“Not at all. It’s just… unusual, that’s all. I’ve no idea how he’ll react.”
“Yeah, well, I doubt he’ll do much about it if he’s running away from all his problems.”
He glances at the clock on the wall. “Let’s head to the court.” He leaves the check sitting on the desk as he gets to his feet. “Annul your marriage as you so ardently desire.”
I don’t say that what I ardently desire most is an apology from him for using me, perhaps a groveling sorry and him on his knees begging me to reconsider. I want him to be better than Oswald, but I know he isn’t. All men are the same.
He’d rather be alone and rich than admit that he has feelings for me. Let him run. I don’t need a coward or a liar in my life.
51
Bex
* * *
“So that’s that.”
Ursula is sipping hot cocoa while my throat dries out from talking. “Wow,” she says as I come to a stop. “So the ball’s very much in his court right now.”
I walk over to the sink and pour myself a glass of water, taking a sip before I continue. “Court hearing takes place tomorrow. Apparently, it normally takes a few weeks, but Toby managed to pull some strings.”
“And it doesn’t matter that Hunter is a fugitive?”
“Works in my favor. The court hears that he coerced me into marrying him, and they’re sure to annul it.”
“That’s great.”
“I know.”
She wags a finger. “If I can go all Colombo about this, though. Just one more question.”
“What?”
“You don’t sound too happy about it.”
“No, I am. Seriously.”
“You sound like you don’t want to annul the marriage. You sound a lot like if he called right now and asked you to reconsider, you might.”
“Well, he’s not going to call, so that doesn’t matter, does it?”
She shakes her head. “I guess not. Can’t believe you turned the money down, though. We could have bought the store, done it up, and got a ton of Falcone designs in for people to look through. We’d have been on easy street. Instead, we’re looking for work and hoping we don’t fall behind on the rent on this place.”
“Sorry. I couldn’t take his money. It would have been wrong.”
“At least we’ll have the moral high ground while we starve.”
“Hey, something will turn up. Right?”
“I hope so.” She sighs and then gets to her feet. “How about we go down to the karaoke bar?”
“We need to be saving all our cash right now.”
“You forgot the free tab we won for rocking out on Meatloaf at the sing-off?”
52
Bex