Too Far 01- Fallen Too Far

me. “Do you always stick your nose where it doesn’t belong?” he replied.
    I wanted to get mad at him. But I couldn’t. He was right. Who was I to point fingers? I didn’t know the guy.
    “Not normally, no. I’m sorry,” I said and hurried inside. I didn’t want to give him a chance to throw me out too. I needed that bed under the stairs for at least two weeks.
    I got busy picking up the empty glasses and bottles of beer. This place needed a cleaning and I could do that before I headed out to find a job. I just hoped he didn’t throw parties like this every night. If he did, I wouldn’t complain and who knows, after a few nights I might be able to sleep through anything.
    “You don’t have to do that. Henrietta will be here tomorrow.”
    I dropped the bottles I’d collected into the trash and then looked over at him. He was standing at the door again watching me.
    “I just thought I’d help out.”
    Rush smirked. “I already have a housekeeper. I’m not looking to hire another one if that is what you’re thinking.”
    I shook my head. “No. I know that. I was just trying to be helpful. You let me sleep in your house last night.”
Rush walked over and stood in front of the counter crossing his arms over his chest. “About that. We need to talk.”
    Oh, crap. Here it goes. One night was all I was getting.
    “Okay,” I replied.
    Rush frowned at me and I felt my heart rate increase. He wasn’t about to bestow happy news.
    “I don’t like your father. He’s a mooch. My mother always tends to find men like him. It’s her talent. But I’m thinking you may already know this about him. Which makes me curious, why did you come to him for help if you knew what he was like?”
    I’d like to tell him it was none of his business. Except the fact I’d needed his help made it his business. I couldn’t expect him to let me sleep in his house and not explain things to him. He deserved to know why he was helping me. I didn’t want him to think I was a mooch too.
    “My mother just passed away. She had cancer. Three years’ worth of treatments add up. The only thing we owned was the house my grandmother left us. I had to sell the house everything else to pay off all my mother’s medical bills. I haven’t seen my dad since he walked out on us five years ago. But he’s the only family I have left. I had no one else to ask for help. I need a place to stay until I can find a job and get a few paychecks. Then I’ll get my own place. I never intended to be around long. I knew my dad wouldn’t want me here.” I let out a hard laugh that I didn’t feel. “Although I never expected him to run off before I arrived.”
    Rush’s steady gaze was still firmly directed at me. This was information I would have rather no one know. I used to talk to Cain about how my dad’s abandonment had hurt. The loss of my sister and father had been hard on my mother and me. Then Cain had needed more and I couldn’t be who he needed. I had a sick mother to take care of. I’d let Cain go so he could date other girls and go have fun. I was just a weight around his neck. Our friendship had remained intact but I realized that the boy I once thought I’d loved had just been a childish emotion.
    “I’m sorry to hear about your mom,” Rush finally replied. “That’s got to be rough. You said she was sick for three years. So since you were sixteen?”
    I nodded, not sure what else to say. I didn’t want his pity. Just a place to sleep.
    “You’re planning on getting a job and a place of your own.” He wasn’t asking a question. He was working through what I had told him. So I didn’t reply.
    “The room under the stairs is yours for one month. You should be able to find a job and get enough money together to find an apartment. Destin isn’t too far from here and the cost of living is more affordable there. If our parents return before that time I expect your father will be able to help you out.”
    Letting out a sigh of relief I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Thank you.”
    Rush glanced back at the pantry that led to the room I was sleeping in. Then he looked back at me. “I’ve got some things to do. Good luck on the job hunt,” Rush replied. He shoved off from the counter and walked away.
    I had no fuel in my truck but I had a bed. I also had twenty dollars. I hurried to my room to get my purse and keys. I needed to find a job as quickly as possible.

Chapter Four

    There was a note stuck under the