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Oh, God. That credit card has been on file, taking care of everything I’ve forgotten to pay. It’s the only reason I’m not inactualjail right now.
“I can see by the greenish hue to your face that you’re starting to catch on.” Marcus nods. “Still a little bit more to go, so please don’t vomit on my nice, clean bar. When you’ve paid those fines, has the moneystayedout of your savings account?”
“I think I would remember if money was magically deposited back into my account.” I scoff, wondering why my heart suddenly feels like it shot up into my throat.
Marcus just stares at me, while my brain starts working overtime.
“I did pay Kenny one time, and then a week later, I won the huge 50/50 raffle at Candy Corn Bingo….” I trail off, my heart starting to pound so hard in my ears I can barely hear myself speak.
“Yeah, and the ‘random tourist’ who came in here that one time and offered $300 to the first person who could name all the actors inThe Babysitter’s Last Halloween.It was five minutes before closing time. You were literally the only person in the bar.” Marcus laughs, looking at me like I’m an idiot.
Oh my God… am I an idiot?
Okay, I need to calm down and stop freaking out. This isn’t that much of a shock. Ford likes taking care of me and not making a big fuss about it. It’s what he does. So he paid all of my jail fines since we met and sneakily got my money back to me when I paid them on my own. Of course he did. All of those lockups happened in October, and they were easy to take care of while he was here. No big deal. I’m going to kill him regardless for never mentioning it to me, but still.
Except, notallof those jail occurrences happened in October. That’s just when they’re more frequent. I don’t spend as much time in that tiny room the rest of the year, but I definitely still get in trouble and charged fines.
“Are you paying attention yet?”
Marcus’s voice makes me blink out of my thoughts, and my stomach feels like someone just tied it into one big knot.
“What did you just say?”
I’m starting to wonder if I’m suddenly hearing things and Ford’s voice is replacing everyone else’s in my head.
“I said, do you get it yet?” Marcus snaps his fingers impatiently. “Let’s wrap this up so I can hide all the knives before my wife finds out.”
Right. Of course that’s what he said.
“I get it. He’s been paying all my fines for six years and making sure I’m never totally broke.” I nod, even as Marcus shakes his head. “That’s cool. It’s fine. That’s… no reason for Callie to be mad, right? It’s just some credit card charges.”
“Oh, Sid.” Marcus laughs, continuing to shake his head at me. “He hasn’t just been paying your jail fines. I’m sure my wife would forgive that little secret after enough groveling and orgasms. Remember when your fridge took a shit?”
“Obviously. I had all the chocolate cream pies for July 4th in it, and I was freaking out. Lindsay Gellatly just built that new house over on Elm Street, and she said the builder accidentally ordered two. She… she gave me the extra….”
Marcus just stares at me.
Jesus, it sounds so stupid now when I say it out loud.
“Right. Because builders are known for being generous people.” He scoffs. “She gave it to you because Ford bought it for you. He had to special order it to make those stupid little ice cubes you like.”
What the hell? What in the actual hell?
I told him about the fridge the night he got here, and he didn’t say a word.
“That happened in July,” I mutter stupidly.
“And when the engine blew in your car?” Marcus raises an eyebrow at me while he fills a pilsner with beer and slides it across the bar to a customer.
“That… that happened in March,” I whisper like an idiot.
My engine died two years ago, and Bill did what he usually does—traded me Severed Head Succulents for repairs. I haven’t paid for car repairs on my piece-of-shit Honda in years. Bill just kept trading me plants that I knew damn well came nowhere near covering the costs. And I would happily hand them over when he handed me my keys, stupidly thinking,Gee, isn’t small-town life great?
It suddenly occurs to me how much my luck started changing six years ago. Bullshit continued to happen to me, but it never kept me down for long. So many little things that were fixed for me so I wouldn’t have to worry about them.
An emergency vet visit for Hay and a “credit” on my account for being a loyal customer.
A grocery delivery when I was down to my last ten dollars that was “delivered to the wrong house, but you should just keep everything.”
