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“She what?” says Callie.
Glancing between them, Lee says, “I’m guessing you didn’t know about the baby.”
“Bullshit, she was pregnant,” says West. “That is bullshit.”
I nod. “It was. But I didn’t know it was bullshit at the time. Didn’t know my ass from a hole in the ground. So we got married.”
“I could kill her,” says Callie.
“There’s more,” I say. Callie shuts her mouth, clamping her lips together. “Susan told me the baby would need all these complicated medical procedures, that there were risks. I couldn’t go with her to the appointments, her doctor wouldn’t allow it”—West growls—“and yeah, I believed her. I was working so many hours, trying to make sure I’d be able to provide for them once she gave birth. I planned to move her in here with me, Callie, and Sully, and when I told Susan that, she brought up our inheritance.”
Callie stops moving, stops breathing.
“What are you talking about?” she asks.
I shut my eyes. West knew this part, but I’d never had the nerve to tell Callie the truth.
The irony isn’t lost on me. Not at all. It’s the reason I’m here.
“She knew that we had inherited the house and some money besides. Susan said we could use it as our nest egg just to get started. We signed up for a joint bank account.”
“No.”
“I transferred as much as I could into it. I was trying to show her I could handle it, that I could be a good provider, that she didn’t have to worry so much.” I can’t look at Callie, so I focus on Lee again. He looks shocked, sad, and so sympathetic I have to look away from him, too.
“Does Sully know about this?” Callie asks.
“He does. Sully is the reason she didn’t get the house.” I take a deep breath. “He suspected Susan all along. He never came out and accused her of lying, but he was always asking her questions about her appointments, about her symptoms, about her background, and her family. Always trying to catch her in a lie or trip her up somehow. I don’t know how, but he managed to get the lawyer to tie up most of the money they left us by paying off the house ahead of schedule.”
“That’s why we never had to move,” breathed Callie. “It wasn’t Sully making payments.”
“He did that, too,” I say. “But yeah. The lawyer worked it out with the bank that the mortgage was completely taken care of.”
“What about the rest of the money?” she asks.
I clench my jaw. “The day after I showed Susan the transfer was confirmed, she cleaned out the account. I never saw or heard from her again.”
The silence has a different tenor this time. Still aggressive, but this time, the aggression isn’t directed at me.
“You knew about this?” Callie asks West.
“I knew about the money,” he says. “This is the first I’m hearing about any baby.” He glares at me, and man, if looks could kill.
“She swore me to secrecy,” I say, standing up. “I was eighteen. Sully only found out by accident. He overheard us arguing about a bill from her doctor one night.”
West swears under his breath. “You stupid son of a bitch.”
“Yeah. Pretty much.”
“You’ve been carrying this around all this time? And you never told us.”
I close my eyes again. “I’m telling you now.”
Callie sniffs, and my eyes fly open.
“Callie, please. Don’t.”
“I can’t help it,” she says, tears already tracking down her cheeks. “West is right, you stupid jerk.”
