“Yes. Just closed escrow. I’m coming out there soon to find a place.”
“That’s great.”
“And I saw Derek yesterday—finally.”
Good. Valerie was behaving like an actual adult. “How was he?”
“Perfect, like always,” she said with a sigh. “That little boy is the sweetest thing in the whole world.”
I smiled. “Yeah…he is.”
“Anyway, Tucker offered to let me stay with him, but his apartment is way too small.”
“It’s a two-bedroom place…” I’d been there before. It wasn’t a six-thousand-square-foot place like mine, but it was still pretty nice.
“I’d rather stay with you, honey. If that’s okay.”
I couldn’t say no to her, but I did not want to live with my mother.
“Tucker told me about your assistant, Cleo, how she takes care of everyone in the building, and I would love to have that amenity while I get situated.”
Goddammit, Tucker.
“Are there any condos available right now?”
As far as I knew, the turnover rate was really low. When people moved in here, they usually kept the place until they died, and then their children kept it. Even if they were hardly in Manhattan, they preferred to keep the property because it was such a rare commodity. “I’ll ask Cleo, but I doubt it.” And even if there were, I didn’t want to live in the same building as my mother. I didn’t want her to stop by my condo whenever she felt like it, see the various women who slept over, get a close glimpse of my life when I was fiercely private. “But if there’s not, I’m sure Cleo will have a good substitute.”
“Maybe she could still take care of me.”
Unlikely. “Maybe.”
“So, is it fine if I stay with you?”
I loved my mother, but fuck, I did not want to share my space with her. And if she dragged her feet on finding a place, she could live with me for months. She was retired, so she would always be home—all the time. “Of course.”
“Thank you, honey. That’s so sweet of you. I’ll let you know when I’m flying in.”
“Alright.”
“Can’t wait to see you.”
“Me too.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too, Mom.”
She hung up.
The second the line went dead, I called Cleo.
She answered on the first ring, like she’d been staring at her phone when my name popped up. “Hey, Deacon.”
“Hey…” The sweet sound of her voice echoed in my mind for a second, immediately calming my hostile mood. “I need your help.”
Cleo set her papers on the dining table along with her laptop. “So…your mother wants to live with you?”
I scooped the salmon fillets onto the dishes along with the rice, then carried the plates into the dining room. I set one in front of her before I sat across from her, having made two servings once I knew she was coming over. I didn’t think twice about it.
She stared at the food blankly. “Deacon, you didn’t have to make anything for me.”
“I don’t mind.” If Tucker were there, I would make him something. I didn’t see her as just an assistant who ran my life. I saw her as a person in my inner circle, someone I trusted, someone I cared about.
“Well…thank you.” She took a bite, her eyes rolling slightly like she liked it. She kept eating as she organized her papers. “I don’t blame her for wanting to live with you. There’s a lot more space here. Tucker’s place is nice, enough room for two people, but it’s still not a luxury residence.”
Anytime she mentioned Tucker, I remembered that they dated, but it also felt like it had never happened, like I could erase it from my mind and pretend it was just a bad dream.
“That was nice of you to say yes.”
“She put me on the spot. What else was I supposed to say?”
She smiled. “True.”
“Tucker offered to let her stay with him. That was our deal. And she just vetoed it all.”
She chuckled. “I have a feeling I’m going to like her. She knows what she wants and is blunt about it.”
Maybe that was where I got it from.
“But it’s still sweet that you said yes. I know giving up your space must be really difficult.”
I was dreading it. It was different when Derek stayed, because I was willing to make any sacrifice to have him. But with my mother, it felt like I was a child again. “Are there any spaces available in the building?”
“I have one that might open up soon, but…do you want her to live in the building with you?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Well, maybe we just won’t tell her that, then.”
“But she says she wants you to work for her. I guess Tucker told her how much you help me, and she wants the same thing.”
“Ooh…” She ignored her papers and dug into her food, eating a lot of it like she actually liked it and wasn’t eating it just to be polite. “That’s understandable. How old is she?”