This woman’s selflessness knows no bounds. I pull her into a hug and thank her. As we’re breaking apart, my mom comes walking over and introduces herself to Liz.
“Mom, this is Liz. She’s Bella’s mother.”
Liz looks at me bewildered. The last she heard I wanted nothing to do with our daughter or her.
“Oh, sweetie! It’s a pleasure to meet you. My son told me all about Bella. I’d love to meet her.”
“Of course. She’s at home with my friend Kayla right now, but I’m sure we can arrange something soon.”
My mom gives her a hug and excuses herself to speak to other people who are here to pay their respects. When she leaves, I look at Liz and give her a soft smile. “I know you just settled in at Bentley’s, but I would really like for you and Bella to come and stay with me.”
She looks dumbstruck for a second, but it quickly morphs into anger. She pulls me by my hand into a private room away from everyone else and closes the door behind us.
“What changed from the other day to today? You do remember telling me you wanted nothing to do with our daughter or me, right? And that was after you said you did. You are giving me whiplash, Cooper. You’ve changed your mind like five times. How do I know you won’t change your mind, again? Sorry, but Bella and I are just fine where we are. As soon as I find a job, we’ll move out. If you want to get to know your daughter, fine, I won’t stop you, but you can’t expect us to just move in with you after you’ve played ping-pong with my emotions. I already gave you one chance and you threw it out the window the second shit got rough.”
I know she’s right, but shit, I’ve lost enough time with them. I need to take a step back and take things slow, so she doesn’t freak out on me anymore.
“Okay, I understand,” I say, as I close the space between us.
Needing to touch her in some way, I run the back of my hand down her cheeks. She freezes, unsure of what my motives are, and I hate that I’ve created this awkwardness between. Leaning down, I kiss the side of her mouth and whisper into her ear, “For now, I understand. I get I have to earn your trust, and I will. And once I do, you’ll be in my bed, and in my arms, that’s a promise.” I leave her to think about everything I just said because I’m not playing around. I’m going to get my family back.
Now, I just need to get this damn funeral over with.
A few days after the funeral, my mom and I meet with the attorney who’s in charge of my dad’s will. The attorney lets me know I’ve inherited all the training centers, as well as his life insurance policy, his house, and cars. Of course he didn’t leave shit to my mom, but since I have more than enough money, I insist that she gets the money I make off the house when it sells. I make the decision to take the insurance money and put it away in an account for Bella. After what he did, she deserves the money. There’s enough that she’ll be able to go to any college of her choosing and have a nice nest egg when she decides to start a family or pursue whatever dream she wants.
After our meeting, I go to the gym to let everyone know I’m the new owner. I ask for everyone who works here to join me quickly in the office, and once it looks like most people are here, I begin informing everybody of the change in ownership. Thankfully everyone seems okay with it. Some of the guys give their condolences, but most of them know my dad was a prick, and instead congratulate me on the inheritance.
After they all file out, Kaden lets me know that right before my dad died, the physical therapist on staff quit to move across the country to be closer to family, and that sparks the perfect idea. I just need a little time to form a plan.
I show up to Bentley’s place around ten o’clock, hoping to talk to Kayla and Liz, and walk in like I always do without knocking. I have a key and I’ve never knocked before.
Bentley and Kayla are at each other’s throats arguing about something. They stop when they see me—Kayla looks pissed, while Bentley looks exhausted.
“What’s going on?”
Kayla is the first to respond. “Oh, you know, Bentley thought it would be okay to bring some whore around here last night, and when she went to leave after he was done with her, she walked out half-naked and Bella saw!”