Page 76 of Roughing the Player
I twist around and face him. “What do you mean?”
He retrieves an envelope from his jacket and hands it to me. “My wedding present. One of them, anyway.”
I open it to find two sheets of paper, both marked “Paid in Full.”
“You paid off my mortgage and my school loans?”
“Surprise!” He grins.
“How could you?”
His happy smile crumbles. “I thought you’d be pleased.”
“I’m not. We never agreed to this.”
“Of course, we didn’t. You never asked for a dime. Ellie, I make millions playing football. Contrary to popular opinion, I haven’t spent that much. On top of that, I have a really good investment manager who’s more than tripled my income. I can afford a few measly dollars for you to be debt free.”
“I wish you’d told me.”
“If I had, it wouldn’t have been a surprise, would it?”
“I can’t accept this.” I hand the papers back to him.
But he won’t take them. “Yes, you can. If not for yourself, for Kaylee. You’ll have more money to spend on her.”
A sore point with me. There have been times when I hadn’t been able to get something she wanted. “She has everything she needs.”
“I’m sure she does, but wouldn’t it be nice to afford it when she asks for something.”
“Like what?”
“Well, in four years, she’ll be sixteen. I’m sure she’ll want a car. Oh, by the way.” He dangles a key fob in front of me.
“What’s that?”
“Your other wedding present.”
“What is it?”
“A silver Mercedes Benz with all the bells and whistles.”
I’d been drooling over one for the longest time. Wishful thinking on my part because I’d never be able to afford one. “How did you know?”
“Your mother.”
Of course, Mama would have told him. “Thank you.” I take the fob from his hand. He’s given me these extravagant thoughtful gifts, and I have nothing for him. I turn my head to the side to keep him from seeing my tears.
Crooking a finger, he turns my chin to face him. “Ellie, what’s wrong?”
“I didn’t get you anything.”
Shaking his head, he cups my jaw in his hand. “Of course, you did. You gave me a beautiful daughter.”
A watery grin slips out. “Yeah, I did, didn’t I?” Not quite done with my tears, I sniff.
He cocks his head to the side and flashes that devil-may-care grin of his. “I know what you need.”
“What?”
