“Right. Right.”
She let out a big sigh. “Look, Alan. Just go back to Lancastle. I’ll send the divorce papers to you there. I don’t want anything from you—it should be quick and easy. Maybe we can even do an annulment—that’d make the prenup null and void, wouldn’t it?”
“Maybe. But I’ll contest an annulment, so don’t waste your time.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I’m not going to let you try to erase what we had like it didn’t exist.”
Her smile was sad when she replied, “It didn’t exist. Not really.”
“It did for me.”
She stared at me for a beat then said, “I’ve got a lot of things to do. I start my new job tomorrow, and—”
“Where are you working?”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Sure, it does.”
“Go back to Lancastle, Alan.”
“Not without you and Ruthie.”
She shrugged. “Then I guess I’ll see you around town,” and closed the door in my face.
I called through the wood. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily, Jessica RoseCallahan.”
****
Jessica
As the first tear fell to the floor, I leaned my forehead against the door and didn’t move until I heard him jog down the stairs.
Damn him for looking so good.
Chapter Seventy-Nine
Jessica
My new job in the bakery department at the J and J grocery store had started off promising, but quickly fizzled on my second day.
Valerie, my supervisor, was a friend of Jon’s family, and turned out to be as petty as one could be. She critiquedeverythingI did. Apparently I even took the pan out of the oven wrong. Who knew that was even a thing?
But I bit my tongue and sucked it up. I needed the money, and after ninety days, I’d get benefits. I’d seen what the hospital bill would have been if Sarah hadn’t given me Alan’s insurance information. If Ruthie had another ER visit, and I didn’t have insurance, I’d be in debt to the hospital for the rest of my life. So, every time Val had something mean to say, I’d remind myself why I was doing this.
Some days were easier than others.
It didn’t help that Alan seemed to be everywhere. He came into the grocery store every day, sometimes twice a day, and always stopped in the bakery. If I was at the post office, he’d magically appear in line behind me. If I was out on a walk with Ruthie, he’d cross the street to say hi.
That was the hardest—when Ruthie was with me. I felt like a criminal keeping him from her. He might have thought I was a joke, but I don’t think he could’ve faked how he felt about her.
It was another soul-sucking day helping customers at the bakery when I noticed Jade walking toward the counter.
Shit.
I hadn’t seen her since Ruthie had been in the hospital, and I really didn’t feel pretending like we were old friends. But I knew Valerie wouldn’t cover for me, so I took a deep breath andplastered my best customer-service smile on when she stood in front of the glass.
