Charity Case: The Complete Series Read online

  She smiles. “Where are you going?”

  “City. Downtown.”

  That smile turns down immediately. “Sorry, I’m not going that way. I’m going Southside and if I go through downtown, I’ll be late.” The woman honestly looks like she feels bad and I’m not about to make someone else late.

  “Go,” I wave her off. “I’ll grab another one.”

  She slides into the back seat. “Good luck.”

  The taxi pulls away and you’d think the world is about to end the way people are cutting in front of one another for the taxis.

  I walk a block down figuring if I can get away from here, I’ll be able to catch one before it reaches the station. I’m only walking for a few moments when I notice a car double-park a few cars up from me. A window rolls down and before I hear his voice, I already know who it is.

  “Care for that ride now?” Reed’s smug face appears like he knew the entire time catching the train today was going to be impossible.

  “Am I going to have to take out a restraining order?”

  He opens the door, steps out and motions for me to join him in the car. A few taxis behind him honk, but it doesn’t faze him as he waits patiently.

  “I guess I know what you need before you do.” He winks. On any other guy, it would come off cheesy as hell, but somehow on Reed, it’s charming.

  I step forward and stop just outside the door. If I stepped any closer our chests would touch. “One ride and I need to stop for Danishes on the way.”

  He chuckles. “So, I get breakfast, too. Sounds like a date.”

  I slide into the car and scoot over to the far side, giving the driver a small smile of thanks. Reed slides in next to me and takes up the majority of the space, his knees hitting the back of the passenger seat.

  “It’s not a date,” I say once I’m settled.

  “Yet.”

  “Never.”

  “If you say so.”

  He shrugs, and though he may sound like he’s in agreement, the cocky smirk splashed across his face says differently.

  Chapter Nine

  Wednesday night when I arrive home from my evening class, Jade’s laughter echoes from behind the door and I smile to myself. Inserting the key into the lock of my childhood home, my body craves the serene comfort of my daughter and our new life.

  I don’t mind going to school. I actually enjoy it more than I did eight years ago when I was only a year away from earning my degree. I could strangle myself every time I think of the bad decision I made, knowing full well at the time that that’s exactly what it was. No, it wasn’t the fact Pete and I didn’t use protection and ended up pregnant with Jade. It wasn’t marrying him quickly so that his family didn’t have the shame of an unplanned pregnancy to their name. I loved Pete and when I walked down that aisle, I truly thought he was my forever. The mistake I made was letting him convince me to leave college with one year left so I could follow him to Los Angeles.

  I knew it wouldn’t be easy—raising a baby and finishing my degree—but I naively thought Pete signed up to stand beside me, not in front of me.

  Pete had other plans though. Maybe it was because it’s all he knew growing up. Who knows? He had a stay-at-home mom while I had two working parents. To me having it all meant a family and a career. Pete felt differently.

  He envisioned coming home to a home-cooked meal, a perfect wife who brought him a drink at the end of the day and wore lingerie to bed every night. I didn’t miss the disgust in his eyes when I swapped out my satin for flannel. But I’m not naive enough to believe that our bedroom problems were the only reason he strayed.

  Pete was someone who was never fulfilled with what he had. He’s still that way.

  I hate the memory of the weakness that lived inside of me while we were married. I was trying to make something of us while losing myself in the process. When I signed those divorce papers, I made a promise to myself. I’d never let a man run my life again.

  “Mommy!” Jade screams when I walk through the door, getting up and running toward me dressed in her rainbow emoji pajamas.

  My mom glances over from the chair, a curious look in her eyes. “How was school?”

  I hug Jade tight against my body. “Good, but I’m glad to be home.”

  Jade runs back to the couch to watch some game show on the television. “Grandma is so smart. She’s getting every answer right.”

  My mom smiles and pats Jade’s head as she gets up from her chair and walks by her. “I saved you some dinner.”

  I drop my book bag on the entryway bench and follow my mom into the kitchen.

