Falling For Nick Read Online Free Page A

lifted a can of cleanser from the box of supplies. "I've missed you. Things will be better now that you're home."
    "I hope so, Billy. I keep asking myself if I'm doing the right thing by staying." Nick glanced around the apartment. "I do know one thing; if I'm going to live here, the apartment needs to smell better than this." He moved into the kitchen. Dirty dishes and empty food containers littered the counters, filled the sink. "I see Mom's housekeeping skills stayed the same after I left."
    Billy smiled. "A clean house was never a priority for Maude Lombard." He went to the supplies and pulled out a box of garbage bags. "I say we bag everything up and put it in the dumpster out back."
    "Sounds good." Nick wandered through the living room. Several years' worth of framed school photos of himself and Billy were placed helter-skelter on the end table. Maude's large, cut-glass ashtray was filled with butts, in easy reach of the couch.
    It surprised him that his mother had not only purchased the school photos, but had kept them displayed. She'd never had much time for her sons. Her social life had always come first. The thought left a sour taste in his mouth. His fingers closed over a picture of himself standing next to his car - a photo Clea had taken. The '69 Mustang looked as it had the day he'd bought it. Faded paint, bad tires, a small dent in the left fender. The photo didn't match the car he'd come home to. Fully restored by Billy while Nick was in prison, the Mustang was in cherry condition, from the restored 302 under the hood to the six-coat paint job on the exterior.
    "Some change, huh?" Billy pointed at the picture.
    "Yeah." Nick set the photograph back on the table. "I'm going to pay you back every last penny you put into that car."
    "No way." Billy shook his head. "It's my gift to you. I owe you brother, and this is my way of repaying you. Besides, I got most of the stuff for free or at cost. I have connections at the garage." He winked, the gesture reminding Nick of how fun loving Billy could be.
    "It's too much, Billy."
    "You started the restoration; I finished it for you." Billy's grin softened into a sad smile. "I want you to take the car, no strings attached. Please, for me."
         "For now," Nick said, but he still intended to pay Billy back every cent. He understood his brother's need to make things right between them, but he didn't want Billy to feel like he owed him. He didn't. Wanting to change the subject, he said, "Let's take a look at our old room."
    Together they entered the room they used to share. The room smelled musty, old. Dust motes swam in the beam of light shining in-between the broken slats of the blinds. Their two beds were still there, the mattresses bare and depressing. Filthy orange and brown shag carpet covered the floor. The colors in the rug had always reminded Nick of a calico cat.
    "It's the same." Billy smiled at Nick. "We had some good times in here, remember?"
    Nick smiled back. "We did." But the bad times had far outweighed the good. Back at the doorway, he turned to look at the room, pitiful, barren, and dirty. They'd had nothing. He'd been so angry. He spun away, not wanting Billy to see his disgust for the childhood they'd shared.
    He turned to Billy. "Pass me one of those plastic bags."
    Each faded dishtowel, chipped plate, and moldy food container reminded Nick of his ugly childhood. As he added more trash to the bag, he felt like a traitor to his mother's memory. He tried not to think about her as they bagged up her life, but thoughts of Maude intruded. He remembered Christmases with no presents, his mother so drunk she couldn't stand up. He remembered days with no food in the fridge, nights with no heat. The memories hammered at him, opening wounds he thought long ago scabbed over.
    Together the brothers worked to rid the apartment of the life of Maude Lombard. For hours they removed garbage, hauled out the cigarette smoke infused furniture, cleaned the rugs, and