38. Nice Nest Egg

Two weeks later, Knox knew he'd been given a third chance with Sage.

The second chance was when he knocked on her door over four months ago. The third chance was when he'd been honest and explained how much of an ass he was by reacting the way he had when he found out all the details about Henry.

He was pretty sure he wasn't going to get another one and had to find a way to let her know about his wealth.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and he'd given her a diamond bracelet. Over the top, he knew, but there was part of him that was trying to hint a bit about his wealth. Maybe a way to get the conversation going.

She'd been stunned. She'd gotten some dewy eyes. She'd told him it was too much and she hoped he wasn't sucking up because of two weeks ago and that she'd forgiven him. Then she said dinner was ready.

He needed to hear the part about forgiveness since it was something he worried he'd never feel with his father gone.

But she didn't question his ability to afford it either.

Then he had to remind himself he owned his own business. One that was thriving.

He had a beautiful house by the water. He'd been left both of his father's houses and sold the other one. There were life insurance policies too.

She probably just figured he had a nice nest egg.

"There is a car in your driveway," Sage said.

"What?" he asked from the couch where he'd been sitting and flipping through the channels. It was Saturday afternoon and there wasn't much on. They were just going to relax for the weekend and to him that was the best way to spend his time with Sage.

She'd been in the kitchen cleaning up their lunch. He'd offered, but she said she had it. She'd made ham salad from leftovers that she'd made last night.

He wanted to take her to dinner and she said no. On a Friday for Valentine's Day would be nuts and she liked to stay in with him. Said she was more of a homebody.

He was finally starting to believe that she didn't want this life he always thought she did.

That he put her on this pedestal of wanting the fancy and flashy and that just because she worked in that industry for years meant nothing.

"It's a woman," she said. "Do you know who it is?"

He stood up and looked out the window. "Oh fuck. It's my mother."

"What?" she asked. "Did you know she was coming?"

"Nope," he said, starting to panic. "I haven't talked to her since Blaze was here." He turned to look at her. "Listen. Don't hold anything she says against me. I'll explain. I really will. Just let me get through this. I'm positive I know why she's here."

Sage lifted an eyebrow at him. "And you're not going to share that reason?"

"Money," he said. "It's always about money."

"Do you want me to go hide?" she asked, frowning. "She doesn't know about me."

"Nope," he said. "I want you to stay. You can witness this. But it won't be pretty."

His mother didn't know a thing about Sage. He expected this visit to get explosive.

Nope, he was planning on it.

He wanted this done with and in the process it would air everything out for Sage.

Maybe there was this tiny bit of hope that she'd see what he'd been going through and why he kept this part a secret.

The other part knew he was in for another hiccup with his girlfriend, but it was best to do it now.

He didn't even let his mother get to the door and ring the bell before he opened it. "What are you doing here?"

"Aren't you going to let me in?" his mother asked. "I've been on the road since before the crack of dawn."

He held the door open wider. "You could have let me know you were coming," he said.

"You wouldn't have answered my calls or texts and you know it," his mother said. "And if I said I was coming you'd say you were out of town or make sure you weren't here."

"You're lucky that I was. I'm not normally."

"You never do anything on the weekends. You're a loner like your father was."

Starting in insulting his father already.

Sage cleared her throat and his mother turned. "Hello," she said. "I'm Sage Mancini. Knox's girlfriend. I'm not sure I'd say he was a loner as most times we are together on the weekends but not always here."

His mother turned her head sharply and looked at him while she took her jacket off. Looks as if she was going to stay. Or thought she was.

"You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend."

"Nope," he said. "I don't share too much with you. Why bother?"

"Because I'm your mother."

"Mom," he said. "Just tell me why you're here so we can get this over with."

"Shane and I split and I'm behind on my mortgage."

He let out a snort. "You've been in that house for what? Five years. And you've been single in that time too but had Shane living with you. I'm not buying it."

"Come on," his mother said. "You've got millions from your father. It's nothing for you to pay off my house."

