Page 90 of Floodgates

He gave me a grin that made his dimples pop, and then he was gone. It was probably good he was leaving me for a little while; I had lots of calls to make.

It took the better part of two hours to talk to my dad, Alex, Evan, and Matt. I talked to Dimah, as well.

“You are fine?”

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“Thank you for e-mailing payroll to me.”

“Of course.”

“When will you be home?”

“Hopefully someone will try and kill me quick.”

“This is not funny.”

“Sorry. Bad joke.”

He was quiet for a few moments. “You like that police officer very much, yes?”

“What?”

He chuckled. “You are a bad actor.”

I grunted. “I am going to see if I can invite him to my house when I get home.”

“That sounds promising.”

“Thanks.”

After I hung up, I decided to read for a bit, since I had no intention of going downstairs and seeing or talking to Breckin. I tried really hard not to fall asleep.

I WOKE up starving because the time was off by three hours. So eight in Vermont was only five at home. Cord still wasn’t back, and when I tried his cell it went straight to voice mail. After changing into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, I went to find something to eat. Downstairs in the kitchen, I rummaged around in the refrigerator until I came up with jelly and milk. I checked the pantry and found peanut butter and honey-wheat bread. I was standing beside the counter having my little feast when Breckin came into the room. He didn’t stop when he saw me, but walked straight up to me and would have wrapped his arms around me if I hadn’t moved quickly around the island with copper pots hanging over it, putting that between us.

“I’m so sorry.”

Was he kidding?

“Baby,” he said softly, taking a step toward me. “I’m so sorry. I really am.”

I moved quickly, keeping distance between us. “Jesus, Breckin, you treat me like shit, you change your mind about stuff every two seconds, and you spend the day acting all lovey-dovey with Celia. Are you fucking kidding me?”

He looked at me hard. “I already told you why.”

“No, no, I think I would have remembered that. I think your reasoning for being a total prick would stick in my brain.”

He shook his head. “Cord.”

“Cord?”

“Yeah, Cord. He’s all over you, and I can’t stand it.”

“Cord is being a gentleman. I’m the one all over him.”

“Because he’s letting you, and the only reason you’re giving him the time of day is that I have just trashed your life.”

“You didn’t trash anything,” I assured him. “Everything’s fine.”