But this was Jake. If he wanted to know what was going on, then the least she could do was tell him. She owed him that much.
“I owe over a hundred thousand dollars on a second mortgage and back taxes. The bank is going to foreclose in forty-five days if I don’t come up with the money. But the good news is Lauren feels like, with some TLC and minor repairs, I should be able to sell it for at least that much.” She tried to sum up the situation as succinctly as possible.
“You said Adeline passed nine months ago. Why did you wait so long to take care of this?”
Tessa knew that it was a fair question. She would have asked the same thing if she were in Jake’s shoes. Still, that didn’t change the fact that it really pissed her off. He had no clue what she had been through the last nine months. Or nine years for that matter.
But she’d decided to tell Jake what he wanted to know. “I just found out about the house three days ago. I was trying to get a loan to open up a studio in Mission Beach and was denied for bad credit. When I looked into it, I found out about the will and the house. Then I found out how much money I owed a little earlier today, when I met with Lauren to discuss the house.”
His facial expression didn’t change as he asked, “So what’s your plan?”
“Well, I was still formulating one when I passed out cold, but so far it looks like I will fix up the house and sell it. I don’t really see any other options.”
“So you can buy your studio?”
“So I can get out of the mountain of debt I’ve just found myself in and try to salvage my credit score,” Tessa clarified.
“And buy your studio,” Jake repeated coldly.
Okay, obviously Tessa wasn’t one of Jake’s favorite people, and it wasn’t like she’d known him as an adult. But it still surprised her that he was being so…unfeeling. She had just lost her grandma. Jake knew more than anyone how much she had meant to Tessa. She would have thought that he would find it in his heart to be a just a little sympathetic towards her.
Oh well. She’d gotten by without his caring for the first sixteen years of her life and for the last thirteen. She didn’t need it now. “First I need to take care of the house. Once that’s done, I’ll figure out my next move.”
As soon as the word move came out of Tessa’s mouth, Jake’s face flinched, but he quickly recovered and was wearing his newly favored mask of neutrality before she could blink. His big brown eyes, the ones she used to lose herself in, stared at her blankly.
“So you’re staying in town while you fix it up?”
His expression might be unreadable but he sure didn’t sound too happy about that scenario. But it’s not like she had a lot of options. It wasn’t like she could commute from San Diego every day to work on the house. Even though she was pretty sure he wouldn’t like her answer and would not be throwing her a welcome home party anytime soon, she confirmed, “Yep.”
“Where?”
Seriously. “Sue Ann’s. Until I get the house to the point where it’s habitable.”
Jake shook his head. “You can stay here.”
“What?!” Tessa’s raised voice caused Lucky to lift his sleepy head and bark. She began petting him behind his ears and he lay right back down and closed his eyes. Slicing her gaze back to Jake, Tessa searched his eyes to try and find some clue as to what could possibly have motivated him to say something so outrageous.
“It makes the most sense. I’m not moved in yet and it’s right next door to Adeline’s. That way you can get done what you need to do and get back to your life.”
Jake’s explanation did nothing in the way of clearing up Tessa’s confusion. First of all, Sue Ann’s was only about a three-minute drive away. So she didn’t really think that the six-minute—round trip!—commute had anything to do with his offer. Then the way he’d said “get back to your life” with more than a hint of disdain told her that he still resented the fact that she’d left and was going to be leaving again, so why would he want her staying in his vacant house? Which begged another question.
“Why haven’t you moved in?”
Jake didn’t reply. Instead, his body tensed and he leaned forward on the couch, resting his elbows on his knees. Dropping his head in his hands, he raked his fingers through his thick brown hair and sighed loudly.
It always broke Tessa’s heart to see Jake upset. He was always so happy, the life of the party, always wearing a smile on his face. So any time he looked angry, hurt, upset, or confused, it seemed magnified to her since it was in such complete opposition to his normal state. She would do anything to put the smile back on his face.