And now, finally, Tia was out of her way, and even better, Tia was bankrolling her new jet-setter lifestyle?
“Mom, I’m considering coming home,” Tia said carefully, testing the waters.
“What? Why on earth would you do that? I’ve turned your bedroom into a sewing room. And Bill has also moved in, Tia. Where would you work? At the diner again? Surely you’re not considering that after that scandal from two years ago?”
Tia had always known her relationship with her mother wasn’t perfect, but she had never realized how little she meant to her mother. Why was she working so hard to go back to a mother who didn’t want her, a town that gossiped about her, and no place to stay?
“I’ll send the money, Mom,” Tia said through clenched teeth. For the first time, she didn’t feel guilty about not telling her mother about the savings she had set aside. Whatever happened, Tia was not going to send her savings for her mother to blow on another trip to Vegas.
“Are you going to send double to make up for last week?” her mother demanded.
“Mom, I was hit by a car. It wasn’t major, but I couldn’t work all week. I’m not sure when I can go back yet.”
“What, so I’m not getting money next week either?”
No ‘Tia, are you all right?’ ‘Tia, come home, let me take care of you.’ No, just the money again. Tia bit back the tears that threatened to fall.
“I’ll send double today, Mom, and again next week.”
“Fine. Bye, Tia.” As Tia waited for her mother to hang up, she heard her mother call to Bill, “Bill, pack your bags; the money’s going to be in soon. We’re going to Vegas, baby.”
As Tia put the phone down it felt as if her whole world had just crashed down around her. Ever since leaving home, Tia had felt bad for leaving her mother alone to care for the house and all the expenses. Tia had sent her money to fix everything that needed fixing and her mother had taken every cent to spend on trips with her new live-in boyfriend.
Did Tia really want to go back to that?
For the first time, Tia realized that the cold relationship she and her mother had shared her entire life wasn’t something that could be mended. She was nothing more than a piggy bank to her mother. Her mother hadn’t even asked if she was injured. She’d just worried about the money.
Tia knew she wouldn’t stop sending money, which she probably should do. But she knew she wasn’t going back home. If she left the city it was going to be to start a new life in a different city away from her mother and the failure of her year in the city.
The door opened and Brent stepped inside. “I’m done. We can go.” As he stepped closer, a frown creased between his brows. “Tia, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Tia shrugged and heaved a sigh. “Do you mind if we skip lunch?”
“Sure. Do you want to go back to the penthouse?”
“No,” Tia said, looking into those blue eyes. She wondered how much longer he would look at her like that. Before he, too, saw her as a burden. “I’d like to go for a walk in the park.”
“Your wish is my command,” Brent said with a smile.
Tia shook her head. “Yeah, for now,” she muttered under her breath as she picked up her bag and followed him to the elevator.
They walked in silence hand in hand on the sidewalk and Tia wondered if she shouldn’t just break things off with Brent now. She didn’t need to go back to the penthouse; she had her bag. The clothes that she had worn that night could be replaced.
Her heart wouldn’t be as easy.
The more time she spent with Brent, the deeper she was falling in love with him. Tia didn’t want to wait until he kicked her out. Her heart was raw from the conversation with her mother; too raw to be toyed with longer.
If she cut the ties between her and Brent now, she could pack up her few belongings and be on her way by nightfall.
On her way to a new city, a new future away from her greedy mother and the billionaire who would soon grow tired of her plain demeanor.
Tia had seen what his assistant looked like, along with the other women at his offices. They all carried a sheen of money and sophistication. A sheen that Tia knew she would never have. She didn’t want it. She was comfortable with who she was, but she wasn’t going to hang around until Brent decided he wanted that instead.
A couple walked past them hand in hand, and Tia could hear them speaking about their upcoming wedding. Tia’s heart squeezed knowing she would never have that conversation with Brent.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Brent said a few yards further.
