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I’ve traveled the world many times over. I’ve seen some things. I was betrayed by my ex-wife and ex-best friend at the same time. There isn’t much that surprises me.
Madison having the damn nerve, after selling our story to the tabloids, to send me another invoice reminder, however, has left me with my mouth hanging open.
Going to her and telling her she’s lost her mind, that I’d never pay that invoice after what she did to me, is my first instinct, but I know seeing her would cause more problems than I already have. It’s bad enough I can’t get her off my mind at night despite what she has done. The boys haven’t stopped asking about her. They beg relentlessly to go to their papaw’s house, but I know it’s because they’re hoping to see her next door. They complain that I don’t make their PB&J sandwiches the way she did. I don’t sing the cleanup song the way she did.
Everything is Madison this and Madison that. I’d tell them that she hurt us, that she shared private things, but I can’t bring myself to bad mouth her to my boys.
Instead of heading left at the fork in the road toward her parents’ house to track her down, I go right, my energy laser focused.
I know I’m going to catch shit from Barrett when I show up in his office, but I feel like this is the only way to solve the problem.
The signage out front makes no sense.Ditcher, Quick, and Hyde: Attorneys at Law.
Barrett is the only attorney in the office, and I know he named his office this because of the nasty divorce he got less than a year after he got married. It was the talk of the town. High school sweethearts who got married not long after graduation, and the marriage didn’t even last through the summer. He wasdivorced before he started pre-law at Texas A&M. Rumor around town if you ask anyone about it is that he hasn’t dated since.
I wouldn’t say the man hates women, but there’s a hint of something in the name of his law firm. What I do know is that he’s a bulldog in court, and if there’s anyone that will fight Madison on this damn invoice, it’s him.
The bell over the door chimes, but I’m otherwise met with silence.
“Barrett?” I yell down the hallway.
Instead of saying anything, the man just appears at the end of the hallway.
“Damn,” I say as he walks toward me. “You haven’t changed a bit.”
He grins, his white teeth flashing but it looks more like a sneer than a smile.
“Can’t say the same for you. When did you start getting gray hair?”
I lift my hand to the right side of my head, self-conscious of the white strands there. I noticed them a few weeks ago. They stand out against my otherwise dark hair.
“Kids,” I mutter, lowering my hand to shake his when he offers. “How have you been?”
“Living the fucking dream,” he says.
“Watch your mouth, young man!”
I grin as I look past him to see Mrs. Hyde shuffling toward us.
“You still have your granny working for you?” I chuckle as he drops my hand. “Hello, Mrs. Hyde.”
“Well, well, well, if the Lord hasn’t answered my prayers, sending such a handsome young man to sweep me off my feet.”
“I don’t think that hip of yours could handle being lifted off the floor, Grams,” Barrett mutters, but he gives her a wide berth, knowing that the smack for his language is still coming.
I lean forward and hug her delicately, making small talk for a few minutes.
“What brings you to the office?” Mrs. Hyde asks as she shuffles toward the chair behind the front desk.
She has always been Barrett’s biggest champion. She sat in the stands for every game he played. She cheered louder than anyone else when he walked across the stage at graduation and screamed even louder after his valedictorian speech. He said once that he worked so hard in school because he needed the scholarships. Grams was stuck with him after his parents died, and he didn’t want to burden her financially. He got a full-ride scholarship and came back home the second he graduated to take care of her. I give him shit about her being around, but the man knows the true meaning of family.
“I needed to talk to Barrett about something,” I tell her.
She pats my arm that way only an elderly person can. “You don’t have to tell me, dear. I’ll just read your file later.”
I huff a laugh as Barrett rolls his eyes before waving me down the hallway toward his office.
“I should get on your ass about using a different attorney for your divorce, but I see it would be pointless now that you and the wife are back together,” he says after closing his office door and making his way around his desk.