  “Thanks.” I slide into a breakfast bar chair and my head falls into my hand.

  The caregiver my mom is, she sets the plate in front of me before heading over to the silverware drawer. “Drink? Wine?” She sets the cutlery beside my plate.

  “Sure.” I pick up the knife and fork, cutting into the chicken. “Thanks, Mom. I’m not sure what I would do without you.”

  She sets a glass down in front of me and pours the white wine she keeps in the fridge for me into my glass. “I feel the same.”

  We share a look expressing how grateful we are to have each other. Two scorned women who want their independence but find refuge in one another. The hardest decision my mom ever had to make was probably asking me to move back to Chicago.

  Technically, she didn’t ask. She didn’t have to. I’d never put her in the position of feeling like she had to beg me to return.

  When she called me and told me that all the issues she’d been having had been diagnosed as multiple sclerosis, I was handing in my resignation to Jagger the next day. You can imagine how that conversation went until I trusted him enough to be honest about my reasons for leaving.

  Jade can still see her dad. He has the money he so desperately wanted, so he can fly here whenever he wants to see her. Even when we lived in the same city, he barely made time for her. Now that we’re back, his family only lives thirty miles from us, not that they’ll go out of their way to see her.

  “So.” She slides into the stool on the other side of me. “Jade was talking about a boy named Henry today.”

  From her tone I know exactly where this conversation is going.

  “Her friend, yes.”

  “Apparently he’s some man named Reed’s little brother.” Her eyebrows shoot up.

  I roll my eyes. “Not biologically.” I chew the chicken.

  “What?” Her forehead creases in confusion.

  “He’s part of the Big Brother/Big Sister program. Henry’s parents died when he was young, and his grandparents raise him.”

  “Oh.” Her hand covers her heart. “That’s so thoughtful of him.”

  I nod, continuing to devour the home cooked meal that tastes better than anything I’ve ever made.

  “She told me that Reed is really nice, and he makes you laugh.” This is my mom’s M.O., dig, dig, dig, but never ask directly. I’m not nine anymore, and the fact she knows all this information says she did to Jade hours earlier what she’s doing to me now.

  “Just ask, Mother.” I set my knife and fork down.

  She giggles, standing up and grabbing her water from next to the sink. “Are you dating him?”

  “No.”

  “Do you want to?” Staying on the other side of the kitchen island she leans forward so her face is right in front of mine.

  “No.”

  “Have I ever told you how much I love it when your cheeks turn pink like that?”

  I wad up my napkin and toss it at her. “Mom, you know I’m not ready. He’s nice, but this Reed is Reed Warner. Pete’s best man when we were married.”

  Her eyes widen and she’s quiet for a moment, thinking, assessing. She holds the crumpled napkin in her hand, reaches over, and grabs me another one from the holder.

  “I never understood that friendship, but I thought maybe Reed was one of those Eddie Haskell types. You know, polite to the adults and different behind closed doors.
”

  “When did you even talk to him?” I ask.

  She scoffs. “What is the term, cougars?”

  “Mom!”

  She laughs, throwing the napkin back at me. “I talked to him at the rehearsal. He was a nice kid. Wish I would have swapped them out at the altar.”

  “Yeah, I wouldn’t have noticed at all.” I spear a piece of chicken with my fork and continue eating.

  “Well, it would’ve been the best thing I ever did.” She turns around to the sink.

  “You don’t even know Reed.” I lift the wine glass to my lips.

  She swivels around, drying her hands on the dishtowel, then flexes them a few times before setting the towel back down. “I know people and my gut doesn’t lie. I knew Pete was bad news.”

  “How do you explain Dad then?”

  Her lips turn down. “I was young. My gut sense hadn’t fully matured yet. Then I had a family and back then...”

  She doesn’t finish, and she doesn’t have to because she stayed with my dad because she had nowhere to go.

  “May he rest in peace,” I say.

