He Played Poor for Seven Years to Test My Love

Margot's POV

After five years of mopping floors at Harrington Tower, I finally had enough saved for my son Theo's heart surgery.

I got off work early that day, folded my new paycheck in half twice, and tucked it into my inside pocket. I practically ran the whole way to the hospital. I wanted my husband, Beckett Reid, to be the first to know.

The door to the family lounge wasn't shut all the way, and I could hear the hospital director inside.

"Mr. Reid, Ms. Hale says she'll have the rest of the money this week. Do you still want us to keep the medical records going?"

Keep the records going? I held on to the doorframe. For a second, it didn't make sense.

Beckett was leaning back on the couch, completely relaxed. "No, you can stop. Thanks for playing along all this time. I'll sign off on the pediatric wing donation soon. She's had a rough few years. Last month her back was so bad she could barely stand up straight, and she wouldn't even buy herself a pain patch."

My best friend Blair was sitting next to him, her voice all sweet and gentle. "Don't go soft on me yet. A guy like you has to find out if she's in it for you or for your money. Besides, Theo needs a little more time to adjust."

Theo was curled up against her, pouting. "She smells like bleach all the time. It's so gross. I want Blair to be my mom."

Beckett looked at the two of them snuggled together and didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Fine. Six more months."

I took the silver bracelet with Theo's name engraved on it out of my pocket and dropped it in the trash can in the hallway. I'd skipped lunch for two months to pay for it, and I'd stood at a jewelry counter at the mall for half an hour before I could bring myself to buy it.

Six more months? Don't bother.

Five years of night shifts. I'd just chalk it up to an expensive lesson. From now on, he could go be rich, and Theo could go be his precious little boy. None of it had anything to do with me anymore.

Before I could figure out how to walk away, my phone rang.

"Hi, is this Ms. Hale? This is the hospital billing office. There's still fifty thousand dollars outstanding on Theo's surgery bill. We need you to take care of it as soon as possible."

"Okay."

There was a pause. She probably hadn't expected me to agree that fast. "Wednesday at the latest. The surgery's already on the schedule and the doctors are ready to go. We really can't push it back again."

I leaned against the cold hallway wall and stared at the check in my hand.

Before, whenever I got one of these calls, I'd force a smile and beg for a few more days. I'd tell them I was picking up extra shifts, that I'd have it next month for sure. I'd been saying the same lines for five years. They came out on autopilot.

Today I couldn't get a single word out.

The records were fake. The bills were fake. So what about the heart the doctor kept saying could give out any minute? How much of that was real?

This whole thing was a setup to test me. Why should I be the one paying for it?

I looked down at my crooked signature on the check, and all of a sudden the whole thing felt like a joke.

The lounge door opened.

"Margot?" Beckett froze in the doorway. Something crossed his face for a second, and his eyes darted to the hallway behind me. "What are you doing here this late?"

"I got off early. I wanted to see Theo."

He pulled himself together fast and tucked a windblown strand of hair behind my ear. "Text me next time so I can come down and get you. It's late. You shouldn't be walking around by yourself at night."

I nodded and went along with it, like I always did.

What he didn't know was that there wouldn't be a next time.

I followed him toward Theo's room. On the way over, I'd been trying to decide which of my son's cheeks to kiss first. Now I just felt strangely calm.

Theo's room was at the end of the hall. I could hear laughing through the door.

He was sitting cross-legged on the bed while Blair held up her phone and filmed a video with him. They pressed their heads together and made faces at the camera. When they were done, Blair wiped the powdered sugar off the tip of his nose without even thinking about it, like she'd done it a hundred times.

The second the door opened, the laughing stopped.

Theo's smile slowly fell. "What's she doing here?" he muttered.

Before, I would've rushed over and pulled him into my arms. Today my feet stayed planted in the doorway.

He'd never liked talking to me, not since he was a baby. I always figured the illness wore him out. So I grabbed every night shift I could get. I mopped six whole floors in a single night, my knees black and blue, and never let myself take a break. I just wanted to get the money together one day sooner.

Turns out he wasn't too tired. He just didn't want to.

All those nights I gritted my teeth and pushed through? To him, it was probably just that smelly woman leaving the house again.

When I didn't come any closer, Theo looked relieved. He was only six. Who he liked and who he didn't, it was all right there on his face.

I hiked my frayed canvas bag up on my shoulder and acted like I hadn't noticed. But I couldn't keep the smile up much longer. My mouth went stiff, like it had frozen in place.

"Hey, Theo. Mommy's here to see you."

"No!" He buried his face in Blair's chest. "You stink."

Blair ran her fingers through his hair and gave me an apologetic smile. There was nothing apologetic in her eyes.

"He's just a kid, don't take it personally. He's been talking about you nonstop the past few days. He's just... a little shy around you right now."