She’d lied, damn it.Who could blame her?She’d been on a roll, and she’d made a secret wish.
“Aw, babe,” Billy said soothingly.His voice was gruff, and his hold was tight.“You have other options now.New leads.”
Leads that had gone nowhere.“This worked,” she whimpered.For once in her life, she’d had good luck.
Her vision was watery when she looked over her shoulder.What she saw made the tears pour over and down her cheeks.
Her good luck charm was gone.
Billy took a shuddering breath and rubbed her back.“Let me take you home.”
No!She didn’t want to leave.It would be giving up.
But somebody else had already made that decision for her.
She sniffed.“Okay.”
There was no reason to stay here anymore.That billboard wasn’t going to magically reappear.Even if she paid to have another put up, it wouldn’t be the same.
Billy helped her back into the pickup.She found a pack of tissues in her purse and blew her nose.The tears were drying up.
All the emotion was drying up.
She felt empty.
She glanced at the blank billboard one last time as Billy did a U-turn.It had been a lark from the beginning, something to shock and draw attention.When had she started putting her faith in it?
When had she started dreaming for the impossible?
She rubbed her palm over her breastbone, trying to ease the ache.Be careful what you wished.Hadn’t she learned that the hard way, long, long ago?
Fisherman’s Road seemed extra rutted and bumpy as they made their way back to the interstate.When they passed what had formerly been her sign, Roxie kept her head down.
Her touch was careful as she reassembled the work file she’d so carelessly grabbed.This was her fault.She’d missed the payment.She, or Charlie.In all the chaos of transferring the bar over to her ownership, she’d made a mistake.
Or maybe she’d unconsciously sabotaged herself.
Did she really want to know what had happened all those years ago?Did she want to know why she and her sisters had been given up?Did she really want to meet the people who had let that happen?
The ache in her chest deepened, and she had to swallow hard to clear the jagged lump in her throat.
“Here we are, babe.”
She hadn’t even realized they were back home.Billy opened her door, but she hopped down without his help.
“Ow,” she cried when pain rushed through her feet.Dumping her armful of papers back into the truck, she tore off the boots.Whipping around, she threw them as hard as she could towards the trash can on the curb.
“Enough!”She’d had enough of the pain.She’d had enough of just dealing with things.
Billy knew better than to try to swoop her up into his arms.Instead, he tucked her up against his side.They headed for the apartments, not even talking about it.Roxie glanced at the bar.The neon blazed and the beat of the bass hit her square between the eyes.
She sniffed.“This sucks.”
He sighed.“Yeah, it does.”
Billy walked up the stairs with Roxie quiet at his side.She was dejected, and he didn’t like it.He was used to her fighting and spitting nails when life wronged her.She was a force to be reckoned with.
Only now, her spirit seemed doused.
