Page 10 of Ashes of Us

Danica left Alex's office feeling more confused than she ever had before.

She agreed to stay on until they finished the audits, mainly because that was already her original plan.

Her in-laws wouldn't be moving into the senior's community until November first, which would have been around the time of the last audit in Pheonix clued up anyway, but Alex's warning about the inheritance was weighing heavily on her mind.

Jasper would be incredibly insulted if she asked him to sign a postnupt, but at the same time, he was truly terrible with money and knowing there was five hundred thousand sitting in a bank account would send him into a frenzy of planning what he was going to upgrade and buy.

She knew she was a little petty about her other feelings, but there was a part of her that didn't want to share Alexander's money with him because he hated the West's and her relationship with them.

In her mind, he didn't deserve to benefit from their money, while she knew he would think he deserved it as a reward for tolerating her relationship with them.

As she worked steadily through her to-do list for the day, it stayed in the back of her mind and by the time the day was over, she was seriously considering hiding something from her husband for the first time ever.

She knew she wouldn't be able to hide it forever, but she needed more time to figure out what she was going to do.

She was shutting down her computer when an idea struck her, and she grabbed the cheque and slowly made her way to Alex's office.

His door was shut, and after a moment's hesitation, she knocked.

There was no response for a moment, and she wondered if she had missed him, but then the door opened, and Marcy walked out, looking immensely pleased with herself.

She didn't greet Danica; she just walked by, making an exaggerated sway of her hips as she went.

Danica rolled her eyes. She had stepped entirely back from Marcy, only speaking to her about work and often leaving the room when she came in if she was hanging out with Nigel or the other workers in the lunchroom.

Nigel told her Marcy thought she was jealous of her relationship with Alex, but Danica didn't give damn about how many hours she spent on her knees in Alex's office with him, she quite simply didn't trust her.

She walked in, keeping a neutral expression as she watched Alex straighten up a few things on his desk.

He didn't look embarrassed or ashamed of anything, which, if there were actually something going on, she would have thought he would, considering what he accused her and his father of.

He just raised his eyebrow curiously when he noticed the envelope in her hand.

“I need a small favour.” Danica closed the door behind her and faced him, chewing her lip nervously.

He looked surprised but gestured to the chair across from him.

When she was seated, she laid the cheque on his desk and placed both hands on it.

“And before I start, I want to preface this with I adore my husband, he is truly wonderful and supportive in many ways, however...” She trailed off and tucked her hair behind her ear as she tried to figure out a way to explain without making Jasper sound like a terrible person.

“He is really, really bad with money. Like he's often broke before his next payday, both because he spends without thinking and also loans money out with any expectation of repayment.” She looked down at his desk, feeling terrible that she was saying this at all and feeling like a horrible wife for what she was about to do.

“Whenever we get a large amount of money, like when we sell a car we've rebuilt, we split it and don't police each other's spending.

I've seen him go through ten grand in a matter of weeks.” She played with the envelope, feeling like she was about to throw up as guilt overwhelmed her.

“I need you to put this in a trust for me and set it up so I receive small monthly amounts.” She paused, and when she continued, her voice was almost a whisper.

“And I need you to make it seem like this is what your father wanted done.” She looked up at him and swallowed.

“Otherwise, he will spend it all by Christmas.”

Alex was quiet for a moment, studying her almost sadly, then he nodded.

“I can do that for you, but you do realize that the will is public record, and he'll be able to look it up.” Danica felt her heart sink.

She hadn't known that, but she also really doubted Jasper knew that.

“Dani, I understand why you want me to do this, and I'm not judging you, but I really think you need to be at least mostly honest with him.”

“Mostly honest?” Danica let out a small, dry laugh, wondering how she was supposed to do that. “How am I supposed to be 'mostly honest?”

“By telling him you inherited the money, and I had a financial advisor here when I gave you the cheque.

He advised you to put it in a trust where it will be invested, you will receive interest and returns for the investments, and you're putting it aside for your retirement.” He smiled at her.

“It's done and locked in. If he gets mad about it, I have no problem taking the fall for you.”

“Really?” Danica felt a lot better about that advice, but she had to admit she was suspicious of his motives. She hadn't actually expected him to say yes to her original request; she had been more interested in his reaction to help her figure out if she was really as horrible as she felt.

“Yeah, of course.” He nodded. “You agreed to stay on until we're done the audits, despite clearly disliking working for me. I don't mind returning the favour.” He glanced at the clock and held out his hand. “I can hold onto that until you've decided how you want to handle it.”

After a moment's hesitation, Danica passed him the cheque.

Other than leaving it in her office, she had no where she could hide it from Jasper.

“Thanks.” She stood up as he nodded, watching as he took it and locked it in the small safe that was disguised as a side table next to the couch.

Taking a deep breath, she headed to the door. “Have a good weekend.”

“You too.”

