There was a wall of windows, and on the couch in the middle of that sunshine, was Matias.
“Matias!” I called, seeing the little boy’s eyes open and staring at his tablet.
Matias didn’t just play on his tablet, though. He learned. He was on ABC Mouse, and he was working on his letters and numbers. He was the only kid I knew who didn’t just get on the device to play something stupid, like Candy Crush.
Matias looked up, and his smile brightened the room impossibly further. “Izzy! Did you bring me cookies?”
His voice was weak, which was normal at this stage of his treatment. If my guess was right, he had a treatment a few days ago—making this the day that he was the weakest and most nauseous.
Rome made a noise in the back of his throat. “Matias Tyler Pierce, you’re supposed to greet a visitor and ask how they are before you ask if they brought you anything.”
Matias looked over at his father, then back at me. “Hi, Isadora. How are you? Can I have one of your cookies?”
I snickered and looked over at the amused man standing two paces away from me. “May I?”
I held up the bag, and Rome dropped his eyes from my face to my bag, then nodded. “Yeah.”
I walked over to one of my favorite little boys in the world and offered him the bag. “Don’t eat all of these at once. I’m trusting you.”
He snickered. “Mama’s not here anymore. I can have more than one now since she’s not here to pitch a fit.”
My eyes widened, and I looked over at Rome but didn’t say a word.
Rome wasn’t looking at me, though. He was looking at his son with a worried frown on his face.
I patted Matias’ hand. “Well, still. I don’t want you upsetting your tummy any more than it already is, so just go slow, okay?”
At Matias’ nod, I got up from my crouch and turned to the man. “Now, tell me what you need, and I’ll do my best to accommodate you.”
Rome turned to me, his eyebrows high. “Tell you what I need?”
He turned and started out of the room, but I could’ve sworn I heard him mutter, “Your pretty face making my kid smile again.”
But surely that wasn’t what I heard.
“I’m sorry, what?” I asked, hurrying after him.
“I said that you can do whatever you think the place needs or what you normally do at Tara’s place. I don’t care. Honestly? He just wanted to see you. I’m not here enough to really get this place dirty. The kitchen and the living room are really the only two rooms that I use. All the other rooms, except for my bedroom upstairs and Matias’ down the hall, don’t even have furniture.” Rome waved a hand around the kitchen.
The fact that his son wanted to see me, and that Rome had gone out of his way to call my business to get me here, had me feeling all warm and happy.
I was sure that my smile lit up my face.
He frowned then, something catching his attention. “You okay?”
He pointed at my hand, and I sighed. “I fell today running. Some car nearly ran me over, and I had to dodge and weave to miss getting plowed over. The man didn’t even stop…this was the result.”
I held up my wrist that was scraped up one side and down the other. There wasn’t any visible blood anymore, but that was about all that I could say.
Tomorrow, it’d hurt like a bitch…and I was damn sure that I’d be wearing my gloves when I used the bleach.
“Are you sure you can work like that?” he asked, looking concerned.
I snorted. “Uh, yeah. I can work. I’ve had worse than this before and still managed it.”
My father had beat my ass when I was an impressionable teen because I’d refused to help him clean without compensation. Then, when he was done, he’d forced me to go clean anyway.
That day had been hell.
The scrapes on my arm? It was nothin’.
Rome frowned, and when he looked like he was about to ask more, I was thankful that his son called his name.
“Coming,” Rome called, then looked at me solemnly. “If you need anything, we’ll be working on our ABCs.”
Smiling at his words, I went to work, only minorly aware that my wrist was a little more sore than I’d first realized.
But I stuck it out, and I had nearly finished the entire house—sans the empty rooms and the living room because there was no way in hell I’d have time to tackle all ten of them today—when I saw Rome again.
This time, he was coming out of Matias’ room—which I had just cleaned before I started the hall bathroom—closing the door quietly behind him.
I smiled. “Is he asleep?”
Rome looked up and nodded, coming my way before he responded.
“The treatments take a lot out of him. I think he sleeps more than he’s awake nowadays,” he murmured.
I was scared to ask him if they were working or not.
I never got up the nerve to ask Tara, either.
I kept hoping that I’d see improvement in the little boy, but it’d been four months now that I’d been cleaning for them, and I hadn’t seen any sign that he was getting better.
And that just sucked so bad.
I wanted to walk in here one day to that little boy wrapping his arms around my waist and telling me that he was feeling better, instead of seeing him struggle to lift his little head off the couch.
Then again, at least he was on the couch this time and not alone on the bathroom floor.
