Page 37 of Just Like the Brontë Sisters

Mitch came out from the bedroom dressed for work. He’d gotten a job as a bartender and his shift was about to start. “Can’t you front the money for another ad?” he asked them both. Magda’s place was small so there was no point in pretending he hadn’t heard their conversation.

“That’s up to Jo Beth,” Magda said. “She’s the one with money to invest.”

Jo Beth bit her lip and turned her head toward the window. Dusk was falling. How she wished for a walk outside.

“Babe, we’re not even paying rent,” Mitch said. “Don’t you think you could swing more for advertising?”

Mitch and Magda both seemed to think that Jo Beth was rich. Maybe she was, but that didn’t make her Bill Gates. Jo Beth had always believed that her investment-made-wealth could disappear as easily as it had appeared, and spending any of it felt like playing with Monopoly money. Were Mitch and Magda just after her bank account?

“It’s okay, Mitch. Jo Beth has already invested so much. I don’t want her to do anything she doesn’t feel comfortable with, especially with the baby coming.” Magda ran her fingers through the strands of her long dark hair, which was tied back. Jo Beth expected that Magda had started the day with a neat bun, but as the hours passed, tendrils escaped, and now her hair was down as much as it was up.

Did Mitch find that sexy?

“I’m starving,” Magda said. “What about you?”

“I’m trying not to eat too much,” Jo Beth said. “I can’t exercise and I’m scared I’ll get big as a house.”

“Not a chance,” Magda replied, scooting her skinny butt into the kitchen.

Did Mitch just give her a second glance as she skipped by him? When Magda opened the refrigerator, leaned down, and inspected its contents, was he inspecting her contents in turn? Magda shut the refrigerator door and shook her head. “We have no food. How about I run out and pick something up? I’m really hungry for some empanadas.”

“Sounds great.” Mitch reached into his pocket, took out his wallet, and handed her some cash. This was annoying on more than one level. First, Jo Beth had given him that money, but now he got to seem generous by giving it to Magda. Second, Mitch was on his way out and wouldn’t even be eating the food, so why was he deciding what they’d eat? Third, Jo Beth was gaining weight because she was pregnant and eating was the only part of her day that offered variety. She looked forward to dinner all day long, self-control was super hard, and the last thing she needed was more temptation.

But she couldn’t avoid temptation, not unless she could avoid Mitch and Magda as well. Temptation was in their skin and it radiated out. It was a gas that poisoned Jo Beth’s mind, making it futile to resist the dark thoughts that seeped into her brain. Mitch and Magda were sleeping together. Mitch and Magda were only after Jo Beth’s money. Next thing she knew, Mitch and Magda would try to take her baby away.

No, that would never happen. Mitch and Magda would have to kill her first.