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She was nice, but adamant, and I didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot with somebody who worked so closely with Jett.
As she opened the suitcase, I snatched up my underwear. “Can I at least put away my undies?” I asked.
I didn’t have anything particularly sexy, but it just seemed all wrong to let somebody else handle my lingerie.
“Of course. You can help all you want, and let me know where you want your things,” she said cheerfully.
“Honestly, I really don’t know,” I confided. “I’ve never been here before.”
“It’s a lovely home,” she shared as she hung the items Jett had bought for me, most of which I hadn’t even worn. “I think you’ll be comfortable here.”
How in the world could I not be comfortable in a multimillion dollar home like Jett’s? “I’m sure I will,” I answered. “How long have you worked for Jett?”
“Been with him for the last five years,” Shirley answered as she handed me the hung-up clothes to put in the closet when I stepped forward. “Like you, I don’t think he wanted anybody to touch his underwear, either, but he finally got too busy to do everything himself.”
A laugh escaped from my mouth. Shirley was matter-of-fact and professional, and I liked her rather dry sense of humor. “He’s a busy guy. He needs somebody to put his clothes away, I suppose,” I told her.
“Best boss I’ve ever had, and I’ve had quite a few. All three of the Lawson boys are good people.”
I smirked because I wasn’t sure how Jett would react to being called a boy.
“So you knew him before he was injured?” I was curious how much Jett’s accident had changed him. “What was he like before it happened?”
Shirley was storing the suitcases in another closet as she answered, “He was always the most sensitive brother, and his personality is still the same. But his spirit seemed to be broken after his fiancée tossed him aside. That one was never going to make him happy. And he’s lucky she left him, but it hurt to watch a man as gravely injured as Mr. Lawson have to take another blow after the accident. His spirit had taken enough of a beating.”
“How long did it take him to get his spirit back?” I questioned.
“I’m not sure that he really did,” she said thoughtfully. “Oh, I have no doubt he realizes that he made a lucky escape, and he wouldn’t get near the fiancée who hurt him again, but he’s…changed. He doesn’t laugh much anymore, and she shattered some of his confidence.”
“Unless it has to do with his computer skills,” I corrected. “He’s still pretty cocky about those.”
Shirley chuckled as she walked toward the door. “He has a right to be. Have a good night, Ruby. I’m sure we’ll run into each other again soon.”
“Thank you, Shirley,” I called out as she left the room.
I sat down on the bed, thinking.
Since I hadn’t known Jett before his accident, I had no way of knowing if Jett had lost something he couldn’t regain.
His confidence?
His self-worth?
Since I’d never had much of those things myself, I probably wasn’t the best person to help him get them back.
But because Jett deserved to be happy, I was willing to give it my best shot.
Ruby
All I want is to look nice.
I lamented over this simple fact the following day because I knew Jett was taking me out to a waterfront restaurant, and I really didn’t want to wear jeans.
Seattle was Jett’s city, and he obviously knew a lot of people here. The last thing I wanted was to run into somebody influential with Jett while I still looked like a homeless woman.
Yeah, I didn’t smell bad now, and my body and clothes were clean, but I wasn’t the type of woman who would normally be seen with a billionaire.
Not that I was putting myself down, because I was learning how not to feel inferior to people who had more money than I did—which had been pretty much everybody before I’d learned about my inheritance.
But sometimes, I just wanted to feel normal. I wanted to look good just for myself. Okay, and maybe for Jett.
Because of my sessions with Annette, I was starting to believe that I was worthy of self-care and doing things just because I wanted to do them.