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As I put my bag into the trunk, I pressed play.
“Hi Ruby, I was just calling to let you know that your contract has been rescinded. You will be paid for the training you completed, but they have decided to go a different direction with the show that is more family-friendly.”
A different direction with the show that is more family-friendly? This had to be because of the video. Or the headlines that claimed I was a drug addict or had mental health problems.
“Call me back, and we’ll talk about the next steps.”
Next steps? What next steps? I’d gone from being in a cast on Broadway to a cruise ship gig, and I hadn’t even been able to keep that job. What next steps could there possibly be?
After getting my car jumped this morning and having a drink and nachos last night, I had less than a hundred dollars in my bank account. I had no job. I had no place to live.
A few minutes ago, I’d been almost sad to leave, but now that I was stuck here, I felt like a caged animal. An elephant was sitting on it, and the walls were closing in on me. I knew the signs; I was about to have a full-fledged panic attack.
As I stared down at my phone, my first impulse was to call Kane. Oh fuck. Kane. I’d spent the night with Kane. I’d told him that I had a crush on him and that he was the only person I’d ever been able to masturbate to. I’d only done those things because I knew I was leaving town.
But now I wasn’t.
Was he going to think I was staying because of him?
Was he going to think I was some sort of stalker?
I needed to get out of town. There was no way I could stay here.
Remi was the only option I had. I could call and ask him to send me enough money to get out to California, but I wasn’t even sure Sally would make the trip. I could sell Sally and book a flight out to California. He’d offered to let me stay with him and Misty multiple times. But I didn’t want to intrude on him, and what was I going to do with no car, no money, and no job in California?
My phone lit up with a message. It was from Miss Dottie.
Miss Dottie: Don’t forget to stop by before you leave town.
I might not be leaving town, but I could definitely stop by. I turned the key, and nothing happened. When Jimmy had come to the Cow to jump my car, he told me to drive around for at least thirty minutes to charge the battery, which I’d done. But, apparently, it hadn’t worked. At this point, I’d be more shocked if it had.
14
KANE
“When one door closes, open another one…they’re doors.” ~ Miss Dottie
“So, does that mean I’m going to spend the night at Auntie Kenna’s?” Harper asked from the back seat as we drove to the senior center to pick up Grandad.
“Maybe.” I’d just gotten off the phone with Chief Reynolds. The overtime had been approved, and he needed me back on nights for the inter-department operation. “Or Auntie Kenna might spend the night at our house.”
Kenna had agreed to temporarily help me out until I could hire someone who could stay at the house. For the next week, at least, on the nights she had to work at the bar, her mom, Marcy, who was Tay and Harper’s aunt, said she would watch her. I’d put a few feelers out to agencies and would be interviewing potential live-in help next week.
It wasn’t as straightforward as hiring a nanny because it wasn’t just Harper who needed watching. I needed someone to be there in case Grandad had an emergency. Dr. Edwards assured me that Grandad would not need round-the-clock care at home. And I would be there during the day, so he could wake me up if he needed anything.
I hated the idea of a stranger living in my house, but I really didn’t have a choice.
“Did you talk to Mommy last night?” Harper changed the subject.
“Yeah.”
I still regretted answering the phone. If I had just let it go to voicemail, Tay would have been none the wiser about my overnight guest. Tay was the mother of my child and my best friend, but that didn’t mean I wanted her grilling me about my personal life—which I knew she would. That conversation had an ellipsis, not a period, at the end.
“Can we call her?” Harper bounced in her booster chair.
“We can try, but she might not pick up.” With the time difference, there was a very good possibility that she was asleep.
The phone rang twice before Tay answered. Her voice sounded a little groggy. “Hey Casanova, how did it go with?—”
