Page 52 of The Last Good Man

Today, he no longer makes unreasonable demands, pays the alimony–although never on time–and tries to avoid me for the most part.

We’re not exactly on speaking terms after what happened to my sister.

But he still has parental rights and plays parent to her.

My mother swallows her food and drinks water before looking at me.

“What happened to you? Where were you?”

“Nowhere,” I say, reaching inside my jacket. “This is for you,” I said, givinghera stack of cash.

She looks at it, not knowing what to say.

We don’t talk much about my life these days.

She knows I have a place to live but hasno ideahow I make my money.

Well, she probably does, but we both tiptoe around the topic.

“Are you doing work for Marco again?” she finally asks.

I bring my beer to my lips.

“It’s not your business,” I say, smiling. “It’s good money. Take it. Save it up. And one day, we’ll put a down payment on that house you like up the hill. The one with azaleas, and what were the other flowers?

“Hydrangeas.”

“Yeah… Hydrangeas.”

“I don’t know about that,” she says, regret flashing through her eyes. “That’s a lot of money. And it’s not only the down payment. A house across the park has sold for half a million. I’ll never be able to afford the monthly payments, maintenance, utilities, and property taxes.”

I gesture softly.

“Don’t worry about that. We’ll make it happen. You just have to believe in it.”

I crack a smile, her piercing eyes making me tilt my gaze away to evade her scrutiny.

I focus on my food.

“You seem content for some reason. What happened?”

“Nothing,” I say curtly.

Her hand slides over mine.

“Jax?”

I bite my lip to stifle a smile but can’t entirely suppress it.

“I told you. Nothing happened.”

She pulls her hand away.

“I don’t believe you. I know you. You have that smile…”

Her eyes hover over my face.

“What smile?”

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