He dragged in a deep breath. “He arrived two nights ago.”
“What?” My startled shout mixed with Mom’s quick inhale.
No, that wasn’t right. If he was in town already, I’d have seen him. We were staying in the same room!
Van met my gaze, and the tenderness in his emerald eyes stole my breath. No—it was sympathy. He felt sorry for me, and he didn’t want to hurt my feelings. The sourness in my stomach increased.
He pressed his fingertips together, but he held my attention. “He had second thoughts, Clover. He quit his job, changed his ticket, and came to Vegas early.” He sucked in another breath, and his nostrils flared. “He met a woman, married her, and now he’s on his honeymoon in Cancun.”
“What!” Each tidbit Van dropped got worse. Quit his job? Arrived early? Met a woman?
Honeymoon. The heat of wildfire wicked up my insides. Pressure rose, and my temples throbbed. I heard wrong. “How could he have met someone?” It was too soon. I’d been with Elijah for two years, and while he admitted he hadn’t been ready to marry, he’d changed his mind. By doing so, we’d get the life we wanted.
“How is any of that possible?” Van was mistaken. Did they have another brother I didn’t know about? “How could he have met someone else?”
Anger not aimed at me flashed in his brown eyes. “She was working.”
“Where? This is Vegas. A hotel and casino. There are slots, and there are— Oh.” Reality slapped me hard, and my head spun. Acid lurched into my throat, and I swallowed. I wanted to cry and scream, yet I also wanted to sit quietly and insist that Van must’ve heard wrong. But I couldn’t reconcile what he said with the way my fiancé had ghosted me.
“That two-timing twat waffle.” I rolled my eyes to the ceiling. I was a cliché. “He ran off with a stripper.”
She was probably leggy, in shape, and more fun than listening to me spout the differences between rubies and sapphires—trick question. They were the same mineral, corundum, but the iron and chromium content determined the color.
I buried my face in my hands. “Two days? He ran off with her after two days? We weren’t even going to go on a honeymoon. Where did he get Cancun money— Oh, shit. That bastard.” I grabbed my phone and fumbled it, my heart racing. The device went flying.
Van caught it deftly in his long fingers and handed it back to me. There was pity in his eyes, but also understanding. He knew just what a jerk Elijah could be. I’d heard the stories, and I’d even witnessed it, but not all brothers and sisters were as close as me and my five siblings.
I took the phone and didn’t bother with a thank-you. That should bug me, but panic whipped through my blood. I pulled up my bank information. We had one joint account that we put moving money into. Thousands of dollars to help us get by until our next paycheck. Money that would pay for the hotel and the food and to furnish our new place. The account was now zero. The room tilted, and a strangled cry stuck in my throat.
Elijah used to tell me that I wouldn’t survive without him, that I was too naive. It was why he insisted we pool our funds, so he could help manage them.
“That bastard.” I stood up, got lightheaded, and sat down again. “He drained us dry.”
Sure, some of that was his, but goddammit, he cleaned it out. I could survive without him, no matter how much he’d made me doubt, but it’d be harder to do without money.
I was flat broke and stranded in Las Vegas.
Mom rushed to my side. “Oh, Clover.”
I heaved in a breath and blew it out, getting faster with each cycle, close to hyperventilating. “He took it all. I’ve gotta start my new job in a week, and he took it all.” I had quit the geology position that I loved. I couldn’t return to Omaha. My replacement started today. I trained her!
“Take a nice, big breath,” Mom said, her steady strokes on my back barely breaking through the mental turmoil in my head.
“I can’t move into that house without a husband.” I couldn’t move in unless I was married. The house, the wedding, the new jobs, they were all part of my and Elijah’s plan. I rocked back and forth. “I can’t afford more than a night or two at a hotel.” That bastard! How quickly could I cash in some retirement? We’d maxed out my credit card with all the work parties Elijah insisted would further his career. “I have no place to live. I’ll have no job.” My stomach flopped and heaved. I pressed a hand to my belly, and tears sprang into my eyes. “And I’m pregnant.”
Silence fell around me. Mom’s hand stilled. Heaving sobs racked my body.
“Clover,” Violet said softly. “You know we’ll all help you.”
I shook my head. “I can’t couch surf while I’m having morning sickness.” I would’ve probably puked already if it was any earlier in the day. I had nothing in my gut, and the cash in my purse wouldn’t buy me food for long.
Mom hugged me to her. “It’ll be okay. We’ll think of something.”
“I detonated my old life, thinking I was starting a new one. How was it going to be okay?” And now I had a baby to think about—alone.
“There are too many of us here not to figure out a solution,” Mom said. “Sullivan, how are your parents doing? Do they know?”
Tension vibrated between us, and it wasn’t all from me. “They didn’t come.”
