Chapter 3
THEO
Theo wasn’t entirely sure what came over him when the young mother took her son’s hand and turned to leave.
Maybe he just needed a distraction from the frustrating phone call he’d had.
Maybe he wanted to get a little more insight into the mind of a parent.
Or maybe he just found her compelling in a way that was difficult to explain, with her long, black hair and blue eyes.
If he looked like a supervillain, she looked like Snow White, or maybe Wonder Woman from the comic book covers he’d admired as a kid.
Whatever came over him, Theo found himself calling out.
“Are you running off home?”
“Not yet.” Nina paused and turned back to him. “We’re going to the park.”
“Is your husband meeting you there?” Theo wasn’t sure why he asked that, either. Something flickered across Nina’s lovely features, though whether it was annoyance or confusion or something else, it was hard to say.
“I haven’t seen Jack’s dad since he left to get milk five years ago,” Nina quipped. “So, I’d be very surprised if he turned up at the park.” She said it casually, jokingly, but Theo still winced.
“Sorry.”
“That’s okay. You didn’t know. And me and Jack are very happy just the two of us, aren’t we?” Nina looked down at the young boy beside her. He had his mother’s light blue eyes, but his short floppy hair was a chocolate-brown color. He was wearing a superhero T–shirt and scuffed jeans.
“Yeah,” Jack agreed. He looked up at Theo. “Do you have a kid?”
Theo blinked, then shook his head. “I don’t.”
“Oh. That’s too bad.” Jack tugged on his mother’s hand. “There aren’t any kids to play with here. Can we go to the park now?”
Nina chuckled and looked up at Theo, shrugging. “I’d better go. It was nice chatting with you.”
But Theo shook his head. “Um, what about ice cream before the park?”
Nina’s brow furrowed. “I—” she began, but Jack was already bouncing in his little sneakers.
“Yes! Ice cream! Ice cream!”
“Well, sure.” Nina smiled at her son, though she still looked uncertain. “I suppose ice cream would be nice.”
“My treat. I know a great place right here.” Theo led the way to the ice-cream shop on the ground floor of his office building. He’d never been inside, but it boasted twenty-five different flavors and thirty different toppings, which seemed like it would appeal to a young boy.
Jack’s question had given Theo an idea. A wild, inexplicable — probably terrible — idea, but an idea all the same. That was why he’d suggested the ice cream. He needed to figure out a way to discuss his plan with Nina without sending her running for the hills.
She was a single mother. She had a cute son just the right age.
Maybe Theo really could rent a family, like he’d imagined, though not quite in the way he’d thought.
If he could somehow convince Nina and Jack to believably pose as his wife and son, just for a little while, he could prove to Charles Ackley that he did share the man’s values and finally land that meeting.
It was outlandish, but Theo had tried everything else. This was the only way he could see to move forward. Now, all he had to do was somehow convince Nina that this was a good idea, which probably wasn’t going to be easy.
Theo glanced at the mother and son. Jack had his nose almost against the glass ice-cream case while Nina helped him pick out two flavors for his kiddy cup.
“Would you like something, too?” he asked, opening his wallet to pay.
Nina shook her head. “Thank you, but no. You’ve already been very kind.”
“Shall we sit?” He gestured to a round table with three chairs by the window.
“Sure.” Nina followed his lead, taking a seat opposite him while Jack meandered over to look out the window while he ate his ice cream.
“Stay close,” Nina told him. Jack nodded, but he seemed very distracted by the ice cream and the view outside.
Then Nina leaned forward, brow furrowed.
“Do you, um, really like kids or something?”
Theo chuckled before quickly swallowing his mirth. “Something like that. Jack’s a sweet kid.”
“Oh, he is.” Nina’s expression brightened. “He’s great.”
“How old is he now?”
“Five.”
Perfect. Jack was just the right age to enroll in Holyoke Academy, the swanky private school where all of Boston’s wealthiest sent their kids. The more Theo heard, the more he knew his plan would work. He could finally break into the inner circle without having to actually start a family.
“That’s a good age,” he said, though he didn’t really know one way or the other.
“It is.” Nina beamed. “He’s old enough to actually help a little and still young enough to want to. Plus, he has such a great imagination. He loves superheroes and villains and epic battles between good and evil. And he’s really bright.”
“I bet,” Theo agreed. “How about you?”
“How about me?” Nina looked at him, her eyes sparkling with humor as she pondered the question. “What do you mean? I’d like to think I’m quite bright, but…” she trailed off jokingly, and Theo chuckled.
“I believe it. But I meant more, how do you make things work as a single mother?”
“Well, I work a freelance job in phone sales.” Nina shrugged. “It isn’t glamorous or fun, but it pays the bills. Mostly.”
“What do you sell?”
