“Yeah.” I wiped them away and turned the page. “Just a memory and a dream of a life I will never have.” I glanced up at him cautiously, afraid to see anger or the familiar glare of irritation, instead, all I saw was compassion.
“Do you think I could go see this one?” I asked. Because damn it. I had one chance to make a somewhat decent life out of the lemons I’d been handed.
And I was making lemonade.
15
Hudson
My lies were growing like sludge in my stomach, threatening to fall to my feet and ruin everything. I prided myself on my moral compass both in my personal and business life and there I was, spewing lies from my mouth at every moment when it came to Lilly.
I’d bury us before we could become anything more if I kept it up. Yet in this, I followed Melissa. I was controlled by the dying wish of a sister.
Heaven help me.
Yes, I knew where Lilly lived. How it had ever escaped my notice when it came to this project was a travesty. She should have been notified as soon as she moved in but it was too late to go back and fix that error. I wasn’t surprised when her attention and edges of her lips lifted when she saw that particular building.
Mine. Where I lived, and I wouldn’t hide that from her.
It was brand new and had just opened over the summer, but they also weren’t apartments. They were loft-style condos. There were two larger penthouse condos on the top floor, and I owned one of them. We could lose the mortgages we’d get on sales for a few months to a year, though. Long term that loss was a drop in the bucket. Besides, there were only four units left to sell.
“I can drive you over there to see it, if you have the time.”
It was just as likely she’d slap me in the face as it was she’d agree. Still, no risk came without the possibility of great reward. And spending the afternoon with Lilly, getting her to realize we didn’t do this to her specifically, felt like a risk worth taking.
She bit on her lower lip, ran her fingertip over the swing set in the photograph and looked up at me, head tilted to the side. “Are there others available in this building?”
“A few.”
“Hmm.” She flipped through the rest of the selections, five in total. One was only two blocks away. Not much of a step up from here, but it was in an area she knew. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she chose that, based on location and the fact she didn’t seem to think she was worth much anymore. A lie, but I could see how that rot could have festered inside her over the years. It’s not like she had anyone ever build her up.
“Okay.” She nodded, like she’d convinced herself of something. “I need to make a stop downstairs first if that’s okay.”
“That’s fine.” I stepped back, letting her take the lead. I barely restrained a fist pump in the air once her back was turned.
“This won’t take long, but I want someone else to see this place if they don’t have one already.”
She grabbed her purse and slipped into a pair of cheap, foam flip-flops. She’d changed since she rushed out of our building earlier in running shorts and shirt, and jeans that hung low on her hips, loose all the way to the ground. Her top was long-sleeved, holes cut out at the wrists for her thumbs and also loose-fitting.
Loose-fitting or not, nothing she wore could hide her shapely figure. Nor did it make it easier to control my own physical reactions to her beauty.
She stopped on the main level of the apartment building and knocked on a door. The owner had tried in their own way to make their entrance personal and homey with a black and white plaid entrance rug, faux flowers hanging from a hook she’d stuck to the door by the knocker with an attached Welcome sign.
Behind the door, tiny voices belonging to children shrieked and laughed, followed by a deeper, feminine voice.
There was the clink and slide of the security chain and then the door opened slowly. A woman with dark skin wearing a hijab with kind, brown eyes opened the door, smiling at Lilly.
“How are you?” she asked, eyes going to the exact spot on Lilly’s cheek I had a hard time not staring at. “You are well?”
“I am. And I wanted to… thank you for your help the other night.”
“It was no problem.” Her gaze slid to me, narrowed, and moved back to Lilly. “What can I help you with?”
Lilly held out the listing to her. It took effort to keep my jaw from collapsing. This was who she asked about for more availability. And this woman had helped her?
Something warm and large slid into my chest, making everything tight. Lilly spent so long thinking of herself and protecting herself, it surprised me she’d immediately thought of someone else.
“What is this?”
“First, this is Hudson. Hudson, Samaya.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
She gave me a brief nod and returned to Lilly without saying a word. Lilly pointed at the listing. “I’m sure, since it’s late notice, that you and the kids already have a place to move to, but Hudson is showing me this apartment today and I thought, well, if you didn’t have a good place to go, this looked good for the kids.”
Samaya’s features softened. “This is unnecessary.”
“But it has a beautiful playground.”
“We do have a new apartment to move to,” she said, and turned to me. Her brown eyes turned to steel. The look she gave me less than flattering. “How do you fit into this?”
Did she think I had something to do with Lilly’s attack? I gritted my teeth to bite down the response I wanted to give her at that thought and forced my response to be professional.
“My company is the one doing the construction. Lilly somehow, hadn’t been notified, so I’m taking time to help her out with the late notice.” I pointed to the paper in her hand. “We own that building and I know there are vacancies.”
“This is very kind of you,” Samaya mumbled. “Who are you to her?”
She gestured to Lilly, and Lilly called Samaya’s name with a warning tone.
“Do not expect me to see what happened to you and not ask questions,” she replied without remorse.
I liked this woman. A lot. Liked more that Lilly had someone looking out for her. I grinned. “Lilly and I are… friends.”
“Hudson has taken it upon himself to help me out with some things,” Lilly clarified.
It irked me she refuted our friendship, and while we weren’t, what was the harm in letting this woman believe otherwise?
Besides, would it be so wrong for us to become that in her mind?
Samaya glanced down at the paperwork again, brushed her thumb over the wet spot from when Lilly had started crying.
And God, that was painful. Her reasoning for it, not being able to comfort her during it. Hating the fact she felt the need to hide it from me.
“You have openings?”
“Off the top of my head, I know we have two bedrooms, one with an additional den. If you have multiple children, I would have to double check on three bedrooms.”
“Too expensive, but a den?” Her eyes glazed over and she glanced back to her apartment. “My kids could have their own room.”
The undeniable love for a mother brightened her face before she shook her head and wiped it away. “That’s too much. I can’t.”