money on me.
I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that it had more to do with Liv than it did with me, though. Why would he want to take care of me like that? Why did it matter to him if I had clothes for every occasion under the moon? He didn’t know me.
He still managed to buy me about half a closet full of clothes, despite my protestations.
When we returned to his condo, there were so many bags that it would take us two trips to unload the car and get it all upstairs. I didn’t know what I’d do with it all when I went to a shelter or if I was ever in a situation where I was living out of a car again. There wouldn’t be anywhere near enough room for all of it. Maybe I could give some of it to the other women in the shelters, but I didn’t know how many other women these clothes would fit. Maybe some younger girls, though. If not, I could always take the excess to Goodwill. But then I’d feel bad because I’d allowed Liam to spend all that money, and I was just giving it away. It presented me with quite a conundrum.
Liam hadn’t been willing to listen to any of my arguments about why he shouldn’t buy so much for me.
You’re not going to a shelter, he’d said. What car would you live out of now that your car is gone? You can just stay with me and Babs.
He’d made it sound almost like a foregone conclusion that I would stay.
I couldn’t do that. I didn’t have a job, and he didn’t owe me anything. I was the one in his debt, not the other way around. He’d saved me from sure death last night, he’d given me food and shelter for an evening, and now he was buying me clothes so I’d have more than just what I’d been wearing when he first met me. And then there was the fact that I couldn’t keep stealing his bed from him and he’d been adamant that he wasn’t going to let me sleep on the couch.
It just wouldn’t work, no matter how much he wanted to make it work. And if I did stay, how would I ever explain the situation to my brothers?
Yeah, so I got laid off because Helping Hands couldn’t afford to pay me anymore and lost the house because I couldn’t keep paying both your tuition and the mortgage and then the car burned up on the highway along with everything we owned. Oh, yeah, and I decided to move in with two men I didn’t know at all. It’s great! They’re buying me all sorts of gifts and everything.
I couldn’t make sense of it in my head, no matter how many different ways Liam tried to convince me it was for the best.
Babs was playing a video game in the living room when we came up with the first load of bags. He paused the game, set down his controller, and grinned. “Need help?” He leaped to his feet and took the bags from my arms, carrying them to Liam’s bedroom and tossing them on the bed.
“ Thanks,” I mumbled, a little dazed by how readily he’d offered assistance. I wasn’t used to having anyone drop everything to help me, outside of my family—and none of them were around. Not to mention I rarely let anyone see when I needed help. It was a really bad habit, and I was always trying to feel better about asking, but it wasn’t easy for me. I was far more at ease about giving help than receiving it. But right now, I had both Liam and Babs helping me in more ways than I could count.
Babs came with us when we went back for the rest. In the elevator on the way down, he turned to Liam. “Soupy and I helped Zee get that bed upstairs. We’ve got it all set up for you in the third bedroom.”
My jaw dropped. “Bed?” No one had said anything to me about bringing in another bed. They must have made those plans at practice and neglected to tell me anything about it.
“ Yeah, Zee and Dee are getting rid of a whole bedroom set so they can have a gym in one of the extra bedrooms,” Babs said like it should all make perfect sense to me even though I didn’t have any idea who Zee or Dee were. “Kally bought it from them.”
Liam winked at me as the elevator
I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that it had more to do with Liv than it did with me, though. Why would he want to take care of me like that? Why did it matter to him if I had clothes for every occasion under the moon? He didn’t know me.
He still managed to buy me about half a closet full of clothes, despite my protestations.
When we returned to his condo, there were so many bags that it would take us two trips to unload the car and get it all upstairs. I didn’t know what I’d do with it all when I went to a shelter or if I was ever in a situation where I was living out of a car again. There wouldn’t be anywhere near enough room for all of it. Maybe I could give some of it to the other women in the shelters, but I didn’t know how many other women these clothes would fit. Maybe some younger girls, though. If not, I could always take the excess to Goodwill. But then I’d feel bad because I’d allowed Liam to spend all that money, and I was just giving it away. It presented me with quite a conundrum.
Liam hadn’t been willing to listen to any of my arguments about why he shouldn’t buy so much for me.
You’re not going to a shelter, he’d said. What car would you live out of now that your car is gone? You can just stay with me and Babs.
He’d made it sound almost like a foregone conclusion that I would stay.
I couldn’t do that. I didn’t have a job, and he didn’t owe me anything. I was the one in his debt, not the other way around. He’d saved me from sure death last night, he’d given me food and shelter for an evening, and now he was buying me clothes so I’d have more than just what I’d been wearing when he first met me. And then there was the fact that I couldn’t keep stealing his bed from him and he’d been adamant that he wasn’t going to let me sleep on the couch.
It just wouldn’t work, no matter how much he wanted to make it work. And if I did stay, how would I ever explain the situation to my brothers?
Yeah, so I got laid off because Helping Hands couldn’t afford to pay me anymore and lost the house because I couldn’t keep paying both your tuition and the mortgage and then the car burned up on the highway along with everything we owned. Oh, yeah, and I decided to move in with two men I didn’t know at all. It’s great! They’re buying me all sorts of gifts and everything.
I couldn’t make sense of it in my head, no matter how many different ways Liam tried to convince me it was for the best.
Babs was playing a video game in the living room when we came up with the first load of bags. He paused the game, set down his controller, and grinned. “Need help?” He leaped to his feet and took the bags from my arms, carrying them to Liam’s bedroom and tossing them on the bed.
“ Thanks,” I mumbled, a little dazed by how readily he’d offered assistance. I wasn’t used to having anyone drop everything to help me, outside of my family—and none of them were around. Not to mention I rarely let anyone see when I needed help. It was a really bad habit, and I was always trying to feel better about asking, but it wasn’t easy for me. I was far more at ease about giving help than receiving it. But right now, I had both Liam and Babs helping me in more ways than I could count.
Babs came with us when we went back for the rest. In the elevator on the way down, he turned to Liam. “Soupy and I helped Zee get that bed upstairs. We’ve got it all set up for you in the third bedroom.”
My jaw dropped. “Bed?” No one had said anything to me about bringing in another bed. They must have made those plans at practice and neglected to tell me anything about it.
“ Yeah, Zee and Dee are getting rid of a whole bedroom set so they can have a gym in one of the extra bedrooms,” Babs said like it should all make perfect sense to me even though I didn’t have any idea who Zee or Dee were. “Kally bought it from them.”
Liam winked at me as the elevator
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