AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Even though she'd taken the settlement rather than spend more money on her lawyer to fight him on it, it still stuck in her craw. Colleen had been the one to stick with him during the grueling years of medical school and even more grueling residency. Years where she barely saw him other than to grab a quick lunch at the hospital cafeteria or to kiss him goodnight when he fell into bed, exhausted.
At the time, she'd accepted it. Long hours were necessary to get his career to the next level. She knew that while marriage to a surgeon would never be particularly easy, eventually not only would his hours assume some regularity, they would also be significantly more lucrative.
So yeah, it sucked that just as he was offered a position on the surgical staff at St. Vincent's Hospital, Gregory decided that he would be much happier spending his future with Angela Lopez, who worked at the hospital as an administrator.
"How is the house sale going?"
"Ugh, don't ask." The nicely refurbished three-bedroom, two-bath Colleen and Gregory had bought in the Heights neighborhood had everything going for it: a nice yard, walking distance to good schools, close to a park. A perfect home to raise the perfect family.
Angela had moved in less than a month after Colleen had moved out. The house had been put on the market as soon as the divorce was final six months ago, but so far it had just been sitting there.
A sweet little love nest for the newlyweds. She struggled not to gag.
She shut off the wave of revulsion. "I really should call my realtor. I've been so overwhelmed with everything going on, I haven't really even thought about it."
"Well, you probably should. We can use whatever cash we can get right now."
Chapter 4
The next day Colleen didn't have to work at the hospital. After a long run and a shower, she sat down to tackle a list of phone calls.
The first was to her realtor. "Hello! You've reached the voicemail of Ellen Baker..." As the message played, Colleen pictured Ellen, a woman in her mid-sixties, her carefully streaked blond hair styled into a bulletproof bob as she bared her perfectly capped teeth in a smile. No doubt wearing her signature red blazer, the same one she wore in the ads that graced every shopping cart in the Grand Avenue Albertson's in Billings.
Colleen left a quick message asking if there was any movement on the house and then braced herself for the next task at hand.
There were many things Colleen liked about working in the medical profession. Dealing with insurance companies and other billing issues was not one of them. And she was reminded of why, after several hours and several phone calls to her father's insurance company and various medical providers.
Later that evening she called Liam with the not great, but not entirely disastrous news. "What it boils down to, is if we can make initial payments of varying amounts, that will keep the bills from going to collections. After that, they'll put us on a monthly payment plan."
"So how much are we talking here?"
She told him.
"Fuck me!" Liam said.
Colleen silently echoed the sentiments. While between the two of them, she and Liam had enough to cover the initial payments, the monthly payments were not sustainable with what they were both currently earning.
"Fuck me," Liam said again. His heavy sigh echoed over the line. "I need a drink. Meet me at Last Chance."
She thought about the bar for a minute: its cheap beer, loud jukebox, and often crowded dance floor.
Not the vibe she was going for tonight.
"Nah. Let's go to Adele's. I need one of Molly's mojitos."
Fifteen minutes later, Colleen walked into Adele's Cafe and sat down next to her brother at the bar. Even though she'd been in several times since the place had been fully remodeled, she still wasn't quite used to all the changes.
Adele's had been opened by Marie Tanner, who had named it after her daughter, Adele, back in the fifties. Colleen and Liam had grown up coming to the diner to enjoy burgers, fries, and shakes. Even though Adele eventually took over for her mother, from what Colleen could tell neither the menu, nor the décor—black and white linoleum floors, zinc tabletops and red faux leather booths—had changed since the day the doors opened for business.
That was until two years ago, when Adele had brought Dylan Decker on as a business partner. With his investment, the restaurant had been completely reinvented. With its dark hardwood floors, sleek wooden dining tables, and a massive, hand carved wooden bar at the front, Adele's was now comfortably upscale and had a creative, locally sourced menu that matched the new sophisticated atmosphere.
She, like many others who had grown up coming to Adele's after school or after a Friday night football game, wasn't entirely at peace with all the changes. But the dining room full of locals and tourists alike, in addition to the nearly full bar, suggested they had paid off.
"Hey guys! Great to see you. What can I get you?"
Colleen smiled at the sincerely enthusiastic greeting from the beautiful, blond—not to mention visibly pregnant—woman working behind the bar. One thing that hadn't changed about Adele's was the friendly service. Molly Tanner—wait, it was Molly McManus now—along with her older sister Ellie Decker, were the third generation of Tanner women to help run the restaurant.
Colleen ordered a mojito while Liam asked for Jameson's on the rocks.