“I’m not,” Tia said even though she knew was. She was too upset to make meaningless conversation, and she couldn’t even summon enough energy for a smile.
“Let’s sit down and talk,” Brent said as they neared a bench underneath a large tree. Tia sighed as she sat down. She had taken too long to say goodbye; Brent was going to do it first.
17
Brent had never known how hard it would be to let Tia go, but he could see the pain in her eyes. If this was what he was doing to her, he couldn’t keep her. She was a bright sunflower and if she stayed with him she was going to wilt.
He didn’t want that for her, not for his Tia.
He took a deep breath as he squeezed her hand and stared into the distance. “If you want to leave, it’s fine. I’ll have Lara send your things over.”
Tia’s head turned to him, surprise wide in her eyes. “If you want me to go, I’ll go.”
Brent sighed. “Tia, I don’t want you to leave. But you look very unhappy. If this is what I’m doing to you …” the words trailed off as Brent didn’t know what else to say.
Tia laughed mirthlessly. “Brent, believe me, you didn’t do this to me.”
“Then what did?” Brent asked, concerned.
“My mom.” Tia sighed. “I phoned her back. I expected to go through the Spanish Inquisition because I hadn’t been answering my phone, but all she wanted to know was why I hadn’t sent her money this week.”
Brent knew Tia had mentioned she sent her mother money every week. He kept quiet, waiting for Tia to continue.
“She has been spending the money I send her on trips. I had started sending it because I knew the house’s upkeep and maintenance was going to be too much for her salary. Instead, she got herself a live-in boyfriend who goes by the name Bill and she hasn’t spent a single penny on the house.”
“What is she spending the money on then?” Brent asked. He wasn’t sure how much money Tia was sending but if she was sending it for the upkeep of the house, it wouldn’t be a small amount.
Tia laughed bitterly. “She’s been going on trips with Bill. And apparently I’m bankrolling their holidays.”
“That’s—Tia, I’m so sorry.” Brent knew how much this would hurt Tia. She had been working herself to the bone in order to send her mother money and to be able to go back home.
“She’s also made my room her sewing room, so I don’t even have a room to go back to.”
“Tia …”
“It’s fine,” Tia said, taking a breath and squaring her shoulders. “I don’t need your pity; heaven knows I don’t need your pity. I’ll go somewhere new. Somewhere far away from the city, far away from home, and start a new life. I’ve never been more grateful for the money I saved up. It’ll be enough to start over someplace else.”
“And your mother?” Brent asked carefully.
“My mother.” Tia considered for a moment. “I’ll keep sending her money. It’s her choice if she wants to live in ramshackle house and go on trips, but she’s made it clear I’ll be in the way of her and Bill. She doesn’t want me there, and I’ll feel guilty if I stop sending the money. So I’ll keep sending it. She’s right, you know; she raised me all by herself. This is the least I could do.”
“Tia, I’m sorry. I know you looked forward to going home.”
“I did, but you know what? Everything happens for a reason.”
Brent smiled and thought of runni
ng her over. “I believe I ran you over a reason …”
He let the words hang between them, needing to see she felt the same. He noticed her eyes dart to his, hope shining in them. He wasn’t sure she felt the same as he did, but he remembered Tucker’s words.
Don’t regret letting her go for the rest of your life.
“Tia, stay.” The words were barely more than a whisper and he waited for Tia to burst out laughing or run for the hills. But she did neither. She looked at him with wide amber eyes, suspicion evident in them.
“Brent, don’t say things you don’t mean.” Tia sighed and tried to pull her hand from his grasp.
Brent squeezed her hand and smiled. “Tia, I never say anything I don’t mean. I mean it. Stay. Stay with me. Move in with me. Have a relationship with me. Don’t leave.”
“Brent …”
“Wait,” Brent interrupted. “I left two years ago, and I’ve regretted it every day since. Don’t make the same mistake. Don’t run from this because you’re unsure or you’re scared. Don’t run from this because it wasn’t in your plan. It’s here now. I’m here now. And I want you to stay.”