He turned and looked at Sage. She wasn't saying anything, just watching. For all he knew she could just assume it was from his father's life insurance and the properties and nothing else.

"Why would I pay off your house for you?" he asked. "It was Dad's money. Not yours. You got everything coming to you back then and you know it. Probably more than you should have, all things considered."

"It's not fair. He won that money. Of course now that you've got a girlfriend maybe she thinks she is going to latch on and get some of it."

"Don't look at me," Sage said. "I can take care of myself. I don't need anyone's money."

"Says no woman ever," his mother said. "Don't believe her. Everyone is the same. Everyone lies."

"Not as much as you," he said. "And I believe everything Sage says."

"Then you're an idiot. You don't even know if your father is really your father," his mother said. "Maybe you weren't entitled to that money either."

Sage sucked her breath in. He'd never thought his mother would stoop that low but shouldn't be stunned by it. His mother always played dirty when she didn't get what she wanted.

"Whether I was his biological son or not, he had a will. It's what he did the minute he kicked you out. Everything was left to me or charities of his choice. And when it all came to me, I did the same damn thing. There is no way you're getting any part of anything that was his. And just so you know, I am his kid. Do you think Dad wasn't smart enough to find out? Get the fuck out of my house and don't come back. You're not getting a damn thing from me."

He watched his mother grab her jacket and storm out of the house, the door slamming behind her.

"That was...interesting," Sage said. "I'm not sure where to start."

He looked at the woman he loved and all he saw was the sympathy in her eyes.

"I can explain," he said.

"I expect you to, but first off, if that is what your father had to deal with or you've had to, then I should cut you some slack for not being more damaged."

He snorted. "You have no idea. That was just a tiny glimpse of it all."

"Then I'm sorry," she said.

"Nothing for you to feel sorry about."

"No. I get it," she said. "I know you have trust issues and that is part of it. I should have been more honest about Henry and it does explain more with what your mom said. I mean why would she say that about you not being your father's son?"

Knox shook his head. "I'm not sure if she didn't know or not. I don't believe that, but after what happened with Blaze, my father had me tested."

"Oh," she said. "That is horrible. It would make me feel bad about myself on top of it if I knew."

"I think that was part of why I had issues with my father." This was just one more secret he'd held in. "He didn't tell me he was doing it or did it. I found the results once when I was visiting. It was like a knife to the heart."

Nothing any teenage boy wants to ever see.

His world had been turned upside down.

His mother barely had time for him. His father, when he visited didn't talk to him much. It's like they never really got along all that well.

Then to find that, he wondered what was going to happen to him if it said he wasn't his father's son.

He'd found the envelope first. He knew exactly what it was and was terrified to open it up.

There was part of him that never wanted to know. That wondered if he wasn't Dan Bradford's kid and if that was why his father didn't connect to him.

But he had to know for certain and remembered holding his breath as he read the results.

"Did you two ever talk about it?" she asked.

"No. He never brought it up and I didn't either. Maybe he was ashamed he did it, but I guess if I'd been in his shoes I might want to know too."

He saw her eyes get a little glossy. "When did things start to get better for the two of you?"

"Not until I was in my early twenties. I started to think my father didn't know how to relate to me. But when I was at the age of the students he was teaching, it seemed easier. I don't know. Could be when he gave me a place to live so I did not have to be reliant on going back to my mother's."

Sage nodded and moved closer to him, took his hand and pulled him to the couch.

"Talk to me," she said. "There are things you want to say. I can see it. It's your chance now. Get them off your chest. You told me not to hold anything against you and I'm not. But if it makes you feel better, then use this as a clear slate space. What we say here and now, stays in the here and now."

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "You're holding so much in and you don't need to with me. I feel like I've been more open with you about things in my life and how I feel or felt. All but the one thing with Henry and you know why."

"Let's not go there again and how I reacted."

"After seeing your mother just now, I can understand some of it, as I said."

"Before we go any further… My mother made a comment about millions and my father winning money."

