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“Because of me.” Luna stopped sorting. She was frowning now. “You still care about him. You miss him. You go out of your way to prove to yourself that you don’t, but you do. And it’s because of me.”
“No. What happened with you was a catalyst, but it wasn’t the cause. I should have left him long before that.” Things started to deteriorate when the jokes turned toward me. My decisions.
“That’s a sexy piece of ass. You plan on sharing her before you make her yours forever?”
“You ever worry she spends so much time withthosekids?”
“You oughta lock her away before she starts thinking she can change the world.”
Those were the nice things. What hurt the most was that Ramsey never shut them down, and he actively worked to keep me from doing so. He’d apologize at home.They don’t know any better. He never wanted to hear that they might if he told them or let me tell them.
And then Luna was arrested. The people around Ramsey never said her name, they didn’t even know her, but her case was high profile in the business world.
“This is why you get them pregnant early. So they don’t get all uppity.”
“No way a pretty little thing like her was smart enough to do this.”
“Face like that looks better with something in her mouth.”
“Too bad she’ll turn in prison. A woman like that needs a good man to straighten her out.”
When I went off on them, Ramsey had to physically drag me from the room, apologizing formybehavior. After we left, he was sorry. It wasn’t enough. I told him I couldn’t do that anymore. He said I couldn’t ask him to pick between me and the people who could make or break his career.
“It definitely wasn’t your fault,” I repeated to Luna.
She fiddled with a damp fringe on a pillow. “He’s gotten better. Making a stand. Building his campaign on fixing some of these things. He was at the fundraiser.”
“It’s too late.” My reply came out with less force than I intended.
We were finishing up the box sorting, when Cole came out and said he was ready to set up fans. Luna jumped to her feet to help him, and I let her.
I tried to ignore my inner war over Ramsey, as I found places for the new mattresses and set up the space heaters that were delivered. We were past capacity. I hated turning people away, but we couldn’t take anyone else in.
When the plumber finally showed up, I breathed a sigh of relief. He spent about half an hour in the basement, before telling me he had to call someone else in.
That couldn’t be good.
I stuck close, as he took his associate first through the basement and then through the rest of the house. It was hard to hear them, with their heads bent together and the whispered words, but they made a lot of notes.
When they turned back to me, they wore matching grim expressions.
“The boiler can’t be fixed,” the plumber said. “The best way to heat the place is going to be installing central air, especially in this climate, with this setup. The problem is, the house isn’t built to support the ductwork.”
“So… what do I need to do?” A nagging thought in the back of my mind was starting to panic, but I couldn’t give it my attention.
They exchanged looks again, and the plumber handed me a tablet. “This is a breakdown of what we recommend. You’re welcome to call around for other estimates. I understand. The thing is, the house isn’t livable as a shelter as it is. If you can’t bring it up to code in a week, we’ll have to file to have the building condemned. And while the work is being done, we can’t have anyone living here.”
This couldn’t be happening. What was I going to do? Fundraisers like the one last night brought in operating capital, not the kind of money it would take to renovate or get a whole new building. And even if we could raise the money, we had to deal with where the kids would stay until this place was overhauled or a new place was ready.
I needed time. Ideas. Money.
Connections.
Damn it.I needed Ramsey.
You’re doing this for the kids, repeated in my head as I pulled up his personal number. The one no one had, except his closest friends and family.
“Hey, Taffy.” The smile in his voice sent pleasant shivers racing down my spine whether or not I wanted it to. “Long time no talk.”