“My job—my apartment—my things, Brent there is too much to consider.”
“There’s nothing to consider.” Brent said with a smile. “You hate both your jobs and besides paying poorly, the hours are ridiculous. I don’t know where your apartment is, but I know it’s not inside my penthouse, and that’s where I want you. I want to leave the office knowing you’ll be there. I want to wake up with you beside me. And as for your things, we’ll go and get them.”
Tia smiled tentatively. “This is too much, Brent; I can’t expect you to take me in without an income. I won’t be able to contribute towards the rent …”
Brent laughed. “Tia, I own the building, I don’t need the fucking rent. I need you.”
Tia laughed. “Brent, do you really mean this?”
“I mean it. I’m not letting you go. Not again. I’ve got an idea on the job front, but we’ll talk about that later.”
“I’m not going to work for you,” Tia said sternly.
“No, the only place you need to work for me is in the bedroom.”
Tia smiled and kissed him. “That couldn’t be considered work; it’s way too much fun.”
“So it’s settled? You’re moving in?” Brent asked excitedly.
“No. It’s not settled,” Tia said softly. “I need to know why. I understand you don’t want to let me go. But Brent, I can’t move in with you just because we’re having a fling.”
“A fling?” Brent said, outraged. “Tia, you honestly still believe this is a fling? It moved past a fling the moment I kissed you again. It was like coming home after being away for a long time. You are my home, Tia, and I’m not going let you go. I love you, goddamit.”
Brent knew he was doing this all wrong. You weren’t supposed the declare your love as if you were declaring war, but Tia brought out a passionate side of him Brent hadn’t even know existed a week ago.
Tia’s lips slowly broadened into a showstopper smile as her eyes lit up. “Do you mean it?”
“Of course, I mean it. What do I need to do to prove it to you? I’ve fought against these feelings all week, thinking that in just another day, clarity would prevail. But you are my clarity. Without you, my whole world seems overcast.”
Tia pressed a soft kiss against his lips. “You really love me?”
Brent kissed her back before he pulled back and decided it was time she knew the truth. “Do you know why I left you in the motel two years ago?”
Tia shook her head. “You were in a hurry to get away from the clumsy small-town virgin?” she laughed at her own words.
Brent shook his head and took both of her hands in his. “When I woke up beside you that morning, it was the first time in my life I wanted to stay. I wanted to stay with you in that bed so much it hurt. I wanted to watch you wake up and ask you to come with me to the city. The emotions that tumbled through my brain that morning were so foreign to me that I fled.”
“You felt like this two years ago?”
“Yes. But how was I supposed to tell you that? Besides, I wasn’t ready for this back then. I’m ready now.”
“But you’ve had women since then …” Tia said as a crease formed between her brows.
“Tia, I’m a man. I’ve scratched the itch a few times, I won’t deny it. But none of them were you. I didn’t see any of them a second time; I barely stayed long enough for the sheets to cool. Every time, I thought of you and wondered where you were, who you were with.”
Tia smiled. “No one. I was with no one.”
“I know that now. You’re my Tia; I’d like to keep it that way.”
Tia giggled and her eyes looked towards the sky. “I didn’t want to be the first to say this, but now that you have, it’s only fair you know how I feel …”
Brent cleared his throat and asked her seriously. “And how do you feel?”
“I feel like I can’t live without you. Like you’re the reason I had to come to the city. Like you’re the one I want wake up next to … I love you, Brent.”
Brent laughed as utter joy coursed through his body. He jumped up and pulled Tia along with him. He picked her up and twirled her in a circle as he kissed her.
“You’re staying.”
“I’m staying. After all, who can say no to you?”
As their mouths touched, Tia knew she was never going back to the small town. She had found her happiness in the city. She had found the man she had longed for for two years. She didn’t know how this was going to work, but she was willing to give it a chance. To give Brent a chance. Because her heart wouldn’t allow her to walk away from him.
