I hadn’t mentioned it to him yet. “Uh,huh.”
“Don’t believe everythinghesays.”
“Says the person who lied to him forayear.”
I couldn’t stand the woman who was standing in front of me. She’d spent the last couple of years trying to pin me against Dad. I wasn’t blind. I could see what had gone down and I did not appreciate beingmanipulated.
“Oh, Michelle, you think because you’re nineteen, you know everything. You don’t. Come live with Danielandme.”
“I already said no. I’m sure you will be finewithoutme.”
We sat and went back and forth for several minutes. It was the same conversation we’d had time and time again. I didn’t know how else to convey how much I hated my mom without flat out saying I hated her. I was ready to scream by the time shegaveup.
“Let me know if you change your mind. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy your book.” My mother flipped her hair and walked out of the store. I couldn’t understand why she was so persistent. There was no way she was doing it out of the kindness of herheart.
When I said my dad was ruining my life, I meant he made it difficult and I got frustrated by the rules I felt were unfair. But my mother really was ruining my life. She was evil. She’d threatened to move to California or Florida with her new husband time and time again. I wished she would do italready.
I slammed the books against the shelving as I found where they were supposed to go. I was annoyed I had to relive the divorce of my parents whenever I saw the woman who spawned me. It made me never want to be in a relationship again. I could be single for the rest of my life. Maybe I’d become acatlady.
I looked at the romance titles as I put them away and couldn’t help but laugh because this was exactly why lonely women like the one that came in earlier during the week read this crap. It was easy. It was about dancing and stolen kisses on balconies. It didn’t tell you about the heartache, the cheating, the lack ofunderstanding.
Well, I had to assume it didn’t because there was no way I was going tofindout.
I went back up to the counter to grab more books. I was eager to do something. Jenny didn’t say anything when I came looking for more. She just grabbed another stack of books and told me they went in the science fictionsection.
This time the pile consisted of books with pictures of spaceships and…well, there were a lot of spaceships on the covers. Some Star Wars and Star Trek covers too, which surprised me because I thought they were TV shows. It didn’t matter, and I put the books away with the same enthusiasm as the onesbeforethem.
This continued on with a new section every time until I went up to get the newest pile and Jenny shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t expect you to get throughthemall.”
“Wait, thatwasit?”
“We only get so manydeliveries.”
I wasn’t ready to give up my momentum though. Working was surprisingly therapeutic after seeing my mom. If I sat down in my chair behind the counter, I’d be left with my thoughts, and I didn’twantthat.
“Well, there has to be something else I can do.Anything.”
The look that crossed her face was a mix of confusion and desperation. “I guess I could show you how to work the register. That way if a delivery comes in when we work together, I can leave yououthere.”
Working with customers did not sound nearly as appealing as the task I had before, but I thought maybe learning how everything worked might be enough to distract me. At least for a littlelonger.
Jenny showed me the different buttons on the register, which took all of two minutes. But after that, she went through the book club the store offered to frequent shoppers. Then she showed me the computer system we used to look up books to determine whether or not we had them in stock and how to order them if wedidn’t.
I even rang up a few customers before our shifts were over. I was clocking out and grabbing my purse when I saw Rainier come in. He gave me a smug look before walking over toJenny.
They were talking and laughing as I walked out of the store. Rainier looked my way a couple of times. I didn’t bother saying goodbye to either of them, and I certainly wasn’t wondering if they were talkingaboutme.
Or how I felt iftheywere.
ChapterSix
Rainier
Iwas practically sleepwalkingatwork.
Between my job, practice, and shows, I was booked solid. And not in that cutesy way how girls wore shirts with books on them that said something likeMy weekend is all booked. No, I was so busy I could barely thinkstraight.
I practiced for at least a couple of hours every day on my own. Three or four times a week I played with The Band at Matt’s house. I still hated that name, but hadn’t been brave enough to mention it to anyone. Not even Matt. I worried no one would take a band with a stolen name seriously. At least not beyond River Valley. But then I would remind myself that it didn’t matter. I was only a stand-in until Cooper’s arm wasbetter.
