Chapter Twenty

Sara I paced anxiously around the room, phone clutched in my hands.

“Sara…,” Noah said my name with a sigh.

I shot a quick look at him, but he didn’t tell me to sit down. The guilty expression was still there on his face. I didn’t suddenly hate him, though. I was madder at myself than him, or I would have kicked him out of my room instead of letting him spend the night. Although it had been the first time we’d spent in bed together without anything sexual happening, I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to appreciate it.

“Why isn’t she here yet?” I muttered. “She said she’d leave early, so she should have arrived already. Dammit, I’m skipping classes for this.” I turned to him and gave him a weak smile. “You’re a senior, you know. You could have just gone ahead.”

Noah shook his head as he stood up. He came over to me, tentatively raising his arms as if worried I would push him away. He’d been acting cautiously around me since yesterday, and I could have told him not to bother, but if I had to be honest with myself, there was a part of me that was irritated he hadn't just told me everything when he had the chance to.

Still, I walked right into his arms and hugged him tightly, burying my face in his chest.

“I can afford to miss a couple classes,” he murmured, hugging me back and soothing me by rubbing his hand up and down the length of my spine. “Besides, if things really don’t work out, I might have to push back a semester, anyway.”

I pursed my lips, glad he couldn’t see my face. Completing college was obviously something important to him, while there were some students in my year that wouldn’t mind taking some time off, and we’d just started. If things didn’t work out, I was going to find a way to talk him into accepting my offer. It wasn’t like before. I’d have him pay me back with interest if that was what it took. It might be odd with us dating, but I didn’t think there was anything wrong with helping him when I had the means.

My phone vibrated in my hands, and I went still in Noah’s arms. He quickly released me and took a step back. I checked my phone.

“Mom’s here,” I said briskly.

This was what I’d been waiting for. We left my room, and I insisted on Noah coming with me. I wasn’t going to lie to Mom about our relationship if she asked. But I needed to be there for my mom, and I needed Noah to be there for me.

She stood close to the gates, waiting. She looked different from the last time I saw her, less than two weeks ago. Her shoulders were hunched, arms crossed around her chest, and her face looked a little pale, with her hair dragged back into a low ponytail. She was dressed in dull colors, too, which she usually only did when she was in a really bad mood. After Dad’s funeral, she’d worn nothing but black for weeks, then shifted to dull colors. It wasn’t until a year later that I saw her try to put on lighter colors, so I was sensitive to this little detail, and it bothered me.

I’m so sorry, Mom, I thought.

I felt so damn guilty. While I was busy getting hot and bothered with Noah, Mom was getting conned out of her money by her new husband, a man she thought she was in love with. Now, he’d disappeared without a trace, leaving her with nothing but the house and a few hundred in her account.

Just how much did he need for his venture, anyway? Did he really need to take everything!

I felt a burst of anger that quickly died, then rushed over to her.

“Mom!”

She glanced up when I called out, blinking at me. Her blank expression didn’t change, even when she glanced at Noah coming close behind me. I threw my arms around her, and after a second, she wrapped her own around me as well.

“I’m all right,” she said gently. “Just in a bit of a shock.”

She pulled me away by the shoulders, a shaky smile on her lips. I frowned at her, before taking her hand and leading her to the nearest café. I glanced once behind me to make sure Noah was following. We found a place to sit down. Considering the time, it was pretty empty, and we chose a table in the corner. It didn’t take long before the tea we ordered was brought over. I sat beside Mom, while Noah sat across from me, fingers twitching agitatedly on the table top.

“Here you go, Mom,” I murmured, pushing the tea into her hands. “Drink some. It’ll calm your nerves.”

She took the cup between her hands and lifted it calmly for a sip, before setting it back down. I patted her back gently. She took in a shuddery breath.

“Are you really okay?” I murmured. “You really don’t look like it Mom.”

She sent me a smile, and it was less shaky than her first one.

“I am fine, Sara. It’s not the first time I’ve dealt with loss. I’ll be fine; it just takes time.”

I sighed, even as I started bouncing my leg in agitation. I didn’t want her to be this docile about it. The man hurt her! Lied to her, married her, and ran off with her money! Mom should be screaming her head off in anger, calling the police or whoever to help her find Greg and recover the funds.

“Mom, I am so sorry,” I mumbled in guilt. “While all this was happening, I was busy doing other things…”

Noah’s gaze met mine, and I could tell he understood what I felt. He took a deep breath, forced his hands to still, and turned to Mom.

“Ma’am, I feel even sorrier,” he said. “I’m part of the reason Dad needed money so badly. Maybe if I hadn’t demanded he pay me back the money I loaned him, he wouldn’t have tried something like this, because it’s not like my dad. He can be a real…jerk, but he’s not usually a conman.”

Mom looked at him curiously. “I’ve told you before to call me Tina, Noah. Even with… what happened with your father, you’re clearly close with my daughter? But what did you need the money for?”

He glanced at me before he met her gaze once more.

“I had funds saved up for college, and it’s my last year. Dad needed the money for something, and he borrowed it from me. It was summer, and I figured I had months to get the money back before I had to be back in school, but he gambled the funds away and didn’t let me know until the last minute. I’ve been doing some part-time work to get the money back, but it’s not easy, I’d have to push back graduation for a semester, or even a year…”

Mom hummed. “If that was the reason he took it, then I hope you get your college money back.”

Noah grimaced, clearly not happy with her words, and neither was I.

“Mom, I hope you’re not planning on letting it go just like that,” I said warningly.

She frowned at me. “But what exactly can I do? I can't find him. He hasn’t called me or picked up any of my calls. I have no idea where he could be.”

“He hasn’t tried to contact me either,” Noah added. “I’ll inform you as soon as he does, and I’ll return to you anything he sends me. Right now… I know he’s my dad, but he can't be trusted. I really… really do think you should take legal action against him. I tried to talk him out of it but he wouldn’t listen to me, and I didn’t know how to warn you.”

Mom took another sip of her tea before letting out another sigh. She gave a rueful smile as she met his gaze.

“You don’t have to worry, young man. I’m not blaming you for your father’s actions. But I’m afraid I can't even report this to the police because I gave the money to him willingly. I just changed my mind after the fact. I signed a lot of money over to him, and none of it was done under duress.”

I bit my lip. I was pretty sure she could still sue him, but she’d have to find him, and she’d need money for the lawyer. It wouldn’t exactly be cheap. How much money did he leave her with, if any? Suddenly, my heart seized when I imagined my mother being left without food and basic necessities because of this. I grew anxious.

“Don’t worry, Mom,” I said quickly. “I still have my trust money. I mean, you’ll have to wait for a while, but I can give all of it to you. I can just save up my monthly allowances, and I should have enough savings by then to stay afloat before I can graduate and find a job.”

Mom smiled again but didn’t say anything as she took another sip. We would have to keep worrying about what to do in the meantime. Hopefully, Greg could be tracked down, and the money could be retrieved, but I wasn’t holding out much hope.