“Why were you in the counselor’s office?”
Rae shrugged. “Does it matter?”
“It matters to me.”
“Well, maybe that’ll be our next conversation.”
I sighed. “You want me to talk, but you won’t talk?”
“The focus isn’t on me right now. We can put the focus on me after we’re done with this conversation. Okay?”
“You promise?”
She gazed into my eyes. “With all my heart.”
The look in her eye tugged at my gut. At my soul, really. How she still had care for me in her eyes, I’d never know. Rae was a mystery. Unlike any person I’d ever met in my life. And I had no idea how the fuck she still cared about me. I wanted to take her in my arms. I wanted to kiss those lips of hers. I wanted to taste her coffee on the tip of her tongue and erase any fear or pain or doubt from her mind.
I still care about you, too. Can you see it?
“Clint?”
I blinked. “Yeah. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. It’s fine. Just—traffic’s picking up. So we better cross the road now.”
Without thinking, I took her hand. We jogged across the intersection, and the heat of her skin against mine sent tingles up and down my spine. But once we touched down on the side of the road, I dropped her hand. I couldn't stand to hold it. I didn’t have a right to hold it.
Even though I wanted to thread our fingers together and lead her onward.
“What else is going on?”
Rae’s voice forced me to speak. “I mean, that’s really it. I got in contact with a lawyer. You know, that one I went to talk to after my accident?”
“What did he have to say?”
I shrugged. “He gave me some good advice. Apparently, many of the things in that house are mine, though I didn’t purchase them. He said something about ‘common use,’ or something like that. You know, the couches and fine china. Since we all used it in the house, it all belongs to us. Just like he can’t force me to replace it if I break it, he can’t sue me if I sell it.”
“So you’re thinking about getting money that way.”
“Not thinking
about it. Doing it. I put some things up for sale last night. Took pictures with my phone. That’s the reason I was at the coffee shop today. I was meeting various people with things that already sold.”
She looked over at me. “So you’ve got some money in your pocket now.”
“More than ‘some money.’ Let’s just say I’m itching to get back to the house so I can stash it away somewhere. It’s making me nervous to carry it around.”
She smiled. “I mean, I hate that you’re having to go to those kinds of lengths. But I’m glad it’s working out for you.”
“It sucks, but it’ll give me what I need to take my next steps.”
“How much are you hoping to get?”
“If I can sell everything I want to? Three hundred thousand.”
“Holy shit! Are you serious?”
I chuckled. “I don’t expect to sell all of it, though. That’s a lot of money in a small amount of time. I’d be fine with even a third of that.”