When I'm Gone (Rosemary Beach #11)(42)

The most a judge would do was make me pay her back, which was what I had already told her I would do. I knew I had to call Mase this morning. He was worried last night, but I just couldn’t talk to him yet.

This whole mess was too upsetting. If I told him about what his sister was threatening to do, I was afraid he’d think I wanted him to pay her back for me. I couldn’t let him do that or think that I would want that. This was my problem to deal with, not his.

I pressed his number, and it barely rang once before he answered.

“Good morning. Are you feeling better?” His voice made all the bad stuff plaguing me fade away. I missed him. I loved our nightly talks. Last night, I had wanted to talk to him, but I knew I couldn’t. He could tell I was upset, and I couldn’t hide it from him.

“Yes. I’m much better. Thank you. Sorry about last night,” I replied.

“You being OK is all I’m worried about. Although I won’t lie, I missed your voice reading to me last night. Hard to sleep without that.”

I smiled for the first time since the awful meeting with Nan yesterday. He made me happy, even when things sucked. “That normally doesn’t happen to me. But if it ever happens again, I promise to call before I go to sleep. I should have thought of calling you earlier and letting you know.” Trying to sound normal was not easy. But I was doing the best I could.

“I’ll let you get to work. Have a good day, baby.”

I said good-bye and hung up, letting the warm feeling I got when he called me “baby” stay with me most of the morning.

It was almost noon when I got the call from the cleaning agency I had been fired. Nan had called them, and they wanted no connection with me. I was to come pick up my check and not report for the other two houses I had scheduled for that week. I managed to finish cleaning the rest of the Carters’ house that afternoon without breaking down.

I was going to be fine. I would call Blaire Finlay. Two houses would pay the bills. I wouldn’t have any left over for extras or savings, so paying Nan back was going to be difficult. I had to find one more house to clean, at least, or another job.

Before I went home today, I was going to cut Nan a check for two thousand four hundred dollars. That was all I had right now. I wouldn’t think about the rent just yet; I would worry about that next week. Right now, I needed to show that I was trying to pay for the mirror. I didn’t want the cops coming after me.

The idea of facing Nan again was terrifying. However, when I finally got to her house, there were two cars parked outside, Nan’s expensive little sports car and a black SUV. Having company could be a good thing. Surely she wouldn’t be nasty in front of guests.

After giving myself a pep talk, I went up the front steps and rang the doorbell. I would give her the check, apologize again, and promise more money as soon as possible. Then I would leave. I could do this.

The door swung open sooner than I’d expected, and Nan’s expression immediately turned into a disgusted sneer. “What are you doing here? I called the agency and had you fired. Do I need to call the cops, too?”

I went over what I had practiced in my head. “Here is a check with everything I have right now. I’ll get you more as soon as I can. I’m really sorry about the mirror,” I said, my voice only cracking once from nerves.

Rush Finlay walked up behind Nan. He wasn’t smiling. What was he doing here?

“Nan? What’s going on? Did you just say you had—” He stopped and looked at me. “It’s Reese, correct?” I nodded. “Did you have Reese fired?”

“She stole a five-thousand-dollar mirror from my house! Yes, I had her fired. This is a check for not even half of it, and she thinks that makes it OK,” Nan spat out.

Rush didn’t look like he believed her. He turned back to me. “Reese, did you steal a mirror?”

I shook my head. “No. I did break it, though. I fell. It was an accident. I explained, but—”

“She’s lying! She’s the cleaning lady, Rush! God! Do you always have to take everyone else’s side over mine? I’ve been gone for months, and this is what I get as a welcome home? A thieving housecleaner and my brother once again taking other people’s sides against me?” She was yelling now. But the fact that she’d called Rush her brother confused me. How was Rush her brother? Mase was her brother, but Rush and Mase weren’t brothers to each other.

“She brought you a check and is promising to bring you more when she can. Does that sound like someone who stole your mirror? No, it doesn’t. Calm the f*ck down, and think about this shit before you react. You’re not ten goddamn years old anymore, Nan. Grow up.” Rush was clearly annoyed.

“I’m going to go. I’ll be back with the rest of the money as soon as I can,” I said again, then hurried down the steps.

I probably should have stuck around and continued to defend myself. There was a good chance Rush might start to believe her, and then I wouldn’t get that job working at his house. I would have to wait to call Blaire about the job. At least I had a witness who saw that I’d paid her some for the mirror and promised to pay more soon.

It was an eight-mile walk home from here. I had enough time to think about what I would do the rest of the week since I no longer had houses to clean.

Mase

My phone rang as I was pulling into the house after a long day at the stockyards.