"What do you mean?" he asked.
"All she wanted was the money. And Jason? He didn't want the house either."
"Butyoudid."
With an embarrassed laugh, I said, "Gee, how could you tell?"
At this, he looked almost ready to smile. "Call it a hunch."
"Anyway, my grandparents weren't what you'd call wealthy. But they werereallygood with money, and the house was completely paid off, which meant that when they died, there was no mortgage or anything. This meant there were no payments except for the taxes and the upkeep. So after the reading of my grandpa's will, I beg my mom – and no, not on my knees, in case you're wondering—"
"I wasn't."
Heat flooded my face. "Sorry. Bad joke."
"You weren't joking." Brody's voice softened. "We both know that. But that's alright. I get it."
Did he?I wasn't sure. Still, I continued. "The point is, I literallybegher to hang on to her half of the house, so I can buy it from her – and Jason's half, too, after I graduate from college."
Recalling my initial optimism, I explained, "You see, by this time, I've got only a couple of years left until college graduation, so it's not that awful long. But when I ask my mom for the favor, do you know what she tells me?"
"What?"
"She tells me that I should let it go." A bitter scoff escaped my lips. "As if the place means nothing. And besides, she tells me, she wantshermoney now,notin a couple of years. Andthen, when I push the issue, she claims she's doing me a favor by selling it."
"To Jason, you mean?"
If only.
I shook my head. "Actually, she and Jason werebothgoing to sell it. They had a realtor lined up and everything."
"So what happened?" Brody asked.
"So by then, I already know that my mom won't listen. But Jason, he's a little more reasonable."
"He can't be too reasonable," Brody said, "if he sold the place out from under you."
Well, there was that.
Still, I kept on going. "So I beg Jason to buy out my mom's half. I explain to him that it won't even be that hard, because healreadyowns half of the house on his own. So he'd just need a mortgage for the other half, and not even a big one, payment wise, because he's got plenty of equity, and…" My words trailed off as I remembered where this was going.
My storydidn'thave a happy ending.
Brody's gaze locked on mine. "And…?"
Oh, screw it."And besides, it won't beJasonmaking the payments."
Chapter 39
Brody
What the hell?
I knew what she was getting at. But the question had to be asked. "So whowouldbe making the payments?"
She winced. "You can't guess?"
Shit."You?"
