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He frowns a little. “You’re not making them, are you?”
“No, of course not. Mommy made the rule, remember?”
He looks relieved. It was just a small fire, and in my defense, well, I have no defense. I’ve given up on cooking and promised Pauline I would stick to microwave soup and sandwiches.
I’m dozing on the couch when the door opens. I sit up and rub my eyes, surprised to see a man sneaking in. I blink a few times. No. It can’t be.
“Richard?”
Chapter Ten
Tru
HE’S LOST A LOT OFweight. Too much for his frame. And he’s got a beard. I don’t think he’s shaved or gotten a haircut since I last saw him. So unlike the meticulous man I married.
“Richard?” I repeat. That may be all I’m capable of right now. What is he doing here? I figured he’d be lazing around on an island somewhere collecting more wives and a tan.
“What are you doing here?” he asks, clearly just as stunned as I am. Of course, he was expecting wife number one, not wife number two. “Where’s Pauline? What have you done with her?”
My nerves are jumping on the trampoline of my stomach right now. I don’t know that I could have prepared myself to see him, but being surprised by seeing him is a cruel twist of fate. “Pauline isn’t here. And if she were, she would not want to see you.”
He pushes past me, barging in and looking around the room. “Is she all right?”
“Do you think I hurt her?” His bloodshot eyes dart around. Is he on drugs now too? “I see. You think a woman scorned and all that. Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I actually like Pauline more than I liked you. We’re roommates.”
“Roommates?” He shakes his head. “Whatever. I don’t have time for this. Where is she? Where’s my son?”
Now that the shock is wearing off, I’m remembering what a flea he is. “Whatever? Are you even serious right now? That’s what you have to say to me? Not, ‘I’m sorry I stole your inheritance, Tru?’ Not, ‘I feel really bad that I was still married to someone else when I tricked you into marrying me, Tru?’ Not, ‘I’m the worst kind of human for pretending to care about your grandfather?”
He scratches his beard roughly. Maybe he really does have fleas. “I honestly cared about your grandfather. He was a good man.”
“And yet you deceived him and stole his money while his corpse was still warm.”
I’ve probably imagined this moment a thousand times. All the things I would say, finally, after he robbed me of closure. And all my money. I had a million zingers lined up. And boy was I ever going to slap his face, soap-opera style.
And now that he’s here, all I want is for him to go away and leave us alone. He isn’t sorry. He won’t ever be sorry. And he never even cared for me a little. He hasn’t even asked if I’m all right.
