He gifted me with his most charming smile which instantly put me on edge.
“I didn’t like how we left things yesterday, darlin’. I never see you anymore.”
“Since everything’s gotten so expensive these days, I work seven days a week.”
He winced but quickly smoothed his expression.
“About that,” he said.
I couldn’t bear to hear him lie about money again. Not when I was so close to being out from under his thumb.
“If you’re here to ask about our camping trip, I need to wait until my dad’s back to normal. If he fell again, my mom’s not strong enough to help him off the floor.”
It was obvious from his expression he forgot about the camping trip. My heart hurt from wasting so much time with someone who saw me as an ATM. While I hadn’t been in love with him, I did care about him. Now it was hard to pretend I didn’t hate the sight of him.
“I’ve also taken on some extra work to help with the new bills, so I’ll have even less time off,” I added with a shrug of apology. “But maybe we can talk about camping next month.”
The camping trip was a lie, a lure he dangled to keep me on the line, and it almost worked.
“Sure. That’s fine.” He cleared his throat. I steeled myself against whatever lie he queued up next. “There seems to be a problem with your debit card.”
“My debit card?” I repeated slowly.
My confusion was real. There were no problems with my debit card, but the lawyer recommended I change all my passwords and replace my cards. I thought it was unnecessary because I never gave Beau any of my banking or credit card information, since I transferred funds to him through an app.
She assured me it saved many of her clients, so I took her advice.
I changed everything, but he shouldn’t know that. In addition to ordering all new cards, I forwarded my mail to my parents’ house, and I updated my address directly with all of my financial institutions a few days ago.
“Yeah,” he continued. “You got a letter from your bank today saying there was a problem. I tried to take care of it for you because I know you’re so busy, but they wouldn’t let me since I wasn’t on the account.”
“That’s upsetting, but I’ll have to call them tomorrow since I’m sure they’re closed by now.”
He waved his hand airily.
“I can take care of it for you. Let me know your account password, and I’ll square everything away. You know how you can be sometimes, always putting off important things until they become a major problem.”
He smirked at me in that smug, condescending way I hated.
“But they won’t talk to you since you’re not the cardholder,” I argued.
“It’s fine. If I have your information, I’ll tell them my name is Daniel, and there’s a typo on the account. It’s not a big deal.”
The off-hand way he trotted out that solution made my blood run cold. Had he done that before? Did I need to go through my accounts with a fine-toothed comb? Clearly, I needed to prioritize getting those credit reports like the lawyer said.
Shit, shit, shit.
I deflated at the prospect of not only adding more to my already insurmountable to-do list but having more financial catastrophes to handle.
“Order up,” Dakota called out.
Startled, I made eye contact with my boss. Sometimes, if we weren’t busy, he delivered the food he cooked directly to the tables himself. He was a real people person, in addition to being a great short-order cook and boss, and he loved connecting with his customers. Right now, he was giving me an escape route.
“I’ve got to get back to work,” I said.
“But what about your debit card?” Beau whined.
“I can’t afford to lose this job, Beau.”
