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I feel the sting of tears, but I grit my teeth. I will not cry in front of this SOB who ruined everything I had thought was dear and sacred. I turn to Cindy. “I’m sorry, I’ve got to go home. I’ll be here tomorrow to help you finish.” I assure her.
She looks rather frightened, too.
“You gonna be alright?” Cindy asks.
“Yes, I promise, I’m fine.” I turn to Kate. “Will you take the two of us to my house, and will you come bring me back here in the morning by eight?”
Kate jerks a nod.
I grab Jason’s elbow and jerk him toward the door. “Night.” I growl to Cindy and shove Jason toward Kate’s bronco. Kate trails behind us like a sullen child following its parents who are fighting over the vase that it accidentally broke. I ride in silence. But Jason just cannot keep his mouth shut.
“So, where’s your car?” He asks.
I glare at him for a moment. “She’s in the shop.”
“Really? Is there a Kia dealer here in Deadwood?”
“No. She’s in an auto repair shop in Lead.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“I don’t know, Jason, she’s not running.”
“Why don’t you get rid of that heap of junk and get you a newer, more reliable vehicle?”
“You know why.” I say as I roll my eyes. We’ve had this very discussion so many times, I could just put on a recording of it and walk away.
“Sweet Cakes, there’s gonna come a day when that car just cannot be fixed anymore.”
Tears slam into my eyes. He’s not wrong. I sniff. “I know.”
He has the good sense to remain quiet the rest of the way home. When Kate pulls into my driveway, I slip some money over the back seat. “Thank you, Kate. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She jerks a nod, but looks like she’s letting me out at the gate to the lions’ den. “I’m alright, I promise.”
“Okay.” Kate states, but I know she doesn’t believe it for a minute.
“Kate, I’m really alright.” I bob my head to reassure her.
Her lower lip quivers. She tips her head back. “Okay.”
I slug Jason in the arm. “See how much turmoil you cause? Why are you here?”
“Ow!” He rubs his arm as I shove him toward the stairs and Kate pulls out of my driveway. At least I get to punish him by making him climb these lung-ripping stairs. We get to the top and I jab my keys into the locks one at a time. First the deadbolt then the door knob lock, then I push. The green ornately carved door swings open revealing a black duffle bag on my entry tile. Jason’s duffle bag!
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I bellow.
What does he think he’s doing? Moving in? With me? Over my dead body!
Chapter Three?
“Hey.” I poke my head inside the accounting office and call out to Cindy as Kate pulls away from the curb. She refused to drive off until she knew I was safely in the office since it didn’t look open. In fact, it wasn’t open for business. Cindy had left the front door unlocked just for me, but the sign in the window still read, “Closed.”
We have about an hour to ourselves before Lisa, the receptionist, or Nancy, the owner, arrives and declares the agency open for business. Nancy closes her business at noon on Saturdays, except during April for obvious reasons.
Cindy had agreed to be available to receive our purchases at eight o’clock this morning from the Twin-City delivery truck. So, here we are before anybody else, and we will be here long after Nancy locks the door and turns the sign over for the day.
“Hey.” Cindy echoes back. She was in the little kitchenette pouring herself and me a coffee. Bless her heart, she’s a coffee lover like myself.
