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My heart was overflowing with contentment.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Tommy
Five Years Ago
I stepped into the hospital room, my heart thumping loudly in my chest. Monica turned her head at the sound of my footsteps, and for a second, fear flickered over her face. Then she relaxed, a smile pulling at her lips. Her color had returned since the last time I’d seen her. There was a little pink in her cheeks, and her hair looked clean and fresh, but that didn’t mean I trusted her. Monica was going to go home, go back to drinking, and drag Blake down into the deep end of the pool all over again. I couldn’t let that happen.
“Tom, what a nice surprise.” She patted the chair next to the bed to invite me to sit down. “How’s our Blake?”
I gritted my teeth. “He’s perfect,” I assured her, the beeping of her heart-rate monitoring filling the room.
“He is, isn’t he? Blake’s a good boy. Loves us a lot.” Monica gave me another smile, but it didn’t meet her eyes.
I wanted to scream at her that he was mine. That she didn’t deserve someone as amazing as Blake, full of his goodness and life. She should be ashamed of herself for treating him the way she did, but I didn’t. I needed this to go my way. For Monica to agree to everything I was about to drop in her lap. Instead, I eased myself down into the chair.
“I have a proposition for you.” I rubbed my sweaty palms over my jean clad thighs.
Monica’s brows dipped. “I already told Blake I wasn’t going to drink anymore.” Her eyes darted away from me as she lied to my face.
“I know, and this is part of that,” I told her. “I found a place that can help you. A swanky rehab facility that will take care of you. Get you back on your feet, help you stop drinking for good, and work with you toward staying sober. Help you get a job.”
Monica’s eyes narrowed. “I won’t leave Blake.”
That’s why I’m about to make sure he’s going to leave you. “If you stay sober, if you complete the program, there’s fifty thousand dollars waiting for you.” Her eyes lit up. “And each month you don’t drink, there will be another five thousand deposited into your bank account for a year.” Courtesy of my big brother.
“Where is this place?” Monica worried her lip between her teeth, but I knew she could see the dollar signs.
Bingo. “Florida.”
“There’s nothing closer? Nothing around Canfield?” Monica sounded desperate.
The money was what would make her agree, but I knew getting her away from her habits, the friends who enabled her, was what she was worried about. Not Blake. I didn’t doubt that she loved her son, but she loved drinking more.
I shook my head. “No, it’s Florida or nothing at all.”
“Can I think about it? Go home and see how it works for me there?”
“Nope, this is non-negotiable.” I grunted. “You decide now, or you get nothing.”
Monica twisted her hands together. “But—”
“Now or nothing,” I repeated.
She took a shaky breath. “I’ll do it.”
I stood up. “I’ll be in touch.”
Jackson was working with his lawyer to draw up a legal contract that she would have to sign before she even got five dollars. It said that if she touched a drop of alcohol, she’d get nothing more, but could keep the money she was given.
Now I had to hope that Blake would forgive me when he found out.
***
I dragged a hand through Blake’s soft hair, our legs intertwined together as we cuddled on the bed. He had seemed off when he’d gotten home from practice, again, and so I gave him a blowjob to try to calm him down. It had worked, but now it seemed like whatever was bothering him was sneaking back into his brain.
“Talk to me, Bug, tell me what’s bothering you,” I murmured.
