Page 68 of A Montana Fake Marriage

So, she’d done the most rash thing she could think of doing, and she’d signed the dang things. Every single initial seemed to make her bleed. Her vision had blurred as angry tears had swum in her eyes. If he wanted a divorce so bad, she’d give it to him.

Heck, she’d do him one better.

She hadn’t heard anything final about her inheritance. Her father had been MIA for the last week, and her lawyer hadn’t gotten back to her, either. She didn’t know if she was even going to get that money, but she felt defiant as all get out.

So she’d packed her things and ran from the only place that felt like home.

Hallie had graciously offered to let her borrow her car until she found something more permanent, and now Sammie was wandering the street aimlessly. She knew better than to try to move into a motel. That would get expensive. She didn’t trust herself to stay on the Reese family property.

She had nowhere to go.

Sammie groaned, resting her head on the steering wheel. Maybe it was time to accept that she was the poor little street urchin she was and sleep in her car until she could get a more permanent job.

The Steer House was hiring waitresses. That had potential. She’d never worked in the food service industry—but then again, she’d never worked on a ranch. Her life had been turned upside down since she’d graduated college, and now she was officially on her own.

Sammie stared down at the ring on her finger. It was the only thing she couldn’t bear to lose after she’d walked away fromCaleb’s home. Removing it would make the whole situation feel all the more real.

It wasn’t until she pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot and climbed out that she realized her head was making a decision, and her body was just going along for the ride.

She didn’t immediately track down the manager, though that would have been a good place to start. Instead, she looked around until she found a familiar face.

The hostess came up to her, blocking her view. “Table for one?”

Sammie jumped and looked at the woman, briefly terrified that she’d made the worst mistake in coming here. Then she nodded. “Does Lacey have any open tables?”

The hostess seemed confused at first. Then hesitation filled her eyes. “I’m supposed to give you a table based on?—”

“Just sit her at one of my tables, Maria. No one is going to get upset.” Lacey smiled at Sammie, a tray on her hip. Then she held out her hand. “Never mind. Give me the menu, and I’ll take her to one in the corner.”

Sammie followed the waitress, hating the way her legs simply had decided to do things without consulting the rest of her. When Lacey gestured to the booth, Sammie slipped inside. She felt numb and cold, which was strange because the former should have canceled out anything else. She heaved a sigh of frustration that it had come to this.

What kind of person went from having everything to losing everything? She’d realized it far too late, and she didn’t have any excuses. Caleb had been her everything at one time, and she’d allowed herself to believe it would last forever.

She’d been an idiot—an idiot who took everything for granted. That was her.

Lacey’s smile faltered. She must have seen the distraught look on Sammie’s face, because she flagged down another waitress and murmured something about taking a quick break before slipping into the booth across from Sammie. “You finally back to have that chat?”

Sammie swallowed down the tears that threatened to escape her. She nodded. That was all she could do at this moment. She had nothing. Nowhere to go. Sure, she had a little bit of money saved over the last year. It was enough to maybe find a really cheap place to rent, but now that she had walked away from her job, who would want to offer her even the security of a place to stay?

“What’s the matter?” Lacey’s voice was soft. It didn’t seem to match with the confidence the woman oozed when she was walking around the restaurant on a mission. She reached across the table and patted Sammie’s upper arm. “You can tell me. Maybe I can help.”

Sammie placed her face in her hands, her elbows thumping on the table, and finally the tears fell. Unlike the painful sobs that wracked her body when she’d cried to Caleb, these ones were near silent. The last thing she wanted to do was garner attention from the tables of people who were trying to enjoy their dinners in peace.

“Sweetie? What’s the matter?” Notes of frantic worry edged the woman’s voice, and Sammie glanced up, embarrassed.

“I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. I mean it. What’s going on?”

“I—do you know if this place is hiring someone without experience?”

Lacey’s eyes narrowed then widened with understanding. “Are you looking for a job?”

Sammie nodded, cheeks flooding with heat. “I…” The thought of telling this woman every nasty detail of her life terrified her. She couldn’t bring herself to do it. All she could do was suck in sharp breaths and pray that she’d find the words to make it sound not quite as bad as it was. “I’m getting a divorce… and I need to find work elsewhere. I was working for his family.” Her voice broke, her emotions getting the better of her when she noted the understanding in the woman’s gaze. Lacey probably saw all the desperation written in Sammie’s eyes.

So mortifying.

“Do you need a place to stay, hon? It’s not very big, but I have a couch you could crash on. And I’ve got a kid, if that doesn’t bother you.”

---