I’d seen that, too.
Too many times.
Tara would help him there, and then she’d leave him.
Rome? Well, I doubted he even realized how much better he cared for Matias.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I murmured, looking at the closed door. “I’m almost done upstairs. I have the living room downstairs to go, and then I’m done—at least for today. I have another appointment this afternoon that I can’t miss, but if you want me to come back and finish all the bedrooms that I didn’t get to today, I’ll probably need to block off an entire day for you.”
Rome’s light blue eyes—an unusual color that never failed to captivate me, regardless of whether I saw them in person or in a picture—stared at me.
He looked like he was trying to take in everything that he could about me—see inside my soul.
I pulled back and started downstairs, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
I didn’t want him to know my secrets—they were dark and debilitating.
Even I didn’t examine them anymore.
To acknowledge them gave them power, and nobody would have that power over me ever again—not even me, through my memories.
“Is this all you do, clean houses?” he asked from behind me.
I paused with one foot on the stairs, and the other on the top landing, and gave him a look over my shoulder.
It was the ‘did you just say what I think you just said’ look.
And it wasn’t a nice one.
“Yes,” I answered tightly. “This is all I do.”
He winced.
“That’s not what I meant.” He blew out a breath. “I was…I was…”
The fact that he was tongue-tied had my ire calming almost immediately.
My ex, the second worst man in the world, had said that to me a lot when we’d been together.
Isadora, is this all that you want out of your life? He’d say. To clean up other peoples’ messes? You’re never going to get any money cleaning houses the way you do. Don’t you want to own a house? A car? Something nice one day?
“I was just trying to think about what I was going to do over the next couple of days,” he sounded sick to his stomach. “I…Tara is gone.”
Now that had me turning around to stare at him in astonishment.
“She’s gone?” I asked. “But…why?”
Rome swallowed. “Tara says that she couldn’t handle Ty-Ty’s illness anymore. That it hurt too much to see him so sick.”
It didn’t sound like he believed her excuses, and I wasn’t sure that I did either.
I’d lost the one and only baby that I’d ever had. She was stillborn, and to this day, years later, it still broke my heart. I just couldn’t understand how any woman could leave their child when that child was fighting for his life. I mean, one day would mean the world to me. If I just had one more day with my baby, my soul would be happy.
“Matias!” I called, seeing the little boy’s eyes open and staring at his tablet.
Matias didn’t just play on his tablet, though. He learned. He was on ABC Mouse, and he was working on his letters and numbers. He was the only kid I knew who didn’t just get on the device to play something stupid, like Candy Crush.
Matias looked up, and his smile brightened the room impossibly further. “Izzy! Did you bring me cookies?”
His voice was weak, which was normal at this stage of his treatment. If my guess was right, he had a treatment a few days ago—making this the day that he was the weakest and most nauseous.
Rome made a noise in the back of his throat. “Matias Tyler Pierce, you’re supposed to greet a visitor and ask how they are before you ask if they brought you anything.”
Matias looked over at his father, then back at me. “Hi, Isadora. How are you? Can I have one of your cookies?”
I snickered and looked over at the amused man standing two paces away from me. “May I?”
I held up the bag, and Rome dropped his eyes from my face to my bag, then nodded. “Yeah.”
I walked over to one of my favorite little boys in the world and offered him the bag. “Don’t eat all of these at once. I’m trusting you.”
He snickered. “Mama’s not here anymore. I can have more than one now since she’s not here to pitch a fit.”
My eyes widened, and I looked over at Rome but didn’t say a word.
Rome wasn’t looking at me, though. He was looking at his son with a worried frown on his face.
I patted Matias’ hand. “Well, still. I don’t want you upsetting your tummy any more than it already is, so just go slow, okay?”
At Matias’ nod, I got up from my crouch and turned to the man. “Now, tell me what you need, and I’ll do my best to accommodate you.”
Rome turned to me, his eyebrows high. “Tell you what I need?”
He turned and started out of the room, but I could’ve sworn I heard him mutter, “Your pretty face making my kid smile again.”
But surely that wasn’t what I heard.
“I’m sorry, what?” I asked, hurrying after him.
“I said that you can do whatever you think the place needs or what you normally do at Tara’s place. I don’t care. Honestly? He just wanted to see you. I’m not here enough to really get this place dirty. The kitchen and the living room are really the only two rooms that I use. All the other rooms, except for my bedroom upstairs and Matias’ down the hall, don’t even have furniture.” Rome waved a hand around the kitchen.
