Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN WHO REFUSED MY MONEY
The tabloids discovered Annie.
BILLIONAIRE WIDOWER ROMANCES HOUSEKEEPER WHOSE FATHER CAUSED WIFE’S DEATH.
The headline was vicious.
Photographers surrounded the estate.
Reporters dug into Annie’s life.
Caleb lost a construction contract because his employer didn’t want attention.
Annie blamed herself.
I offered Caleb a job.
He refused.
Then I offered Annie money.
That went worse.
“How much?” she asked.
“Enough that you never have to work again.”
She stared at me.
“That is the most insulting thing you’ve ever said.”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“No. You’re trying to solve me.”
The words stopped me.
“You don’t get to turn me into another acquisition.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?”
I struggled.
“I don’t want you suffering because of me.”
“I was poor before you met me, Daniel. I know how to survive.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
She stepped closer.
“I don’t want your money.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
Silence.
“Not Morrison Dynamics.”
She touched my chest.
“You.”
My throat tightened.
“And I want those boys to grow up knowing love isn’t a financial transaction.”
She walked away.
I stood there feeling like an idiot.
That evening I apologized.
Properly.
No jewelry.
No check.
Just words.
“I’m sorry.”
Annie nodded.
“Good.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s how apologies work.”
I laughed.
The media storm worsened when my mother gave an interview.
She called Annie “emotionally inappropriate.”
I drove straight to Evelyn’s apartment.
“You will correct it.”
Mother stared at me.
“I was protecting Lauren’s memory.”
“No. You were protecting your idea of it.”
“She has been dead less than two years.”
“And you think loving Annie erases her?”
Mother said nothing.
“I will love Lauren until I die.”
My voice broke.
“She gave me my sons.”
I swallowed.
“But being faithful to a dead woman does not require being emotionally dead myself.”
Mother looked away.
“You always hated Annie because she saw what we didn’t.”
“What?”
“The boys.”
That hurt her.
Good.
“She saw them.”
I left.
Two days later Mother issued a public apology.
It wasn’t perfect.
But it mattered.
Then came the trial.
Peter Sloan pleaded guilty to charges connected to Lauren’s death.
Annie attended sentencing.
I sat beside her.
Her father looked at her.
“Annie.”
She didn’t respond.
He cried.
“I’m sorry.”
Annie’s hands shook.
“You should be.”
He received twenty-two years.
Outside court, Annie collapsed against me.
“He’s my dad.”
“I know.”
“I hate him.”
“I know.”
“I love him too.”
“I know.”
She sobbed.
“How can both be true?”
I held her.
“Because people are complicated.”
That night the twins climbed into our bed during a thunderstorm.
Our bed.
The phrase surprised me.
Annie still had her own room.
But increasingly, she slept beside me.
Jordan curled between us.
Justin lay across my legs.
Annie whispered:
“Romantic.”
“I can’t feel my foot.”
She laughed quietly.
Then Jordan opened his eyes.
“Annie?”
“Yes?”
“Are you our new mommy?”
Everything stopped.
Annie looked at me.
Then at Jordan.
“No, sweetheart.”
His face fell.
“Why?”
“Because you already have a mommy.”
She touched his chest.
“She’s here.”
Jordan listened.
“And in your memories.”
She kissed his forehead.
“I’m Annie.”
He thought about it.
“Can you stay anyway?”
Annie began crying.
“Yes.”
Justin mumbled sleepily:
“Forever?”
Annie looked at me.
I reached for her hand.
“If she wants.”
May you like
She squeezed mine.
“Forever sounds pretty good.”