Epilogue
Tia flipped the dough in the air, satisfied with the consistency. As she set the dough down on the stainless-steel tabletop, she realized how much that piece of dough would mean to her future. The industrial kitchen was laid with pizza bases, all just waiting for their toppings. Numerous containers filled with ordinary and exotic toppings lined the shelf above the work space. As soon as the orders started coming in, Tia would top and bake the pizzas.
Outside the newly outfitted kitchen sat a diner full of people waiting to know what the fuss was about. When the first orders came in, Tia slathered on her homemade tomato sauce before she generously distributed the toppings on the pizza.
Today was the opening day for Wednesday’s, a small diner in the East Village where people could come to enjoy the small-town feel while enjoying food without counting calories. Until Brent had mentioned it, Tia hadn’t even realized that opening her own diner had been her dream. Once the idea started to take a firm place in her mind, Tia knew she wouldn’t be happy doing anything else.
She had saved up enough money in her going home fund, which soon turned into her Wednesday’s fund. The only problem had been getting the right location. Finding prime property in New York was harder than finding an honest business man.
Brent had quickly caught onto the struggle and after a few brisk phone calls he had swept Tia off to the building where she now stood. It was a small restaurant, exactly what Tia had been looking for. The kitchen needed some new appliances and the dining booths needed a complete overhaul, but now that it was done, it was perfect.
Tia slid the pizza into the custom-built pizza oven and headed to the front of the restaurant. As soon as she stood behind the counter, Tia’s breath caught. What she had thought would be a few curious passersby on her opening day had turned into a packed diner. There wasn’t an empty booth in sight.
Brent moved around the counter and pulled her into his arms. “I hope you’ve got plenty of pizza since today’s special.”
Tia laughed nervously. “I can make more.”
Tia rushed back to the kitchen and started on the next batch of dough. So much had happened in the six months since Brent had come into her life that sometimes it overwhelmed her just how happy she was.
After
she’d moved in with Brent they had soon formed an easy routine of sharing breakfast and Tia cooking dinner every night. Their lovemaking hadn’t fizzed out as Tia had anticipated; instead it had become more passionate, if that was possible.
Every time Brent touched her, Tia knew he loved her. She had started to allow herself to dream about a future with him. A future that included a home, a wedding, and even children in the future. Brent had even mentioned once when they walked past a kid eating ice cream that he hoped they had a little girl that looked just like Tia.
With Brent’s encouragement, Tia had had an honest but firm conversation with her mother. She had explained that she had sent the money towards the maintenance and upkeep of the house and if her mother wasn’t using it for that purpose, it was her choice, but Tia wasn’t going to send more. She’d keep sending the same amount each week, with an increase once a year, but Tia Blues was done bankrolling her mother’s lifestyle with Bill.
Her mother had been irked and upset, as was expected, but with Brent holding Tia’s hand during the entire phone call, she hadn’t backed down. She had stood her ground with her mother for the first time.
Tia still felt out of place when she met with Brent’s millionaire friends, but she had come to enjoy their get-together’s at a local pub every Friday. Instead of leaving Tia home, he had insisted she come with. In turn, his friends had also started bringing their wives, and in Tucker’s case, his new girlfriend, along.
Tia slipped more pizzas into the oven as the waitresses started scurrying in with orders. Tia felt overwhelmed, not by the amount of work, but by knowing how much money she was going to make tonight. She wasn’t unaware of the fact that Brent had had something to do with the packed diner, but she would thank him later. She had a feeling it would involve a certain silk belt.
Tia had pried Lara, who had become a wonderful friend over the past six months, away from Brent’s home to become her restaurant manager. Lara bounced into the kitchen excitedly. “Tia, this is wonderful. Did you see how many people are out there?”
Billionaire's Accident Page 9