  “Or in hell,” she mumbles, but I catch it.

  I don’t even hold it against her. My dad put her through more than Pete did me and I loathe him like the devil.

  “Enough about your father. Let’s talk about Reed.” Her eyelids flutter. “Why don’t you want to go on a date? The divorce was final two years ago.”

  “It’s not the time for all that, Mom. Besides, he’s a lawyer.”

  She cringes.

  “Second of all, he was the best man at my wedding.” I say it in a voice that implies you’d be crazy not to understand the obvious problem with that.

  “It seems to me Pete kept his friends like he did his wife—not happy and not close. You haven’t seen him since what, after Jade was born?”

  “Once we left Chicago, I never saw him again. I’m not sure about Pete. It’s not like I was in the know about everything he did while we were married.” My mom nods in understanding while I walk over to the sink and rinse off my plate.

  Her hand runs up and down my arm. “Give it another shot. One date isn’t going to hurt anyone. Not every guy out there is a Pete.”

  “Says the woman who has been alone since Dad left, what? Nine years ago?”

  “It was different with me. You’re young and...” she glances to the archway into the family room. “You have Jade. Pete’s as good of a dad as he was a husband—lousy. You should’ve seen Jade’s eyes when she was talking about Reed. She said he went into the play area and chased them around?”

  I giggle thinking about it. “Until the teenage manager kicked him out.”

  “See.” She points to my face.

  “What?” I straighten my lips.

  “You might be able to control those lips, but your eyes are transparent. Always were. And there’s life coming back into them.” She pats my shoulder. “Just think about it, Dove.”

  She tries to soften me by using the nickname she used to call me when I was Jade’s age. I place my plate and silverware in the dishwasher, grab my wine glass and head to the family room.

  I sit down and Jade slides over on the couch to join me. I snuggle her into me as she laughs at the gameshow on TV.

  Just as I’m finally relaxing, my phone dings from my coat pocket. Jade jumps up and races over to the hook where it hangs.

  “No, Jade.” I’m not dealing with anything tonight.

  “It might be Daddy,” she exclaims, not listening to me. She digs into my pocket, pulls out my cell phone and her lips dip down for a second.

  Of course, it’s not him. There’s probably a big case or a tight, twenty-something pussy that needs his attention.

  “It’s Reed,” she says, her eyes scanning the text message.

  “Jade, give it to me.” I reach forward, able to pull her back by the sleeve of her jammies. She falls into my lap and I grab the phone out of her grasp. “You’re not allowed to read my texts.”

  She giggles and squirms until she’s sitting next to me. Leaning over the side of the couch, she tries to whisper to my mom. “He got tickets to a movie.”

  “Oh really?” my mom asks, and I don’t dignify either one of them with an annoyed look.

  Reed: I mistakenly bought 4 tickets instead of 2 for the Imax this Saturday.

  Me: Sucks to be you.

  Reed: Henry misses Jade.

  Me: He’ll see her tomorrow.

  Reed: I miss you?

  Reed: Too soon?

  Reed: Yeah, too soon. Thought so.

  Me: You saw me two days ago.

  Reed: Come on. Are you really going to make me beg here?

  Me: We went over this on Monday.

  Reed: I’m not asking for a date. It’s a playdate for the kids. Yoga pants optional.

  I laugh and glance up to see Jade and my mom staring at me.

  “Are we going?” Jade asks, trying to peek over my shoulder.

  “I have school work.”

  My phone buzzes in my hand and I look down again.

  Reed: We don’t have to sit next to each other.

  Reed: I’ll let you pay.

  Me: In that case...

  “Please, Mom,” Jade begs next to me.

  “One movie isn’t going to hurt,” my mom says while Jade looks on, pleading with her hands in a prayer pose in front of her.

  Reed: I guess I’ll find someone else. Maybe Darcie’s available.

  Me: Not going to work.

  Reed: It was worth a try though.

  Me: You’re very persistent.

