Chapter 9
CASH
I sat in the kitchen for hours after Thad left, reading through the pages of the report from his accountant.
The numbers didn’t seem fabricated. I even did the math myself to make sure they actually added up.
There were even tax documents included. The man handed me all the evidence I needed to prove he had told me the truth.
The surgical binder even included references and testimonials.
I found a pen at some point and made notes in the margins. Some procedures and story details sounded familiar, and I’d scoured the internet, finding the news articles and social media posts where the athletes I’d recognized spoke of the man and his work.
Gritty, dry eyes forced me to look away from the numbers and the words on the pages scattered before me.
The light outside had turned from bright and sunny to the dullness of twilight before deepening into the dark night sky you only get in a city.
Not that Headland Cove was a large city, but it was big enough to keep it from looking and feeling as dark as it did back home in Minnesota, when Mom and I lived in that shitty trailer park after Dad got locked up.
God, I hated that fucking trailer park. The place creeped me out as a child, and it was the one place from my childhood I hadn’t visited as an adult.
The place was called the Blue Zoo because there were rows and rows and rows of tiny -ass, older-than-dirt blue single-wide trailers that needed more things repaired than not, but the landlord never fixed anything.
The trailers had such little insulation that you could hear your neighbors fighting and fucking from three lots away.
Which meant you froze in the winter and melted in the summer.
The thing that had creeped me out the most was how dark the place got at night.
Barely any of the exterior lights worked on the tin cans we lived in.
And kids with BB guns had long since shot out the streetlights.
Probably a few with real guns if I were being honest. So even though the city loomed over us, sparkling with opportunity, the area we lived in felt shady, as if we were the dark underbelly of the world and deserved to live without light or sunshine.
Because yes, even the daytime felt less than.
Fuck! I surged to my feet, cleaned up my mess, and stormed out of the kitchen. I hated how anytime my life went to shit, all the trauma and bullshit of my childhood showed up in my life. In my room, I dropped onto the bed Aaron made sure I got to keep and pulled the blankets over my head.
A few days later, I sat at the patio table in the gardens at Halo House and dialed the number on the card Thad mentioned he’d left in the binder.
A lilting, sunny voice answered the phone, one I knew already. “Vale Institute. This is Davina Devenport.”
I cleared my throat. “Um…hi. This is Cash Benjamin, you may not—”
She interrupted, “Oh, hey, Cash. Dr. Vale said you might call to schedule your treatment protocol.”
I’d been locked in my own head since Thad told me goodnight in the Halo House kitchen, trying to wrap my mind around the shit he’d told me at the table and in his office.
Trying to figure out how to make myself take the man up on his offer.
But I wasn’t there yet, and I didn’t know if I ever would be.
No, I needed my braces looked at.
“Um…no…um…not yet,” I said, stumbling over the words. “I’m actually calling to see if one of the PTs could look at my braces? Thad…shit, I mean, Dr. Vale said if I needed someone to adjust them, I could call.”
“Of course. Let me just… Oh, great. Matteo is here today and should be able to squeeze you in. Can you come by around one?”
I nodded, then answered, since I realized she wouldn’t be able to see my head bob. “Yeah. I can be there.” Not that I had anything else to do with my day. Or my life.
“Great. And if you want to talk through the surgery and treatment protocol, stop in after seeing Matteo. I can answer your questions, or Matteo can if you’re more comfortable with him,” Davina said.
“Oh, that’s…that’s really nice of you. Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome, Cash. See you later.”
I muttered a farewell and hung up when she did. The only question I really wanted answered was if Dr. Thaddeus Vale was as nice as he came across. If he really did all this without expectation. I just didn’t trust her, his employee, to answer me truthfully.
“Good morning, Cash.”
I turned. Phoenix glided across the patio toward where I sat.
He carried a tray laden with breakfast and coffee, if my nose could be believed.
Jumping up, I took the tray from him and set it down on the patio table where I sat.
Sure enough, the tray held a carafe of coffee, a couple of mugs, two plates with matching flatware, bacon, eggs, toast, some muffins, and a condensation-coated glass holding what looked like my morning protein shake.
