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“That’s it?” I asked, watching her in awe as it was sealed shut.
“Quit claim deeds are simple,” she explained. “You’re signing the deed of ownership over to someone else. Usually it’s to a family member, but it works in a case like yours. No money’s changing hands, just the property itself.”
She smiled and I had to wonder what shade lipstick she used. She lifted the envelope. “This will be at the courthouse in Hunter Valley tomorrow morning and the deed recorded by lunch.”
Before I even returned home, the house would belong to Theo. Just like that.
I blinked. “Wow. Um… thanks.”
She eyed me with a soft smile. “You must really love this guy.”
I blinked my still-swollen eyes in her direction. “I don’t love him.”
The corner of her mouth tipped up. “I’ve dealt with plenty of divorces. No woman would return a house to a man if she hated him.”
Trixie nodded, tipped her glass of wine at Annalynn. “That’s true.”
“There’s no marriage. No divorce. That makes no sense.”
“Neither does love, honey. Neither does love.” Annalynn cocked her head to the side, studied me. “You okay?”
Was I okay? Hell, no. I laughed.
“I feel like I’ve got PMS times ten. Relieved, sad.” Because Theo didn’t care about me like I cared about him. “Worried.” Because maybe Annalynn was right. Maybe I was falling for him. “Panicked.” Not just because I might be off to jail, but my feelings for Theo? Holy sugar and spice. I did have feelings for him, but he had none for me in return. “Tired. And I’m pretty sure eating junk food in the car made my pants not fit.”
“You worry too much. If you could stay longer, we’d do a spa day,” Trixie offered.
“That sounds amazing, but I can’t. I have to be back at work. And that means I can’t be found guilty because Iwilllose my job and in a small town like Hunter Valley, I’ll be known as the Vegas hooker.” I looked to Annie and Trixie. “No offense.”
They laughed and Trixie said, “The judge is going to take one look at you and toss the case.”
I had no idea what that meant. I could look sophisticated and sexy, couldn’t I? I knew all about sex now, thanks to Theo and I gave house-buying worthy BJs.
Maybe it was my sloppy hair and coffee stained Hunter Valley Elementary hoodie I had on.
“Like Trixie said, the charges against you will be dropped,” Annalynn promised.
And they were. Annalynn was a pro–no pun intended–at handling my court appearance and the next morning the whole thing was over within ten minutes. The judge threw out my case because there was no probable cause. She also took in my outfit, heard about my residence in Montana and my job as a first-grade teacher and she actually rolled her eyes. She dropped the gavel, and it was over.
I turned to Annie and Trixie, who were seated in the long benches behind me, the entire courtroom looking just like on TV. Annie winked and offered a thumbs up while Trixie only grinned. I was practically shaking in relief.
Annie’s and Trixie’s hearings followed soon after mine and they, too, were cleared, although they both were given fines. Based on Annie’s fancy house and the way they barely blinked at the sum announced by the judge, the amount wasn’t an issue. Maybe they could expense it on her tax returns.
As for me, I was thrilled to be back to being only a boring first-grade teacher without a record, able to get my bail back to give to Bridge for the plane ticket.
We walked out of the courthouse free women, and I had to admit, their easy joy was infectious. I’d been so anxious about the whole thing, and it felt like a weight was lifted from my shoulders.
“Come on, let’s get some lunch before you go,” Annie offered. “We never really got a chance to hear about the–”
“Theo,” I gasped. People coming out of the courthouse had to part to walk around us because I froze mid-step. There, standing ten feet in front of me was the man himself.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to run away or run into his arms.
I chose running away.
47
THEO
