just agree to be friendly to each other. At least until you leave and then you never have to worry about having another bitter nanny rummaging around for more money.”
“Can we talk about this… please?”
“I came down here to tell you Cole’s birthday is tomorrow.”
“What?”
“His fifteenth birthday. And the first one without his father. I suggest you get your head out of your ass and act like one.”
Now she turns on her heel, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
The first birthday without his dad. Technically, all my birthdays have been without my dad. And I turned out just fine.
I think.
She wants me to act like a dad. When my own dad was a grade A example of absentee father. At least I had Oliver in my life to teach me what it was to be a man. He’s the one who practiced hockey with me. He’s the one who taught me how to throw a right hook and work on old cars.
I can thank a man who wasn’t supposed to be my dad for showing me how to be one. And I guess… technically that’s what I am now to these kids.
Even if it is temporary.
I hate to admit it. But she’s right. I need to step up.
“What’s all this?”
I turn to see Cole standing next to the tool box.
“Cassidy told me you wanted to work on her car. Well, let’s work.” I motion to the pieces laid out on the pavement.
“Oh. I don’t know–”
“Cole…” I sigh. “I’m trying here, man. I know I haven't been the easiest to get along with.”
He scoffs.
“But neither have you,” I add. “And I get it. I was your age when I found out my step-dad wasn't my real dad.”
He scrunches his brows and stuffs his hands into the pocket of his hoodie. But he doesn’t leave. He waits for me to say more.
I grab a wrench and pop open the hood to Cassidy’s corolla. “Yeah. He told me while we were working on my first car. My mom felt it was time I knew the truth.”
“What truth?” Cole asks, coming closer and leaning on the fender.
“That Oliver wasn’t my dad but he wanted to be. I was eight when he and my mom got married. I was fifteen when he told me he wanted to adopt me.” I bend down and loosen the bolt on the side. “I had no idea at the time that there was anyone else. He asked me if I wanted to know who he was. And I told him no. Right away. I didn't even have to think about it.”
Cole watches me, but still doesn’t say a word. I meet his gaze.
“I lied. I wanted to know so bad. To know why a man wouldn’t want to meet his own son. Why he would abandon me and what could possibly be so important in his life that he would choose that over me. I was so pissed.”
“Dad wasn’t… he wasn’t like that,” Cole says, looking angry that I’d talk that way about our father.
“How was I supposed to know? I was the kid he didn’t want, right?”
Cole shrugs staring down at his shoes.
“Anyways, a few years later those DNA tests started coming out. I figured, hey, this way I can find out about the other side of my family that I never got to know. Mom never talked about him except to tell me he wasn't worth feeling bad over. She never even gave me a name. She said it was better for me to never find out. And it only drove me to need to know even more. So I took one and two weeks later… James Anderson popped up on my profile as my biological father. That’s how I learned his name. My mom only ever called him that man .”
“Did you ever reach out to him?”
I shake my head. “I had a name. That’s all I needed. I made my profile private so he wouldn’t know that I went looking for him. I was tempted to look him up on social media. I typed his name once and saw so many profiles of guys around what could’ve been his age. But I had no proof of knowing which one was him. So I stopped looking.”
“Why are you telling me this?”’ Cole crosses his arms over his chest.
“To be honest… I don’t know. I guess I just want you to know that I respect that you and I have very different memories when it comes to our father. But that doesn’t mean we can’t try to heal together now that he’s gone.”
He looks at me again.
“I’m sorry, Cole. If I ever made you feel bad about losing your dad. I can’t imagine how much it would hurt if I find out that Oliver passed. It’s a big deal. So today… I just want you to do something you’d be enjoying doing with him.”
He sighs and sniffs. “Thanks.”
I smile at him. “Hand me that strut bar, will you?”
He rolls his sleeves up and picks up the long part and helps me slide it into position.