"You don't need to explain your finances to me. We are dating," she said. "What you got as an inheritance or make in your job is your business."

His jaw dropped. "What? Really?"

"Yes," she said. "Why are you so shocked? I think your business is pretty successful from what I can see. Your father had this house and another one. I knew that. He probably had a really good salary on top of it."

"He did. Without his lottery win, I would have gotten over three million in cash, investments, assets and life insurance policies."

His father was frugal for the most part with his money. Looking back, he wished his father could have enjoyed more of it before he died.

"Lottery?" she asked, laughing. "I've got to hear this."

"You're not upset that I didn't tell you?"

"No," she said. "I told you why. That is personal. You don't know how much I've got in my savings or investments. You don't know how much I make. I can assure you it's nowhere near your worth, but we haven't gotten to that part of our relationship where it'd be a conversation."

He wasn't sure why this never occurred to him. Why he never thought of it the same either.

But she was right. There were a lot of married couples that kept their finances separate, so why did he think that any girlfriend he had should know?

Even if he did see a future with Sage.

The fact she was so laid back about this proved she was the one for him.

"You're right. But I want to tell you more so you know. I'm not going to give you details and specifics. But my father had a love for lottery tickets. The daily numbers, the scratch offs. All those things."

She smiled. "Sounds like he was a bit of a dreamer."

Knox wasn't sure why that never occurred to him before. "You know, I'd never say that about my father, but you're right. It drove my mother nuts that he'd waste money like that. It was his only vice."

"And one that paid off in the end by the sounds of it."

"Yeah. He won over thirty million."

"That's great," she said. "How exciting."

He was both baffled and annoyed with himself that he didn't think she'd react this way.

"I guess so," he said. "He told me right away when he won but said not to let other people know."

"Your mother?" she asked.

"For one. We just kept it as quiet as we could for the most part, but it was hard. When I left my job though, he was the one who gave me the money to start my business. Get the office space, the equipment, float my salary. All those things. I wanted to pay him back and he said no. To him, my education didn't cost a fraction of what he'd had put aside for it and it felt like the thing to do."

Looking back, he believed his father might have done that without the lottery win, but Knox was never going to ask for it either.

"Was that the start of you two trying to get closer?"

"We'd been trying before the win, but that helped more. I still felt like we didn't have a ton in common and when we did spend time together it was forced. But then slowly it became less forced. I can't even explain why."

"There is no reason to explain it," she said. "Sometimes there doesn't need to be an explanation. You just have to accept it for what it is."

"I like that," he said. "I was doing that. I think he was too. As I said, we had dinner planned for that night and then..."

"He died," she said. "You have to let it go, Knox. I'm positive he knew you loved him. That you were a kid that was reacting to things prior and trying to make it right. Don't you think he might have felt the same way? That he might have regretted his part in the distance that you two had and he was working at it too. Do you want to think he died before he could find out if you forgave him?"

"No," he said. "I wouldn't want him to think or worry about that. I did forgive him."

"Then you should believe he forgave you too."

"I don't know why I never thought of it like that before," he said.

"Because you didn't have me in your life."

"No," he said. "I didn't. I'm glad I do now."

"Not as glad as me. And just so you know, I loved you before the last thirty minutes happened. You know that. I don't care what is in your bank account and never did, but I'm positive you've had women that didn't feel that way."

"I have."

"Savannah? You said she changed after your father died. So she had to have known you were left all the money."

"She did. And she wanted me to live like it was me who won the lotto. It wasn't me. I lost the one person in my life that I was getting close to. I didn't want to celebrate using his money and she didn't or couldn't understand that."

"But I can," Sage said, looking at her watch. "The here and now can be done if you want. Is there anything else I need to know? Speak now. I've told you everything that I can think of that is of importance."

"Nothing more than I had this dream in eighth grade that you'd be my first kiss."

"Ahhh, that is so sweet. I'm sorry I wasn't."

"But you're my first love and I hope my last. So it worked out in the end."

"I'd say it did because I hope you're my last love too!"