I looked at her with a smile on my face. “I love you, Aunt Shelley.”
Tears formed in her eyes, and I wished I hadn’t said anything. I didn’t know what came over me. I just had to say it though. It was the first time I’d ever told her that I loved her, not because I hadn’t always loved her, but I couldn’t say the words before then.
“I love you, too, Blakey,” she replied.
We fell asleep hand in hand. She passed away the next day. For the second time in my life, I felt alone, lost, and hurt. Thankfully, I only felt that way for a week—until I was taken to Maggie’s house. That was where I met the people that I considered my real family. The ones I adored, would die for, and kept me going. The same ones I would shut out in order to protect from getting hurt by me.
Chapter 3
Present
“So, did you have a nice weekend?” Cole asks, breaking the comfortable silence we had as I drive him to the airport.
I roll my eyes but can’t keep myself from smiling. “You were here all weekend; you should know that I did.”
“Did you like that I was here all weekend?” he asks as he jabs me in the ribs playfully.
I squeal and shimmy a little. “It was alright,” I say with a shrug.
His chuckle makes me grip the steering wheel a little tighter. When we get to the next red light, I turn my body to face him. Whatever I was thinking about bringing up vanishes when our eyes lock and I see a mix of sadness and longing in his eyes that reflect my own. Honking cars startle us out of our trance and I clear my throat as I turn my body to continue driving. I park in front of O’Hare International Airport and watch as he gets down and opens the back seat. He puts on a navy sports jacket before reaching in for his bag. I turn in my seat to face forward when he closes the back door.
“I guess I’ll see you...thanks for coming,” I say quietly, looking straight ahead. I’ve always been horrible with goodbyes; and goodbyes with Cole aren’t my favorite thing in the world. I hear him sigh loudly and I tilt my head when I feel him get back in the car.
He leans in and my heart goes into overdrive when he picks up the hand I have resting on the gear. “You don’t have to thank me,” he says. “See you soon, baby,” he murmurs softly as he grazes the top of my hand with his lips, liquefying my insides.
I’m not sure how long I sit there staring at the door that Cole walked through before my brain starts functioning again. I shake my head to clear my thoughts and notice a little black velvet box on the passenger seat. My first thought is: Shit. He left something. My stomach turns at the size of the box. It could be a ring. Oh my God, is he going to propose? I can’t even think about that, but damn it, I’m reaching over and picking it up anyway. I don’t know why I love to torture myself like this. I clutch on to the little box with shaky hands before I take in a deep breath and open it. I let out the breath when I see a necklace with a silver skeleton key on it. It’s amazing. I don’t analyze it too much before I snap the box closed and toss it back on the passenger seat before driving home.
When I get home I start sorting through the mail and find a letter from the Lewis, Smith, and Morris Law Firm. According to the letter, there are things that I need to take care of in Mark’s office. I can’t understand what else he could possibly have for me. When I turned eighteen, I inherited my Aunt Shelley’s estate, which made me $530,000 richer. I already had money that I’d gotten over the years when I was living in Maggie’s house. I used some of that money to get Aubry and me the apartment we’re currently renting. Before he got a decent job, Aubry helped pay the bills while I paid the rent. We now split the rent and utilities because Aubry said that he refused to be a charity case.
After reading the letter, I immediately call Cole and leave him a message asking if he’s received a similar letter. I also mention the damn box. Cole had a bank account set up for him by his dad when he was dropped off at Maggie’s house. According to Maggie, his father said that he could no longer watch him and begged her to keep him. He left her the bank account information to give to him when he turned eighteen. Cole hired a man to track down the money, hoping he’d find his dad, but he hit dead ends. I know his situation is different because—unlike Cole—I’ve always known why I have an inheritance and who it’s from. Still, there are a lot of things about my past that I don’t understand. I wonder if we will ever get the answers we want. I call the attorney’s office and request for Mark Lewis to be present when I go in, but an hour later I get a call to inform me that he’s going out of town.