Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 59659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
I went to answer it but missed it by a second. Waiting for a moment to let her realize she got voicemail, I called her back. It rang three times before she answered. When she did, she sounded worried and upset, and I sat up in my seat in the car.
“Miss Brewer?” Amy asked.
“Amy, what’s going on?” I replied.
“Haven’t you heard?” she asked. There was a distinct note of panic in her voice. “Where are you? I thought you were coming in today. What should we do?”
“Slow down,” I said. “What do you mean what should you do? I am coming in. I just… I got held up. What haven’t I heard?”
“The storm,” she said. “The storm that’s coming for Murdock. They said we are in the danger zone, Melanie! Norma called and said she thinks we should shut down immediately. What should I do?”
“What storm?” I asked. “I haven’t been paying any attention. It’s gray out here but nothing crazy, and I’m only a couple miles from you.”
“A tornado,” she said. “A big one. They say it’s going to probably touch down right here in town!”
“Okay, Amy, keep it together,” I said, wiping my eyes with the backs of my hands. I didn’t have time to be sad or upset about Victor right now. My store needed me. My employees needed me.
“I’m trying,” Amy said, fear clearly gripping her voice.
“I know,” I said. “I’m on my way. I’ll be right there, okay? Just hang on five minutes.”
“Okay,” she said. “What should I do while I wait for you?”
“If you feel like you need to leave, leave. If you want to wait for me, wait. If there are customers, start getting them out of the store right now.”
“Okay,” she said. “Please hurry.”
“I am,” I said. “Be there in a minute.”
I hung up the phone and put it on the dock. There was no time to check my makeup in the mirror or put myself together. I had to go. I shoved the car into gear and pulled a U-turn, heading back toward the store, determined to do my job while I still could.
15
VICTOR
Iwatched Melanie drive away feeling a white-hot pit of anger in my stomach. How dare Sarah do this? How dare she ruin yet another part of my life? I turned to face her, and she was looking past me, also watching Melanie leave. When she slid her eyes over to me, she did an exaggerated shocked face and put her hand over her lips.
“Oops,” she said as sarcastically as possible. “Did I make your little slut feel bad?”
“How dare you?” I asked. “Nothing has happened between Melanie and me. Not that you have any right to know that. Not like I don’t know that you immediately slept with your yoga instructor after I moved out. Not like you didn’t bring all this on yourself. You have no rights. To anything.”
“I have rights. You spent our money…”
“My money,” I said. “Money you paid and signed paperwork for to buy me out of my own damned company. Money that went from a bank account with your name on it to a bank account with my name on it. Sure, both of us were listed as authorized users on each other’s accounts, but it was my account. And a judge would laugh you out of court the second you tried any of your ridiculous arguments.”
“My lawyer doesn’t think so,” she said, smirking.
“Your lawyer is a slimy piece of shit,” I replied. “And I look forward to raking him over the coals in open court if you bring this any further than you already have. The investment I made in Brewer’s Grocery is mine and mine alone. You can back the fuck off. And while you are at it, get the hell out of my house.”
“This isn’t over,” she said. “I think you set this purchase up while we were still technically married. And if I can prove it, then it’s half mine. I will have lawyers crawling so far up your ass they will be able to tell what you ate for lunch. I swear, Victor, I am going to take everything you have and leave you with nothing.”
“What did I do to deserve that?” I asked. “I treated you as well as I could. I put you on a pedestal. Then you were the one who said you were unhappy. I was wildly unhappy, but I was willing to stick by our marriage vows. This was all you.”
“I settled for you,” she said coldly. “I thought you could be better, and I settled for you. But you just couldn’t leave your stupid backward Texas life behind. You were always so stuck on them. So stuck in being a dumb-ass redneck.”
“Get out,” I said. “I don’t want to even hear your name unless it’s coming out of my lawyer’s mouth.”