The fact that his son wanted to see me, and that Rome had gone out of his way to call my business to get me here, had me feeling all warm and happy.
I was sure that my smile lit up my face.
He frowned then, something catching his attention. “You okay?”
He pointed at my hand, and I sighed. “I fell today running. Some car nearly ran me over, and I had to dodge and weave to miss getting plowed over. The man didn’t even stop…this was the result.”
I held up my wrist that was scraped up one side and down the other. There wasn’t any visible blood anymore, but that was about all that I could say.
Tomorrow, it’d hurt like a bitch…and I was damn sure that I’d be wearing my gloves when I used the bleach.
“Are you sure you can work like that?” he asked, looking concerned.
I snorted. “Uh, yeah. I can work. I’ve had worse than this before and still managed it.”
My father had beat my ass when I was an impressionable teen because I’d refused to help him clean without compensation. Then, when he was done, he’d forced me to go clean anyway.
That day had been hell.
The scrapes on my arm? It was nothin’.
Rome frowned, and when he looked like he was about to ask more, I was thankful that his son called his name.
“Coming,” Rome called, then looked at me solemnly. “If you need anything, we’ll be working on our ABCs.”
Smiling at his words, I went to work, only minorly aware that my wrist was a little more sore than I’d first realized.
But I stuck it out, and I had nearly finished the entire house—sans the empty rooms and the living room because there was no way in hell I’d have time to tackle all ten of them today—when I saw Rome again.
This time, he was coming out of Matias’ room—which I had just cleaned before I started the hall bathroom—closing the door quietly behind him.
I smiled. “Is he asleep?”
Rome looked up and nodded, coming my way before he responded.
“The treatments take a lot out of him. I think he sleeps more than he’s awake nowadays,” he murmured.
I was scared to ask him if they were working or not.
I never got up the nerve to ask Tara, either.
I kept hoping that I’d see improvement in the little boy, but it’d been four months now that I’d been cleaning for them, and I hadn’t seen any sign that he was getting better.
And that just sucked so bad.
I wanted to walk in here one day to that little boy wrapping his arms around my waist and telling me that he was feeling better, instead of seeing him struggle to lift his little head off the couch.
Then again, at least he was on the couch this time and not alone on the bathroom floor.
I’d seen that, too.
Too many times.
Tara would help him there, and then she’d leave him.
Rome? Well, I doubted he even realized how much better he cared for Matias.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I murmured, looking at the closed door. “I’m almost done upstairs. I have the living room downstairs to go, and then I’m done—at least for today. I have another appointment this afternoon that I can’t miss, but if you want me to come back and finish all the bedrooms that I didn’t get to today, I’ll probably need to block off an entire day for you.”
Rome’s light blue eyes—an unusual color that never failed to captivate me, regardless of whether I saw them in person or in a picture—stared at me.
He looked like he was trying to take in everything that he could about me—see inside my soul.
I pulled back and started downstairs, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
I didn’t want him to know my secrets—they were dark and debilitating.
Even I didn’t examine them anymore.
To acknowledge them gave them power, and nobody would have that power over me ever again—not even me, through my memories.
“Is this all you do, clean houses?” he asked from behind me.
I paused with one foot on the stairs, and the other on the top landing, and gave him a look over my shoulder.
It was the ‘did you just say what I think you just said’ look.
And it wasn’t a nice one.
“Yes,” I answered tightly. “This is all I do.”
He winced.
“That’s not what I meant.” He blew out a breath. “I was…I was…”
The fact that he was tongue-tied had my ire calming almost immediately.
My ex, the second worst man in the world, had said that to me a lot when we’d been together.
Isadora, is this all that you want out of your life? He’d say. To clean up other peoples’ messes? You’re never going to get any money cleaning houses the way you do. Don’t you want to own a house? A car? Something nice one day?
“I was just trying to think about what I was going to do over the next couple of days,” he sounded sick to his stomach. “I…Tara is gone.”
Now that had me turning around to stare at him in astonishment.
“She’s gone?” I asked. “But…why?”
Rome swallowed. “Tara says that she couldn’t handle Ty-Ty’s illness anymore. That it hurt too much to see him so sick.”
It didn’t sound like he believed her excuses, and I wasn’t sure that I did either.
I’d lost the one and only baby that I’d ever had. She was stillborn, and to this day, years later, it still broke my heart. I just couldn’t understand how any woman could leave their child when that child was fighting for his life. I mean, one day would mean the world to me. If I just had one more day with my baby, my soul would be happy.
