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I squirmed a little and tried to find a delicate way of putting it. I didn’t think there was one.
“He said basically that,” I said. “Then we kind of got into a fight about it, and I got in his face, and one thing led to another…”
“And?” she asked, clearly not letting me off the hook for anything.
“We hooked up,” I said. “God, that sounds so juvenile. We had sex. Really, really incredible sex. And I don’t know what to think about it. I felt like something was really happening there, something real between the two of us, but what if it wasn’t? What if it was just the adrenaline from his wife walking in on us kissing and then the storm and us being angry and everything? What if I am screwing up any potential to get my store back by literally screwing the guy who is taking it away from me?”
“Victor isn’t like that,” she said. “He wouldn’t use that against you, even if he could. That’s not who he is. He wouldn’t slander you to win.”
“But what do I do? I’ve fucked this whole situation up.”
“Well, maybe it was just adrenaline and fear and everything,” she said. I felt an unexpected drop in my stomach. Like it was what Ididn’twant to hear. “But maybe, just maybe, it was real. All I know is you need to talk to him about it. Trust me, coming from experience, if you’re confused about what things mean after sleeping with him, you need to get to talking about it pronto. Clear that shit up fast.”
“You think?”
“For sure,” she said. “It’s the only way to know, and you do not want to be interacting and not knowing the rules of what’s going on between you. Be honest with him and take him at face value when he says how he feels too. From what I know of Victor, he won’t lie. He might be guilty of being too blunt, but not of lying.”
“I will,” I said. “I just can’t do it right now. I need a few days.”
“Of course,” Carmela said. “You just went through something incredibly, insanely traumatic. Take a few days to process that and handle the aftermath a little. Then when you feel like you’re ready, give him a call.”
“Good idea. I just have so much to do now. I have to call insurance and file reports and somehow figure out how to make sure I have a staffifI can ever open it again. I just don’t know.”
“Well, you let me know how I can help you. I will do whatever I can and so will Camden and Mark. I am signing them up. But for right now, you relax and try to get your mind straight, and if you need me, you can call. Anytime.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I really appreciate you.”
“I appreciate you too, girl. Get some rest.”
21
VICTOR
On my way home, I felt the drain of the last few hours weighing on me. It had been an emotional and physical rollercoaster, and now I was finally coming down from the adrenaline of the situation and my body and mind were paying me back. By the time I pulled into my driveway, I was so tired I let my head fall back and my eyes close, letting the truck run so I could still have air conditioning and let the radio play softly.
I dozed for about ten minutes, just letting myself drift into a half daze where my brain started working on what was next almost subconsciously. I needed to fix this situation, but how? How would I not only help the store and get Melanie back what she’d lost, but also make up for the way she had been screwed out of her own future?
Snapping off the radio and killing the engine, I slid out of the door and into the house, heading directly to my bedroom. Thankfully, my home was on the side of town not hit by the storm. Changing out of the dusty, dirty clothes, I stumbled toward the bathroom, my fists filled with shorts, boxers and a T-shirt and my eyes barely open. The warm water was soothing,and before I knew it, I was sinking to the bottom of the tub and plugging the drain.
I sat in the tub, slowly filling from the showerhead as it rained down on me as I struggled not to go to sleep. My mind was still awake, but I was just so tired. So tired and so frustrated.
Shutting off the water, I tried to shake it off. I needed to focus on how to move forward. That was who I was. When I was presented with a problem, be it an investor who was shaky about spending their money on a sure thing or Sarah attempting to ruin my life and deciding to cash out and buy the grocery store, I was a person who took the bull by the horns and went for it.
Melanie needed me to go for it.
A name came into my head that I hadn’t thought of in quite a while—Will Wagner. He was a banker that had helped me secure the loan to start the business in Maryland and the personal loan to buy the house that Sarah now owned. We hadn’t spoken since Christmas last year when Sarah insisted on hosting a party and playing the happy couple. It had been a miserable night except for talking to Will.
My phone was on the wicker bathroom caddy, so I retrieved it and went through the contacts. As soon as I saw his name, and before I could second-guess myself, I hit the call button.
“Hello, Victor?” he said as he answered the phone.
“Will, hey, how are you?”
“I’m good,” he said. “How are things?”
I spent a little bit of time doing the common explanation that had gotten so old in the last few months, telling him how the marriage had ended. He tried to hide the lack of surprisethat comes with having heard already anyway. Once we were past that, I started telling him about the store and what had happened here.
“So,” he said after I made my pitch, “you want a business loan?”
