Page 43 of Love, Rekindled

“Well, I’m now the proud recipient of two round-trip tickets to anywhere and a stay at one of their hotels. Once I’m homeless, I can fly out to you and live on your couch.”

She looks up and rolls her eyes. “You’re not going to be homeless, Gretch. You’re far too organized for that. We all know you have a year’s worth of income in reserve, plus it’s not like you can’t get another job.”

I release a heavy sigh. “Not the point.”

“No, that’s exactly the point,” Ashton, who refuses to leave, says as she enters the room with a bowl of popcorn. “You don’t have to work. You can take some time, find the right firm, travel, send body parts in boxes to Harold for fun, do whatever you want.”

“Body parts?”

She shrugs. “We’re from Jersey…we know people.”

I laugh. “I’ll have you know that our families work inlegitimatewaste management companies.”

Ashton smirks. “That’s what they want us to think.”

“My mother is so upset, she can’t even eat,” I say.

Ashton snorts. “I can’t believe she didn’t force Harold down the aisle claiming he ruined her daughter.”

My mother is a nutjob and still believed I was a virgin and needed advice for my marriage night. That was until my cousin spit her wine across the table and blurted out that I’ve been banging my boss for years.

Mom has been unable to really speak to me since then. I’m going to hell and she can’t bear witness.

“Well, don’t be surprised when Harold goes missing because Uncle Salvatore is adding his house to his route. God only knows what that means.”

I burst out laughing, imagining Ashton’s uncle doing just that. He was very vocal after the what-should’ve-been-wedding how no one hurts hisfamilia.

Jackson clears his throat. “And they say Navy SEALs are scary.”

She pops a kernel in her mouth and raises a brow. “They’ve got nothing on Jersey girls.”

“Speaking of Navy SEALs,” I start. “Have you heard from Quinn?”

Now it’s her turn to look uncomfortable. “No. When he’s gearing up to deploy, I never do.”

“We all deal with them differently—” Jackson starts to say but Catherine places her hand on his arm.

“Don’t you dare defend him. Her claws will come out and we’ll have to surgically remove them from your chest,” Cat warns.

Ashton has been dating Quinn for over a year, if you can call it that. I don’t even know what they’re doing, but once again, she’s pissed at him. I think of her like a feral cat. She looks cute from a distance but when you get close—she bites.

“My point is”–Ashton speaks as though none of that just happened—“that you can do whatever the hell you want. You don’t have to stay here and look for a job. Maybe getting away would be good. You know, cleanse the soul and also have an alibi when he turns up in the Hudson.”

“That would be great if I didn’t sell my condo and again—homeless.”

We were supposed to move into Harold’s place in a month. My condo is—was—the best location and I loved it here. Now, I have nothing.

“You’re more than welcome in California.”

As much as I would love to spend time with Catherine and Jackson, I need to work. I can’t be lying around on their couch, plus, they’ve only been married about six months. The last thing I really want to do is listen to them all sweet and honeymoon-like every night.

I was supposed to be on my honeymoon.

Instead, I cashed that shit in before he could and I got airline tickets and a hotel for down the line.

He left me at the altar, least I can get is a trip.

“I appreciate that, I really do, but I’m already freaking behind because of him.” I release a groan that almost sounds like a cry. “I’m never going to have kids now and I can forget my career goals! I need to find a new job. My life list requires that I don’t have a lot of time to lose.”

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