“Cosmetics.” Nina smiled, looking a little self-conscious. “I know it might not seem like it, since I don’t wear a lot of cosmetics myself. And given my outfit.” She was dressed casually in jeans and a white sweater.
“I wouldn’t say that.” Nina’s natural beauty seemed to make her the perfect candidate for cosmetics sales, though presumably she never saw her clients if she just spoke to them over the phone. “Is it interesting?”
“Not really.” Nina rolled her eyes. “Sometimes it can be fun, but it’s a lot of work, and it isn’t the steadiest of incomes.
I studied graphic design, actually, and I worked in it for a while — but when Jack was born, I quit my job to stay home with him and had trouble finding freelance graphic-design work. ”
“Now Jack’s in… kindergarten, right?”
“That’s right.” Nina nodded. “But he’s very advanced for his age.
His reading skills are already at a second-grade level, and he’s great with numbers.
At his school, it’s a little difficult, because the classes are so big, so he gets bored…
” She trailed off. “Sorry. I don’t know why I’m telling you this. Any of this.”
Theo saw his opening and leaned forward. “Why don’t you send him to a different school with smaller classes, where he could get personalized attention?”
Nina bristled. “Not all of us have the money to do things like that.”
Theo winced. He’d offended her. Again. But he was on the right track, and he couldn’t give up now. This would be an amazing opportunity to finally move his business forward, and it would benefit Nina and Jack, too.
“I understand,” he said. He understood more than he would tell her — Theo had been raised by a single mother who’d struggled to make ends meet.
Now that he was wealthy, he had bought her a beautiful house on the coast, where she’d always dreamed of living, and made sure she never wanted for anything.
“What if you did have the money, though?”
“If I were rich,” Nina said, “obviously I’d send my kid to the best possible school.
And obviously I’d buy an apartment with more space, and not worry about the cost of replacing broken things and…
all that.” She sighed. “Listen, Theo, I really appreciate the ice cream and you being so understanding about Jack. And it’s been nice talking. But we do need to get going.”
“Wait just a minute. Please.”
Nina paused halfway out of her chair and sat back down. “Okay…”
“I have an offer. It’s going to sound a bit strange, maybe more than a bit, but I need you to listen and really think about it, okay?”
Nina’s brow furrowed, but she nodded.
“I’m the CEO of Epsilon,” Theo said. “And I’ve been very successful — but there’s one client who’s proven impossible to land.
He’s a family guy, and he doesn’t want to deal with people who don’t share his values.
Which he doesn’t think I do. If you and Jack would be willing to pose as my wife and son, just for a little while, it would help me land that client. ”
Nina’s eyes widened, and even Theo could hear how outlandish his offer sounded.
He hurried on. “I know this is asking a lot, but you’d benefit, too.
I’d enroll Jack in Holyoke Academy, which is the best school in the city.
They have small class sizes, and lots of time to play, and great extracurriculars.
” At least Theo was pretty sure they did.
He hadn’t actually looked into the school much.
“And I’d take care of all your finances and give you a great financial incentive.
Enough that you wouldn’t have to worry about money for the rest of Jack’s childhood, at least.”
Nina blinked at him. She was quiet for a long, disbelieving moment, then she tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear and sighed.
“Okay. Let me get this straight. You want me to pretend to be your wife, and Jack to pretend to be your son, so that you can land a client. And for that, you’d pay me some ridiculous amount of money. ”
“That’s right,” Theo confirmed.
“Wow. I… have you even thought about how this would work?”
“Not yet,” Theo said. “But I’m sure we can figure out a reasonable arrangement together.”
Nina laughed softly. “I can’t believe this. You want to prove to some client that you share his family values by tricking him?”
This time, Theo was the one who bristled.
“Listen,” his voice dropped low and earnest, “I can have good values without being a husband or a father. I’m an honest businessman, and my product would really help Ackley Industries.
It isn’t my fault that Charles Ackley is too stubborn to listen to my pitch just because he and I aren’t exactly the same. ”
“Right.” Nina bit her lip. “I just… you’re asking a lot.
You understand that, right? It’s one thing for me to pretend to be your wife, or whatever, but it’s another thing to ask that of Jack.
It might confuse him.” She glanced at her son, who was still licking the last of the ice cream from his cup and looking out the window. “Things are hard enough.”
“That’s the thing, though. Life shouldn’t be hard. I don’t know your situation, but I do know that you want something better for Jack than what you can give him right now. I can help you. And you can help me.”
Nina bit her lip again. Her gaze drifted from her son to the window, then back to Theo’s face.
Then she sighed. Still, she didn’t say anything, and Theo’s heart began to race.
He was asking for a lot. He knew that. But he was offering a lot, too.
He needed this. Something told him that Nina did, too.