Page 40 of Never Your Valentine

“This has everything to do with you. Look at me. I’m pretty. I’m funny. I’m talented. I have assets. I have great assets.” Annabelle points to the building and then to herself. She swoops a hand to indicate her whole body. “You can’t have this, so you don’t want anyone else to have it, either. The nerve of you.”

She tries to push past me. I don’t move.

“Get out of my way.”

“You’re not going to chase that guy, are you?” I ask. “Please tell me you’re better than someone who chases after Luther Detro.”

“Right, because chasing is bad.”

“It is.”

Annabelle scans my face as if she’s looking for something that isn’t there. She gives up a moment later with a sigh so heavy it sounds like it comes from the center of the earth. Her anger is gone, but so is her spark. It’s like someone snapped off a light. “I’m going upstairs,” she says. “I’m going to wash my face and put on sweatpants and have another evening all by myself in my extremely loud apartment.”

“No clients tonight,” I tell her. “I gave the demented squirrels the night off.”

I wait for the comeback, but all I get is another sigh and a whispered, “Thank goodness.”

“I’m sorry about your date.” I’m not sorry about Luther. Not by a longshot. But I’m sorry I ruined her day.

“Thanks, I guess.” She looks more than disappointed. She looks sad.

“Do…do you want me to…um…take you out for coffee?”

Annabelle laughs at that. Straight-up laughs in my face. “Do you actually think you’re competing with another man? And winning?”

“No, but The Break’s closed and I just…” Just what? What am I doing?

“It’s not a choice between you and another guy,” Annabelle says. Her sass has come roaring back. I don’t like being on the receiving end of it, but I’m glad to see it.

Annabelle rocks back on her heels and looks up at me. “Tonight, the choice I’m making is between you and my peace. Since the rock concert of doom isn’t happening, I’m going to enjoy my little sliver of tranquility while I have it. Good night, Grant.”

I step aside so she can go back to the building. The door whispers shut behind her, followed by the slowly-fading thump of twenty-three steps as she goes home alone.

I stand in the cold for a long, stupid moment before following her through the door, also going home. Alone.

Chapter 15

Annabelle

The next morning, I’m still thinking about the way Grant scared Luther Detro away before we could exchange two words.

It turns out that Grant was absolutely right. I checked with Lia and June, and they both told me that Luther Detro is bad news. But Grant was also absolutely wrong, because he should have let me find that out for myself. I’m grown. I can have coffee with a man and decide if I like him. I don’t need Grant vetting my dates for me.

Or maybe I do. Because I left my Escape parked at the curb in front of my building last night and this morning, it’s completely covered in snow. Not snow that fell, snow that was dumped. The plow came for me personally, picking up grimy, icy chunks and packing them against the sides of my SUV. Snow covers the windows and I can barely see the roof. How many passes did Luther have to make up and down the street to get that much snow?

I stand there in shock. My first thought is to look for Grant’s truck, to see how bad it is, but his truck is pristine, with nothing on it that didn’t come from the sky.

That’s when I lose it, yelling every curse word I can think of into the empty street. I pace up and down the sidewalk, which is also clean. Did Luther use that snow too? Now I’m even angrier. Face hot. Blood boiling. Muscles tense. It’s coupled with the most frustrating helpless feeling. There’s no one to punch. No one’s gonads I can kick. I’m in this all alone. I don’t even have a shovel.

Traffic slows as people gawk at the spectacle of my car fully plowed in and my hysterical dance on the sidewalk. Someone’s got her camera out, filming as she passes. “Yeah?” I yell after her. “Keep looking!” I want to flip her the bird, but I can’t. She’s got kids in the car, and they’re probably on their way to church.

Hot tears hit my cheeks and freeze on the corners of my eyes. Dammit, that stings, and now I’m angry at my own eyes. Fuck my life.

A red jeep does a U-turn in front of the building and then pulls into the side lot. What now? I’m getting ready for another round of cursing, but my anger dies when I see that it’s Sophie. She’s dressed for the weather in heavy overalls and a warm coat. She pulls on thick gloves and gets two shovels out of the back of the jeep. “I saw it this morning,” she calls. “Circled back home to get some shovels is all.” She hands me one and slaps me on the back. “Let’s go.”

“But…I…” I swipe at my eyes with a gloved hand. “It’s so much.”

“Just get started,” she says calmly. “I already called Lia and June. We’ll make it a group project.”