Casanova(55)

“That’d be me.” A tall, fifty-something woman in jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt came through the door with a big grin on her face. Her dark blond hair, streaked with a few grays, was piled on top of her head in a messy twist, and she had paint on the front of her t-shirt. “You must be Lani.”

“Uh... Yes, ma’am.” I blushed a little.

“It’s lovely to meet you!” She wrapped me in a warm hug for a few seconds before greeting Brett the same way. “I’m so glad you’re here. Sy has been asking when his party is starting for the last two hours.”

Brett smiled. “Where is he?”

“In the games room. We bought wrestling for the PlayStation and he’s playing it with Ivan. With the volume right up, of course.” Sali put her hands on her hips. “So you’re free to go through to the main room.”

“Awesome. Could you take Lani there? I’ll get everything out of the car.” He backed toward the door.

“I’ll help.” Jake offered. “The helium balloons are in my trunk.”

“Come on.” Sali gently cupped my elbow. “Come with me.”

I opened my mouth but nothing came out. What on earth was happening here?

Sali scanned a card through the thing in the door. It beeped, flashing green, and she opened the door with a glance back at me. “You look confused, hon.”

“Am I a horrible person if I say I’m really confused?” I asked, hoping my hesitance didn’t show in my voice.

Sali laughed quietly. “He hasn’t told you anything, has he?”

“Aside from this is Hope Building and your name is Sali? No. Not a damn thing.”

This time, her laugh was louder. “Come on. In here.” She pushed open a door and led me into a large room. A massive dining table stretched out along one end. Party food already adorned it, and just behind the table were two large French doors that opened out onto a massive yard.

“Wow. This is lovely.” I looked around the room, and it was. It was warm and comforting, from the plain, cream walls covered in silly photos to the bright, blue curtains.

“Thank you.” She smiled and offered me a seat on the sofa.

I took it.

“So, Hope Building.” Sali pushed some wily bits of hair from her face. “He really told you nothing?”

“Nope. I didn’t even know where we were until he told me. Inside the door.”

Her lips pulled to the side. “Ah, yes, we’re Brett’s biggest secret.”

Were they? Hmm.

“Hope Building is a women’s shelter. It was previously a run-down hotel until I took it and poured almost every last cent of my divorce settlement into it. I take in women and children who need a safe place. Some leave after a few days, some stay here for a long time.” Sali leaned back against the sofa and folded her hands in her lap. “Well, shelter might not be the best world. It’s more of a center. Everybody has their own small apartments, but the ground floor is communal. These ladies need the support of people who know how it feels, and that’s what we try to do. We celebrate holidays and birthdays together, we have childcare for the moms who want to work with kids not in school. We help them get back on their feet.”

“That’s incredible.” I fiddled with a loose thread on the hem of my skirt. “But what does Brett have to do with this place?”

Sali pauses with her eyes toward the door. After a few seconds she looks back at me. “Hon, I own this, but he may as well be the heart of it. If it weren’t for him, I don’t know if any of my kids would have hope. Or my ladies.”

“I don’t understand.”

“He keeps this place alive. And open.” She scratched the side of her nose. “I don’t like to charge my ladies rent. I have to, but I keep it as low as possible. When they go back to work, they pay a little more, depending on how many hours they work. If they bartend or are wait staff, they pay on their wages, not their tips. It means a lot of it comes out of my own pocket...and donors. Every Christmas, he donates fifty thousand dollars to me so I can keep it open.”

Oh my god.

“I own the building outright, but repairs and upkeep don’t pay for themselves. Neither do the things they need. Most of the time, people arrive with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and little to no money. The money Brett gives me helps me help them.”

“Oh my god,” I whispered.

“That’s so small in the grand scheme of it. It’s only money. It’s the other things he does that make a difference.”

“What...what does he do?”

“Let me tell you about birthdays.” She smiled. “Unless they’re working, it’s hard for these moms to afford the things their kids want, so we have a birthday rule in place. The week before their birthday, they have to write down the one thing they really want, but it can’t be more than fifty dollars. Then Brett takes that note and goes to buy it for them. It doesn’t matter what it is. He always gets it.”

Oh. My. God.

That note. Today. It all made sense.

“The older kids know what he does, but they hold our pretense for the younger kids who believe their moms are behind the gifts.”

“He’s a real life Santa Claus.” I touched my fingers to my lips and smiled.