He settled on the seat next to mine while I stood staring at the food he’d carried out. If it weren’t for the shake and the second set of dishes, I could force myself to believe this was all for him. Hell, maybe he anticipated someone else—
“Cash, will you have breakfast with me?” Phoenix asked, his words interrupting the spiral his sudden presence and the items on the tray had triggered.
I nodded and retook my seat. He poured coffee into the mugs with a grace I’d never witnessed outside of television and movies.
Everything about Phoenix screamed elegance and a quiet steadfastness.
Not that I’d had more than passing interactions with the man since I walked into Halo House, locked myself behind the door to my room, and stayed there, only ghosting the halls and rooms when I thought everyone else would be asleep.
That one sole instance when I approached him about tending bar accounted for about ninety-eight percent of my interactions with the people I shared space with.
“How are you settling in?” Phoenix asked, passing me a mug, then loading a plate with food. He motioned toward the food and added, “Please, help yourself. I made a protein shake for you, since I don’t know if you’re one of those people who eats breakfast foods.”
I smiled, still unsure of the hospitality, but over the month I’d been here, the other Halo House residents had stood back and let me be.
Phoenix had fed and housed me, and made sure I had space to come to terms with the shitty situation I’d found myself in.
Clearing my throat, I said, “Thank you, Phoenix. I don’t know where I’d be… ”
“You are very welcome, Cash. Your situation and the ones that have brought all the residents past and present to our front steps are why I founded Halo House. Although I normally have a conversation with new residents sooner than this.”
My face heated with a blush. “I’m… I’m sorry.”
“No apologies. You needed time to process. Aaron…Officer Vale gave me a rundown of your situation. I know nothing about hockey, or sports at all, really, but your situation makes me want to scream.”
“Yeah…I’ve done that a few times. More than a few, actually.”
“I’m sure. So…this conversation might be happening later than usual, but that’s a non-issue.
So, Cash Benjamin…Halo House is here to help you find your way.
To get you back on your feet, and in your case, that means literally back on your feet, in the best way we can.
So…tell me…what do you need from Halo House? ”
I stared at him for several moments before picking up my shake and chugging it.
I wasn’t a fan, but I needed the protein, and it was the fastest way to get it.
I preferred chewing my food, not drinking it.
When the glass met the table, I wiped my mouth and said, “I need to get back on the ice, but having met Dr. Vale, he’s not sure that will happen. ”
“Thaddeus has been wrong in the past. He can be again. And something tells me you are the determined sort.”
“I am. If only determination made money appear in my bank account.”
He laughed. “I think we all share that wish.”
“Yeah, well, the lack of commas on my bank statement is the biggest stumbling block to proving the good doctor wrong,” I grumbled into my coffee.
Phoenix’s head swiveled, his body following. His gaze became a physical weight I couldn’t ignore. “Halo House covers all medical services. There’s no stumbling block if the price of treatment is the concern.”
I scoffed. “So I’ve heard.” Before he could respond, I added, “But who’s paying for the next twelve to eighteen months?
And that’s if everything goes the way it should.
It could be upward of double that. So, Phoenix”— I paused, leaning toward him, my elbows braced on the table, hands clasped— “is Halo House going to feed, clothe, and house me for the next three years while I’m unable to do more than hobble around on crutches on top of the quarter of a million dollars it could cost to get me back in the net? ”
“Yes.”
Just yes. Nothing more. No negotiation. No hesitation. Just a single affirmative that blew my mind. “What’s the catch?” I asked.
“No catch. Halo House is my way of giving back the same help my husband provided to me when I needed it most. He took me in. He housed, clothed, and fed me all while helping me find myself and heal from a traumatic past.” Phoenix stopped to sip his coffee.
“And the patron angel bullshit?”
Phoenix laughed again. “Halo House provides. Sometimes residents have needs that we cannot meet. That’s where patrons come in.
My knowledge is not limitless. I’m not a doctor, a lawyer, or a therapist. I’m not an actor or a hockey player.
So Halo House and I rely on the benevolence of donors and patrons to meet the needs of the people who walk through our doors to seek refuge from the cruelty of the world. ”
I chewed on his words, tumbling them through my mind. “So you figure out what we need and go out and find the person we need.”