Page 15 of Passion

“Sir, I’m sorry to tell you that the building must come down. The storm left structural damage that authorities say can’t be easily fixed. We have to have it demolished and rebuilt. It will take months.”

Part of me wanted to smile, seeing how Vera would be forced to stay with me longer. I quite enjoyed her company. Part of me, however, felt bad for her. Everything she had in life was in that place, and after her breakup and subsequent job loss, she was destitute.

“I see. Well, I will send an email with instructions, but I’d like all of her things brought to my house. Can you handle that?” I avoided Henry’s furtive gaze and turned my chair to look out the window again.

“Of course. I’ll wait for your email. It will take a few days. We have a lot of units to go through.”

“No problem. She’s staying with me, so she has all she needs. I’ll wait to hear from you. Thank you.” I hung up and took a deep breath, preparing for the lecture.

“Who was that?” Henry asked. I could hear him shifting. When I turned back, he was leaning over my desk.

“Uh, that was the landlord at Ms. Davids’s building.” I offered nothing more than what he asked and already knew. I should have sent him out of the room for the call.

“And by Ms. Davids, you mean Vera Laine Davids? The one Tina asked you about yesterday?” His eyebrows peaked.

I rolled my eyes at him. He always did this—annoyed me by prying into my personal life. Yes, we were friends, but sometimes, he took it too far. I deserved my privacy.

“Yes, Vera Laine Davids. I met her on the island and her home was destroyed. She’s staying with me.”

“You mean, living with you?” He scowled. “You are so irresponsible sometimes, Luke. Isn’t she like twenty years old? You’re old enough to be her dad.”

I chuckled. “No, she’s not. And I’m not that old. And yes, she’s living with me—for now.”

Henry’s brow looked like a plowed pasture, the furrows so deep you could get lost in them. “You just met her on Elbow and she’s moving in with you? You were there what, four days ago?”

“With all due respect, Henry, this is not your business, and I know what I’m doing. Thank you. Now, if there is nothing else, I’ll get back to work.”

Henry didn’t budge. His hands remained firmly planted on my desk, his body leaning toward me precariously. His scowl turned to concern, and he huffed. “I don’t have to remind you that women like to come after you for your money, do I? I mean, Rochelle was a disaster. You brought her right into this office on day two and paraded her around like she was the queen bee. Tiffany took your charge card and maxed it out on the third date. Remember that? What about Sarah Snyder? Or did you forget that she claimed to be pregnant with your child, only to pressure you into marriage, then claimed she lost the baby?”

“I didn’t marry her, and I had a prenup ready to go. Besides, none of those women meant anything to me. I am just a confident guy. I paraded Rochelle around because she was gorgeous. I wanted to make you jealous. I knew she was a fling. Tiffany had my permission to shop. What good is money if you can’t spend it? When she and I parted ways, it was amicable. And you’re right that Sarah was a gold digger, but I think I knew that before it got to that point. Her scheme was just the catalyst for our breakup.”

I stood and shoved my hands in my pockets. “You worry too much, Henry. I know that you live your life very guarded. I’m confident in my choices. I have nothing to lose. Let me make my own decisions and trust that I know what I’m doing. Okay?”

Henry shook his head at me and said, “Alright, but don’t come complaining to me when she breaks your heart and leaves you.”

He left me alone, and I was certain he hoped his last words made me feel afraid of her, but I wasn’t. Everything I was doing for Vera was out of the kindness of my own heart, and I was giving it freely, asking nothing in return. If she wanted to stay, I would be the happiest man alive. If not, I’d move on like nothing ever happened.

I just hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

13

VERA

Iheld the door open as the movers carried box after carefully packed box of my things into the house, along with Midge’s. She was in the other room, watching how they organized things to make sure everything was placed carefully. Our sofa and my bed were ruined, along with a few other items like the end tables, coffee table, and a few dressers. Most large items had been left to be collected with the demolition of the building. What had been brought was mostly Midge’s, and Lucas instructed the drivers to deliver them to her new apartment.

“Thanks, guys,” I called as they left the front door for the last time. Midge and I would sort through things, and she’d pile what was hers into the pickup truck she had borrowed to take to her new home. The drivers waved and climbed into their truck, and I retreated into the living room to see Midge digging through an open box.

There were twenty-seven boxes in all, plus several laundry hampers full of things. A few potted plants had been neatly wrapped in cellophane—I couldn’t keep them now, so Midge would have to take them. And despite my tendency to live in a way that was minimalist, there were a total of ten trash bags full of other odds and ends, bedding, more clothes, shoes, and towels.

I collapsed onto the couch next to Midge and sighed. “This is going to take forever. A whole apartment’s worth of my life just packaged up and tossed into a stranger’s living room.”

She chuckled. “It could be worse. Your mom could be here.” Her elbow to my ribs was kinder than her words, and kinder still than my mother, who had called a dozen times to tell me I should move home.

“Ugh, thanks for the reminder.”

Midge leaned into the box of things, mostly kitchen items, and sorted through them. “This one is mostly yours, but I did find my whisk and a few coffee mugs. These guys did a great job of packing things.” She pushed her items across the floor and closed the box. I picked it up and carried it across the room to set it apart from the rest so we’d know when we were finished.

“I may as well just toss all of this and start over.” Midge was never one for difficult tasks. It was likely the reason she had become a model to begin with. Her beauty spoke for itself, and posing in front of a camera wasn’t hard work at all. “I’m not cut out for this.”

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