admire them.
It was nearly four. Another hour, she’d close up the shop and head home to her empty house. She hated it there now and was actually looking forward to the day it finally sold and they could leave it. The thought of Thad with other women in their house made her sick to her stomach. Apparently, he’d done it everywhere else too, but knowing he would be so blatant, so bold was just another slap. “I told you to stop that. He’s not worth it,” she warned herself then turned her back on the mirror.
Maybe she should just give in and let Thad close the shop too. Screw it all—him, the house, the store. Perhaps just give up everything and start over somewhere else. When Jilly started college she could just move with her. She’d give Jill her freedom, of course, to have the whole college experience, but Jilly would know that her mom would still be near if and when she needed her to be. The possibility of opening a new store wherever Jilly landed wasn’t out of the question. But it still burned all the same. Just as much of her hard-earned money had gone into the place as Thad’s. She’d worked her ass off at many different jobs while Thad had tried to make his way to the NFL. She’d supported them all for years. The shop, the concept, the location, everything else had been her idea from the beginning. Thad had put up half of the original start-up cost, when he signed his first contract. On opening day he’d shown up to promote the place then never given it another thought after that. He didn’t care about the business or the house. “ You came into this marriage with nothing, you’ll leave it the same way, ” he’d said to her. That was true. But when they’d married, he didn’t have anything either. And they were happy that way.
Lainey started to do the normal things she did to close up for the day. She removed some of the more expensive merchandise out of the front window, so that it wouldn’t attract any would-be thieves to smash and grab, and placed the items farther toward the rear of the store or in the back. After refolding the few things that customers had rearranged, she made sure the lights and radio were off, and locked the back door. At the front of the store, she pulled out the deposit slip and bag from under the counter and totaled up the money in the till.
A little better day , she thought. Three hundred was better than seventy. But it still wouldn’t cover the rent or the insurance, or the twenty or so vendors who were breathing down her neck demanding payment. Finally getting smart, she’d been giving them Thad’s lawyer’s name and siccing them on him. Let him explain why they weren’t being paid. If this was all his, as he claimed, then Thad could damn well pay them.
For the next half hour she did nothing but watch the clock, learning long ago not to fill out the deposit slip until she’d actually locked the door. Nothing made her more pissy than to fill it out and have a customer come in and having to redo. But it would be great if she did make another sale before she closed up.
At exactly five o’clock Lainey turned the sign to ‘Closed’ and finished filling out the slip. Popping the cash in the bag, she then locked up and walked down the block subsequently tossing the deposit into the bank box. Back at the car she hesitated before getting in, then looked across the street at the coffee shop and decided to run over and get something for supper so that she didn’t have to cook or, worse, warm up soup for one.
The place was busy. She almost turned around and left but the smell of food lured her in. She stood in line waiting her turn, when from behind her she heard, “Well, hello, Ms. Clarkson.” And the butterflies in her stomach doubled and tripled.
Unable to hide the pleasure from her face, she responded, “Hello, Mr Westlake. I’m not really surprised to see you here.”
“Oh, then I have become predictable. Not like me at
It was nearly four. Another hour, she’d close up the shop and head home to her empty house. She hated it there now and was actually looking forward to the day it finally sold and they could leave it. The thought of Thad with other women in their house made her sick to her stomach. Apparently, he’d done it everywhere else too, but knowing he would be so blatant, so bold was just another slap. “I told you to stop that. He’s not worth it,” she warned herself then turned her back on the mirror.
Maybe she should just give in and let Thad close the shop too. Screw it all—him, the house, the store. Perhaps just give up everything and start over somewhere else. When Jilly started college she could just move with her. She’d give Jill her freedom, of course, to have the whole college experience, but Jilly would know that her mom would still be near if and when she needed her to be. The possibility of opening a new store wherever Jilly landed wasn’t out of the question. But it still burned all the same. Just as much of her hard-earned money had gone into the place as Thad’s. She’d worked her ass off at many different jobs while Thad had tried to make his way to the NFL. She’d supported them all for years. The shop, the concept, the location, everything else had been her idea from the beginning. Thad had put up half of the original start-up cost, when he signed his first contract. On opening day he’d shown up to promote the place then never given it another thought after that. He didn’t care about the business or the house. “ You came into this marriage with nothing, you’ll leave it the same way, ” he’d said to her. That was true. But when they’d married, he didn’t have anything either. And they were happy that way.
Lainey started to do the normal things she did to close up for the day. She removed some of the more expensive merchandise out of the front window, so that it wouldn’t attract any would-be thieves to smash and grab, and placed the items farther toward the rear of the store or in the back. After refolding the few things that customers had rearranged, she made sure the lights and radio were off, and locked the back door. At the front of the store, she pulled out the deposit slip and bag from under the counter and totaled up the money in the till.
A little better day , she thought. Three hundred was better than seventy. But it still wouldn’t cover the rent or the insurance, or the twenty or so vendors who were breathing down her neck demanding payment. Finally getting smart, she’d been giving them Thad’s lawyer’s name and siccing them on him. Let him explain why they weren’t being paid. If this was all his, as he claimed, then Thad could damn well pay them.
For the next half hour she did nothing but watch the clock, learning long ago not to fill out the deposit slip until she’d actually locked the door. Nothing made her more pissy than to fill it out and have a customer come in and having to redo. But it would be great if she did make another sale before she closed up.
At exactly five o’clock Lainey turned the sign to ‘Closed’ and finished filling out the slip. Popping the cash in the bag, she then locked up and walked down the block subsequently tossing the deposit into the bank box. Back at the car she hesitated before getting in, then looked across the street at the coffee shop and decided to run over and get something for supper so that she didn’t have to cook or, worse, warm up soup for one.
The place was busy. She almost turned around and left but the smell of food lured her in. She stood in line waiting her turn, when from behind her she heard, “Well, hello, Ms. Clarkson.” And the butterflies in her stomach doubled and tripled.
Unable to hide the pleasure from her face, she responded, “Hello, Mr Westlake. I’m not really surprised to see you here.”
“Oh, then I have become predictable. Not like me at
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