AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Shit,” Reese shrieked, clutching her chest and readying to swing her bag.
“Calm down, Beautiful,” he chuckled. “Something wrong with the car?”
“Other than the fact that it is yours, no,” Reese said evenly. “I want it gone by the time I get home. All your stuff at my house needs to be gone too. If not, I can set it on the front porch, and you can get it whenever you want.”
“What?”
“I want you gone. The car and all your shit at my place, I want all of it gone. We are done,” she was too mad even to consider crying. She was sure that would come later after the murderous anger over his betrayal of her fragile trust wore off.
“Reese, what is going on? What do you mean you want me gone? What the hell happened?”
Reese laughed scornfully. “You know all that spouting off about me being yours. I should have mentioned I don’t share. If I am not enough for you, you should have said so. You never had a problem telling me all kinds of other lies but let me help you out of this one. I don’t care anymore. She can have you. Get your shit out of my house. Take your car and give it to your other girlfriend warming your bed.” Shaking with rage, Reese started to walk away.
“Beautiful, it isn’t like that,” Cash said, grabbing her arm in a desperate effort to stop her from walking away.
Reese looked down at where his hand clutched her wrist. “Let me go. The days of you being allowed to touch me are over.”
“No.”
“No?”
“Fuck no,” Cash growled, yanking her closer to him.
Reese didn’t even think. She let her rage at being cheated on by a man she thought she loved to take over her body. The heel of her hand connected with the cartilage of his nose, snapping his head backward. The crunching sound only fueled her on, never feeling the pain radiating up her arm. Reese sent her knee upward, connecting with his crotch hard enough she hoped he would feel it every time he tried to get it up. Cash fell to the ground releasing her. Reese left him sitting at the end of her drive, sopping the blood gushing from his nose and panting shallowly from the pain in his crotch.
She didn’t look back as she neared the end of the block. Walking at a fast pace, she didn’t slow down until she put her key in the locked back door of the bakery.
“My, my, aren’t you the early one this morning,” Birdie chirped. “Oh, dear.” The older woman looked Reese over. “Put an apron on, dear. You have a bit of what looks like blood on your shirt.”
Reese looked down, seeing her boss was right. Cash’s blood was splattered across the front of her shirt. Whipping it over her head, she stuffed it in her bag, leaving her in a tank and her jeans. Snatching an apron off the hook, Reese got to work. They worked in companionable silence until the case out front was packed and the sun was almost up.
“Want to tell me about it?” Her boss asked. “Not as your boss, as another woman who has been married five times and has seen her fair share of man problems.”
“I saw Cash with another woman last night,” Reese moaned, dropping her head on the freshly cleaned worktable in the kitchen.
“You’re sure?”
“I couldn’t sleep last night. I went downstairs instead of tossing and turning all damn night. I saw her as she came out of his house in the middle of the night. Her clothes were a mess. Her hair looked like they had a great time rolling around in bed. He came out of the house without a shirt on. He drove her home like that, no shirt. He treated her like she was special. He opened her door, had his hand on her back, and all the other crap he used to make me feel special.”
“That doesn’t leave many other options, now does it?” Birdie worried.
“None that I could think of,” Reese sighed. “I didn’t want to see him this morning. It was still dark when he walked across the street to my house. I told him I was done. He didn’t believe me. He grabbed my arm, and I think I might have broken his nose.”
“Oh, good for you,” Birdie laughed. “Bet he will have some explaining to do when he picks up his side girl.”
“I, uh, kneed him pretty good too.”
“She isn’t going to be riding on that pony for a while.”
Reese laughed until she held onto her sides, gasping for breath. “Thank you, Birdie. I needed that this morning.”
“It is no trouble at all, dear. My first husband and my third died mysteriously. If you need some help with that, just let me know. I might be able to give you some pointers,” her boss winked at her.
“Duly noted,” Reese was sure her shock was written all over her face.
The bell jingling over the door out front pulled the women from their chat. Reese went out front while Birdie filled orders to be delivered from the kitchen.
Hours passed in a blur as people moved in and out, getting their morning sugar fix. Rearranging to cover the bare spots, Reese made a list of what she needed to restock before the next rush came in. Returning to the kitchen, she started gathering what she needed from the extras on the rack.
