Thirty-Two and a Half Complications
Page 31
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I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the truck seat. What on earth were we gonna do?
“Rose.” Her voice was harsh. “You need to stop being so mule-headed stubborn and ask Mason to help out.”
“No.”
“Rose!”
“No! That’s your solution to everything! Ask someone else to bail you out. You got us into this mess, so we need to bail ourselves out, Violet! We need to stand on our own two feet.”
“Is that a thinly veiled insult about my personal life?”
“It wasn’t intended that way, but if you want to take it that way, go right ahead. You have to admit there’s a buttload of truth in it. You left Mike to have an affair with Brody MacIntosh, the mayor. Then, when you figured out that Joe’s daddy had photographic evidence of your misdeeds and planned to use it to destroy you and Brody’s future political career, you ditched him and tried to get back with Mike. You’re scared of being alone. You like to have someone else around to solve all your problems.”
I could hear her sharp intake of air.
“Not to mention you needed me to help open your nursery.”
“Our nursery.”
“Honestly, Violet, what was the last thing you ever did on your own? Good heavens, you’ve even roped Joe into helping you with the kids. And don’t fool yourself—he’s only interested in you and the kids as a way of getting back with me.”
“Oh! Because there’s not a chance he’s interested in me?”
“No, Violet. There’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that he’s interested in you.”
She was quiet for several frosty seconds. “Don’t bother coming into the store to work tomorrow,” she finally said. “I’ll get someone to cover for you.”
“Is there even a store to go into?” I asked snidely.
“There’s no reason to take that hateful tone with me, Rose Anne Gardner! The bank manager has given us until next Friday to pay it off so we can at least enjoy Thanksgiving.”
“Enjoy Thanksgiving knowing the bank is about to foreclose on us? Are you kidding me?”
Violet hung up on me and I turned off the engine, staring out the windshield as I tried to figure out what had happened. In the course of less than a minute, I had lost my business and my sister.
Thank God I was on my way to a counseling session.
Chapter Nine
“Okay, slow down,” Reverend Jonah Pruitt said. We were sitting next to each other in the chairs in front of his office desk. He was sporting a new hairdo, including a full set of highlights and a liberal use of gel. He was the vainest man I’d ever met, but then again, he was the only man I knew who spent a good deal of time in front of TV cameras. And the viewership of his weekly Sunday morning church service broadcasts was growing by leaps and bounds. Soon he’d be so big he wouldn’t have time for someone as lowly as me. But that wasn’t true. Despite Jonah’s TV show appearance, he had a heart of gold and would do anything for his friends. I was lucky to be included in the group.
“Okay.” I sniffled.
He handed me a tissue to dry my eyes. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”
So I did. I told him about the bank robbery, Joe’s intrusion into my life, and my possible pregnancy—which felt weird discussing with a man of the cloth even if it was Jonah—ending with an account of my blowout argument with Violet and the possible demise of our business.
“Wow,” he said, sitting back in his seat. “You’ve had quite a week. Even for you.”
“Yeah, I know.” I wiped my nose.
“What’s upsetting you the most right now?”
“I don’t know. It’s so hard to choose. The fact that I might be on the verge of losing all my money and destroying my credit? Or that my ex-boyfriend doesn’t understand that I’m no longer interested in him? That my sister has completely and utterly betrayed me? Or that I could be pregnant with the baby of the man I think I love but have been seeing for less than a month?”
He chuckled. “The fact that you still have your sense of humor is a good sign.”
“Is it? Or does it mean I’ve officially lost my mind?”
“No, you haven’t lost your mind, although you do seem to have more than your fair share of complications. What makes you different from most of my parishioners is that you don’t seem to bring any of it on yourself. It just finds you.”
“Maybe I’m cursed.”
“Do you believe in such things?” he asked, watching me carefully.
“Well, I never used to, but one has to wonder. Maybe getting rid of curses is on Neely Kate’s list of newly acquired pseudo-supernatural abilities.”
Jonah chuckled. “Seeing how I’m your pastor, I shouldn’t be saying this, but maybe you should consider it. Fair warning: I suspect chicken bones might be involved.”
“So what am I going to do, Jonah?”
He gave me a gentle smile. “Out of the entire list of complications you’ve just told me about, which is the most important?
I leaned my elbow on the armchair and rested my chin on my hand. “I don’t know.”
“I’m sure you do, Rose. If you could only fix one of your problems, which would it be?”
“Whether I’m pregnant or not doesn’t change anything in the short term. I’m sure Mason will stand with me either way.”
