“And then they book your table again!” She ticked off names on her fingers. “Gayle, Barry, Jeff, Monica, Zinnia—all of them used to come to me, and now they come to you.”
Sabrina raised her hand in a shrug. “So what do you want me to do? Give bad massages?”
“I want you to stop stealing my clients!”
“How can I steal clients when they’re still coming to your business? Either way, you get paid.”
“That’s not the point!”
Sabrina had reached her limit. “Well, whatisyour point?”
“The point is?—”
Cicely never got to it, as the bell dinged to signal someone had entered the building.
Shit, I forgot to lock the door.
Sabrina swiveled to see who had come in, and her tight face fell. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Rodrigo sneered at her, his dark eyes snapping with irritation. “Yeah, good to see you, too, sis.” He strode up to the glass counter and slapped a stack of papers next to the iPad. “I’m here. Sign these, and I’ll go.”
Sabrina’s brain overloaded. “I’m not signing anything until I read them.”
Rodrigo exploded in a fit of Spanish curses. “I drove up the fucking length of the country to get these damn things signed. Get you a fucking pen and do it.”
“Let’s try this again,” Sabrina started in her saccharine voice. “Well, hello there, Rigo. Nice to see you. I hope you’re well. Me? I’m good for the most part.” She resumed her angry tone. “Are you deaf, bro? I said I’m not signing until I read what’s in those papers. Give me half an hour.”
“Bullshit, you’ll do it now so I can get back on the fucking road.”
She blinked. “It’s an eighteen-hour drive.”
“Yeah, dumbass, I know. I came up here in one shot to get this shit done ’cause you left me no choice. I gotta have these filed at the courthouse by closing tomorrow or I’m screwed.”
Any comprehension Sabrina had left fled. “You won’t make it back in time.”
“I’ll drive fast.”
“What about my clients?” Cicely demanded.
“Oh my God!” Sabrina yelled, her attention torn between the two people. “I cannot handle both of you at the same time! Cicely, if you want me to quit, fine! Pay me what you owe me and I’m outta here. Loving Hands Massage has openings, and I’m glad to go talk to them.”
Cicely’s mouth dropped open. “I don’t need you to quit!”
“Then stop this crap about me stealing clients!”
Cicely sniffed and raised her nose in the air before turning away. “You don’t have to be so dramatic.”
“Seriously?” With a deep breath, Sabrina reined in what she could and faced Rodrigo. “Unless you can teleport or fly, you’ll never make it back in time to file tomorrow.”
He scoffed. “I wouldn’t be in this jam if you’d have come when I called you the first time.”
“I’m not a fucking dog, bro. This is not my problem.”
“It is when all this fucking paperwork is involved. I got all this shit to sort out with this fuckin’ probate mess. Rosa is tryin’ to screw me over. Fuckin’ old hag!”
Sabrina’s head vibrated with an impending headache. She pressed two fingers against her temple. “Is it really that big a deal? How much could there possibly be to inherit?”
“Dad had some money and a whopper life insurance policy. Aunt Rosa is makin’ a stink now, sayin’ I owe her for convincing Dad to adopt me and for helping raise me. She said without her, I’d have been in a foster home or some shit, so I’d better split my inheritance with her or she’ll make my life hell. She’s already talkin’ shit to the rest of the family, gettin’ them all on her side.”
