Kelly’s eyes widened and filled with a menacing glee when she heard my name. “Oh, Kellan, this is rich. You’re having a baby with the good officer’s wife?”
“Ms. Parker, have you asked this woman to leave your property?”
“Yes, I have,” I said.
The officer nodded and turned to Kelly. “I need to see some identification.”
“For what?” she snapped.
“I was trying to be nice,” the officer grumbled.
The other officer approached Kelly from behind. “Place your hands behind your back.”
The next few minutes played out as one would expect. Kelly screamed, yelled, and ultimately resisted arrest, which led to her being taken to the ground and handcuffed before being shoved into the back of the police cruiser.
“I’m assuming you want to file some trespass notices, possibly a restraining order?” the officer asked.
Kellan nodded. “Yes, I do. She’s been a nuisance since we divorced, but I will not tolerate her showing up here and harassing Avery.”
“No problem. We’ll get her down to the station and then I’ll swing back by with the paperwork. We’ll also arrange to have her car towed,” the officer said.
“Thank you,” Kellan said.
The two officers got back into their car and drove away with Kelly in the back seat, clearly screaming at the top of her lungs.
“Come on, sweetness; let’s go inside,” Kellan said and started to usher me back into my living room.
“Are you married?” I asked shakily.
“No, Avery. Not anymore. I was married to her for about two years before we divorced.”
“She said you have fake divorce papers,” I pointed out. I hated that her words had so easily created a river of doubt between us.
He shook his head. “I can show you how to pull them up from the county’s judicial records online if you want to see them for yourself.”
“I do. I’m sorry, but I just—”
“Don’t apologize. If I had a problem with you wanting to see them, I wouldn’t have offered to show you.”
“Why did you get divorced after only two years of marriage?” I asked.
He sighed and sat down on the sofa. “She was my high school girlfriend. And believe it or not, she used to be different. She wasn’t the greedy, gold-digging evil bitch that she is now. I’m not sure when she changed, but I didn’t notice it until it was too late. Or, hell, maybe she was always that way and hid it very well. Anyway, I got off work early one day and came home to surprise her, but the surprise was on me because I found her fucking a neighbor from down the street in our bed. As soon as I saw them, things clicked into place and I knew right away it wasn’t the first time she’d cheated. After that, I filed for divorce. She fought it every step of the way, and it took me almost two years to get rid of her.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” I said.
He gave me a small smile. “Thank you. I was pretty devastated by it at first, but it didn’t take me long to realize I was in love with the idea of her, not her.”
“So, she’s done stuff like this before?” I asked.
He nodded. “She has. When I filed for divorce, I moved in with my grandfather because she refused to leave the house and I couldn’t stand to be around her. She started showing up at his place at all hours of the night. When we put a stop to that, she started calling. She showed up at my job, the grocery store, restaurants. It was exhausting. I picked up an extra part-time job so I could get out of my grandfather’s place and spare him from her bullshit.”
“She hasn’t left you alone since your divorce?” I asked in surprise.
“She disappeared for a few years and I thought that was the end of it until she showed up at the gym yesterday.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“Well, she drug our divorce out for two years. We had a decent house and two cars, but no kids. She was just trying to get every cent she could from me. But after the accident, my grandfather pointed out that she could be held liable in a civil suit since we were still married. She agreed to the terms and signed the divorce papers within a week. I’d heard she found herself a sugar daddy, so I’m guessing her relationship with him has ended and she’s looking to replace him.”