“Rose.” Her voice was harsh. “You need to stop being so mule-headed stubborn and ask Mason to help out.”
“No.”
“Rose!”
“No! That’s your solution to everything! Ask someone else to bail you out. You got us into this mess, so we need to bail ourselves out, Violet! We need to stand on our own two feet.”
“Is that a thinly veiled insult about my personal life?”
“It wasn’t intended that way, but if you want to take it that way, go right ahead. You have to admit there’s a buttload of truth in it. You left Mike to have an affair with Brody MacIntosh, the mayor. Then, when you figured out that Joe’s daddy had photographic evidence of your misdeeds and planned to use it to destroy you and Brody’s future political career, you ditched him and tried to get back with Mike. You’re scared of being alone. You like to have someone else around to solve all your problems.”
I could hear her sharp intake of air.
“Not to mention you needed me to help open your nursery.”
“Our nursery.”
“Honestly, Violet, what was the last thing you ever did on your own? Good heavens, you’ve even roped Joe into helping you with the kids. And don’t fool yourself—he’s only interested in you and the kids as a way of getting back with me.”
“Oh! Because there’s not a chance he’s interested in me?”
“No, Violet. There’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that he’s interested in you.”
She was quiet for several frosty seconds. “Don’t bother coming into the store to work tomorrow,” she finally said. “I’ll get someone to cover for you.”
“Is there even a store to go into?” I asked snidely.
“There’s no reason to take that hateful tone with me, Rose Anne Gardner! The bank manager has given us until next Friday to pay it off so we can at least enjoy Thanksgiving.”
“Enjoy Thanksgiving knowing the bank is about to foreclose on us? Are you kidding me?”
Violet hung up on me and I turned off the engine, staring out the windshield as I tried to figure out what had happened. In the course of less than a minute, I had lost my business and my sister.
Thank God I was on my way to a counseling session.
Chapter Nine
“Okay, slow down,” Reverend Jonah Pruitt said. We were sitting next to each other in the chairs in front of his office desk. He was sporting a new hairdo, including a full set of highlights and a liberal use of gel. He was the vainest man I’d ever met, but then again, he was the only man I knew who spent a good deal of time in front of TV cameras. And the viewership of his weekly Sunday morning church service broadcasts was growing by leaps and bounds. Soon he’d be so big he wouldn’t have time for someone as lowly as me. But that wasn’t true. Despite Jonah’s TV show appearance, he had a heart of gold and would do anything for his friends. I was lucky to be included in the group.
“Okay.” I sniffled.
He handed me a tissue to dry my eyes. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”
So I did. I told him about the bank robbery, Joe’s intrusion into my life, and my possible pregnancy—which felt weird discussing with a man of the cloth even if it was Jonah—ending with an account of my blowout argument with Violet and the possible demise of our business.
“Wow,” he said, sitting back in his seat. “You’ve had quite a week. Even for you.”
“Yeah, I know.” I wiped my nose.
“What’s upsetting you the most right now?”
“I don’t know. It’s so hard to choose. The fact that I might be on the verge of losing all my money and destroying my credit? Or that my ex-boyfriend doesn’t understand that I’m no longer interested in him? That my sister has completely and utterly betrayed me? Or that I could be pregnant with the baby of the man I think I love but have been seeing for less than a month?”
He chuckled. “The fact that you still have your sense of humor is a good sign.”
“Is it? Or does it mean I’ve officially lost my mind?”
“No, you haven’t lost your mind, although you do seem to have more than your fair share of complications. What makes you different from most of my parishioners is that you don’t seem to bring any of it on yourself. It just finds you.”
“Maybe I’m cursed.”
“Do you believe in such things?” he asked, watching me carefully.
“Well, I never used to, but one has to wonder. Maybe getting rid of curses is on Neely Kate’s list of newly acquired pseudo-supernatural abilities.”
Jonah chuckled. “Seeing how I’m your pastor, I shouldn’t be saying this, but maybe you should consider it. Fair warning: I suspect chicken bones might be involved.”
“So what am I going to do, Jonah?”
He gave me a gentle smile. “Out of the entire list of complications you’ve just told me about, which is the most important?
I leaned my elbow on the armchair and rested my chin on my hand. “I don’t know.”
“I’m sure you do, Rose. If you could only fix one of your problems, which would it be?”
“Whether I’m pregnant or not doesn’t change anything in the short term. I’m sure Mason will stand with me either way.”
