Found A Homeless Billionaire Husband for Christmas – Episode 08
“Is that my son-in-law? Let me talk to him.” Victoria’s mother sounded eager. Victoria was still trying to collect her thoughts while Simon stood nearby in his towel, making the introduction much harder to manage than it should have been.
“Victoria, can you hear me?” The repeated question forced her attention back to the phone. She answered quickly, aware that she had already left too much unexplained silence.
“Yeah. Hey, Mom.” She sounded flustered even to herself. There was no useful explanation she wanted to offer for why a simple call about coming home had become so distracting.
They would talk back in Texas, she promised. She would see her mother soon. Then she ended the call before another cheerful demand could keep her trapped between the phone and Simon.
“Was that your mom?” he asked. Victoria nodded. The man she had only just brought into her home was already someone her mother expected to greet as family.
Simon worried that he had made a terrible first impression. His concern softened her embarrassment. He seemed to take meeting her mother seriously, despite having had so little opportunity to prepare for any of this.
He had no clean clothes, he explained. That problem, at least, was something Victoria could try to solve. Finding him something to wear was easier than explaining why she had been staring.
“Let me try to find you something.” She searched what she had available. The options were poor, but she could not simply leave him standing there indefinitely.
She returned with something pink. An apology came with the clothing; it was hardly what she would have chosen for him if she had a choice. She waited for his reaction.
“I actually think pink’s my color.” Simon took the offering with good humor. His willingness made it easier for her to look at him and speak without feeling quite so awkward.
She explained that she had thrown Carl’s clothes away after he moved out. There were no men’s clothes left to borrow. Even now, trying to help Simon meant mentioning someone she wanted to stop thinking about.
“It’s fine. Honestly.” Simon did not complain or make her feel she had failed him. He seemed content with the solution she had managed to find.
He did not mind wearing it. It made him feel closer to her, he said. Victoria had no ready answer for the warmth in the remark, and the practical errand acquired a different kind of significance.
She moved on to where he would sleep. He would have to stay here tonight, in the place she indicated. It was another ordinary detail of sharing her home that felt newly unfamiliar.
“No problem.” Simon accepted without making it difficult. His easy cooperation should have made the whole arrangement feel simpler. Instead, she was increasingly conscious of the person agreeing to it.
Then he remembered something. “I almost forgot.” He had her ring. Victoria’s attention fell to what he was offering, and the ease between them faded.
It was the ring from Carl. Seeing it brought back his dismissal of their engagement, the way he had made something she treasured sound cheap and foolish. The memory had lost none of its force.
They were over, he had said. Simon held out the recovered ring with a kindness that could not change what it represented. Victoria had been trying to leave that moment behind, and here it was in front of her again.