------------------

When Danica got home, she was surprised to see Jasper's car wasn't in the driveway and called to find out where he was.

When he answered, she could hear a lot of noise in the background, and he explained that his cousin and best friend, Jimmy, had managed to score seats to the Celtics playoff game for them.

“A text would have been nice,” Danica told him, a little annoyed that he hadn’t told her he was going or even left a note.

“Aw, I'm sorry, Gorgeous. It was a playoff game, and I was excited.” He at least sounded sorry about his gaffe. ”You know I didn't mean to hide it.”

Danica knew he didn't mean to hide it, but when he was excited or focused on something, he forgot everything else existed. “It's fine.” She shook her head as she dropped onto the couch. “I would have tried to make plans with Emilia if I knew you weren't going to be home, that's all.”

“ It's not that late.” He pointed out. ”Give her a call. I gotta go, Babe, the game is about to start. Don't wait up, Love you!”

“I love you.” Danica had to chuckle at the absolute excitement in his voice. He was like an overgrown child when it came to sports. “Be safe.”

“Always.” He promised and then hung up.

Danica debated calling Emilia, but her best friend needed at least a day to two days' notice to make plans so she could coordinate with her husband for childcare for their three kids, one of which was special needs.

Deciding to make the most out of having the house to herself, something that rarely happened since Jasper was a homebody for the most part, she made a quick phone call and managed to get in for a waxing.

She was heading to New York on Monday for the first of the audits and didn't want to shave while she was gone.

When she returned home, she filled the bathtub, put on a face mask and relaxed in the hot water until she was pruny.

When she got out, she slathered herself in lotion, grabbed a bag of chips and vodka cooler and curled up on the couch with her fuzzy blanket to watch a movie.

She must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew, Jasper was shaking her awake, and she wrinkled her nose when she smelled the beer on his breath.

Opening her eyes, she saw her very drunk husband standing over her, swaying slightly.

“Whatcha doin' down here?” Danica groaned and sat up, rubbing her neck.

“I fell asleep watching a movie,” she yawned. “What time is it?” She reached for her phone and saw it was after three. “Are you just getting home?” The game should have ended by midnight, and while she didn't expect him home right away, it was weird that he was getting home so late.

“Went to the club.” He stumbled toward the stairs, looking a bit green around the gills. “Afterparty. We won.”

“Right.” Danica stayed on the couch and watched him trip his way up.

He didn't drink to this point very often, but she didn't like being around him when he did.

He wasn't a jolly, happy drunk, and usually would try to pick fights with her over stupid things, like her taking up space in the bed.

When he was out of sight, she lay back down on the couch and made herself comfortable.

On a whim, she did something she had never done before, despite having access to it, and opened his banking app on her phone to check his account.

Sure enough, he had pretty much emptied it, and she could see several transactions that were obviously him paying for rounds at the club.

Shaking her head, she closed it and lay staring at the ceiling until the sun came up.

She couldn't say anything to him about it unless he asked her for money, as per their rules regarding their individual finances.

While his generosity was one of the things that made her fall in love with him, she quickly realized he was stupidly generous and didn't always realize people were taking advantage of him.

Danica got up and dressed quietly as Jasper snored loudly in bed.

She went to the early morning Total Body Workout at the nearby YMCA and then followed it with the Mindful Movement and Meditation class they offered on Saturdays, with the hope that it would help her make a decision regarding the inheritance.

Well, really, she knew what her decision was; she was trying to figure out how to tell him.

She didn't want to start a fight, and she wasn't sure how he would react at all.

Money was a touchy subject with him, and if she didn't handle it just right, he would bring his parents into the argument, which could go in her favour or his, depending on what he told them.

If he made it seem like she was trying to be greedy with her money, they would take his side.

But if he told them what she was planning to say to him, that it was being put away for their retirement, they would take her side.

The problem was that they would believe him and only him.

It was well past noon, and she was home and in the garage working on the Charger when Jasper finally got out of bed and came to find her.

He came up behind where she was bent over the engine block and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Sorry for last night,” He mumbled, pressing his forehead between her shoulder blades.

“I should have done a better job of pacing myself.”

Danica turned around and hugged him. “It's not like you do it very often.” She pushed his hair back out of his eyes with a smile. “You need a haircut.”

“Yeah, I have an appointment with Jerry at four.” He nodded as he dipped his head and kissed her bare shoulder. “Have I ever told you how hot it is to come out here and see my gorgeous wife working on an engine in just a tank top and tight jeans?”

“You have, in fact, mentioned that a time or two dozen.” She smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Usually when you think I'm mad at you.”

“Are you?” He nuzzled his nose against hers. “I didn't kick you out of bed, did I?”

“No,” Danica shook her head. “Mostly because I just stayed on the couch, though.” She paused and then gave him a quick kiss. “We do need to talk about something, though.”