  Reed: My persistence got you to work on time with the best platter of danishes in the city.

  He has a point but giving me a ride to work and going on a date with him are two different things.

  Me: Fine. We’ll go. As a PLAYDATE. And only if I pay for lunch.

  Reed: You sure you aren’t the lawyer?

  The reminder of him being a lawyer makes my stomach clench.

  Me: We’ll meet you at Navy Pier.

  Reed: I’ll let you have that one. Movie starts at eleven thirty.

  Me: See you then.

  Reed: Not if I see you first.

  He better not have anything else planned. I rest my phone on the seat cushion next to me.

  “Are we going?” Jade asks.

  I nod.

  “YAY!” She jumps around the room.

  “Time for bed. Say goodnight to Grandma,” I say, rising from the couch.

  My mom looks at me over Jade’s shoulder, and her expression reminds me of when I graduated high school. The pride there pierces my heart because I know it’s undeserved. Even if I agreed to see Reed on the weekend, I can’t do what she wants me to do. I can’t open my still-withered heart to Reed.

  Chapter Ten

  “How’s the steak?” Chelsea throws herself down into the seat in front of me.

  “Stop it with the steak analogy. I’m trying to imagine him more like liver.” I finish typing an email to the company doing our favors for the gala and give her my attention.

  “Maybe just gouge your eyes out so you don’t have to see him anymore?”

  “I’ll have to try that. Thanks for the suggestion.” I dismiss her by looking back at my computer screen.

  “Jeez, I was about to tell you about a date I went on last night.”

  Now she has my attention.

  “Mid-week?” She nods, and I wonder what kind of guy was worth her time during the week. Chelsea is fanatical about her schedule during the week. Every day after work, she goes to work out, heads home, makes dinner and then binge watches Netflix while she probably color codes her panty drawer.

  “Yeah, but sadly I totally missed the signs.” She digs into her bag and retrieves her phone, pulling up a picture and shoving the phone in my face. “Check out his profile.”

  “Whoa. Talk about steak dinner. He’s aged to perfection.”

  “Yeah and he’s a model.”

  “Jeez, Chels,
a model?” I enlarge the picture. “His abs look like they were drawn on.” I take in the fine specimen for another second. “Don’t you find it weird that he’s not wearing a shirt?”

  She grabs the phone from my clasp. “He was supposed to be on a beach.”

  “Still, why would you choose that picture?”

  “Vic, the lack of shirt isn’t the problem.”

  I wait for her to fill me in.

  “It’s the fact that when I showed up at the restaurant, this was him.” She shoves the phone back in my face where a picture of an average looking guy is on the screen, not nearly as well groomed as the previous man. I’m thankful that he’s chosen to wear a shirt to cover up his beer gut.

  I purse my lips to try to stop my smile that’s tugging at the corners of my mouth. “Oh, man.”

  “Yeah. He told me he thought I knew the picture was a joke because the guy is some famous model.”

  “Who?”

  “I Google image searched the picture and it’s a model for a sunscreen company. It’s not like we’re talking Gandy or Tyson here. How was I supposed to know?” She stares at the photo again.

  “How did you handle it?” I cringe, wondering how harsh Chelsea got.

  “At first, I just left, but once I got outside, I composed myself and decided that after I went to all the trouble of getting ready and taking a cab there, this guy is going to pay for me to eat at Alinea.”

  “Alinea says something positive about him, don’t you think?” You’re not getting out of there for less than a few hundred dollars a plate.

  She nods. “I guess. He might not have washboard abs, but he can swim in a pool of hundreds.”

  “So?”

  “So, nothing.” She shrugs. “He was a nice guy. Polite, listened to me ramble on about my cousin’s upcoming wedding. I even broke the cardinal rule and talked about my ex. Which was probably good because he didn’t even try to kiss me after.” She looks as confused as she sounds. “It was a weird night but I’m thinking that’s what I need.”

  “To catfish someone?” I chuckle.