Page 116 of The Tomorrows After You
“It was an accident!”shefinally choked out.
Spinning around, I stalked toward her. “Pardon?” I cupped an ear in her direction. Her pink cheeks reddened.
“It was an accident, I swear. I’ve taken on way too much with the church this year, so when Jeremy asked me to put together a highlightreel for you… I cut some corners. I heard about this AI tool that was supposed to make my workload easier. I asked it to give me the most popular clips of Nicolette Parker and…” She looked positively miserable. “I never double checked what those clips were.”
My eyes narrowed in her direction. “I’m supposed to believe that?”
The guilt on her facewasonlyeclipsedby the shame. “I swear I didn’t know. I would haveneverput something like that in front of the Field Days.” She swallowed. “But itwasmy responsibility. And…” She sighed with closed eyes. “And I definitely took advantage of it.”
She looked genuinely disappointed in herself.
“I should have taken accountability and apologized immediately. But I didn’t."Her breath sped up and it was as if I was watching something burst inside her. “It was just so hard to watch Riot fall away from me themomentyou waltzed into town. He was…” She looked me square in the eyes. “He was everything. And he was supposed to beitfor me. He was my happy ever after, you know?” She shrugged, a tear rolling down her cheek. “I’ve never been like you, Nicolette. You shine. Brighter than all of us. And it was like he saw you coming from miles away. With everything I’m part of, everything I do for this town… I can’t even remember the last time someone asked me howmyday was. Or howI’mdoing. I don’t shine for anybody.”
I wanted to scoff at her crocodile tears but her final words hit me like a gut punch. The words carried an undertone of relief and I wondered if she’d ever admitted this to anyone. The grief that flashed across her brow almost made me feel guilty.
The woman had literally quit seminary school to help Riot, harboring the dream of being his wife one day. It was batshit crazy but there was something respectable about that level of self-sacrifice.
“None of this would have anything to do with Jeremy’s sudden one-eighty for Riot’s endorsement, would it?”
Katie’s eyes went a little wide.
“That was mostly Jeremy. He knows his department screwed up all those year’s ago. But I may have nudged him in the directionof how to start fixing it. Anyway,”shecontinued.“I reallyamsorry. I don’t deserve your forgiveness butI’llspend the rest of my lifeprayingfor it.”
Ichokedback a laugh,picturingKatiekneelingat her bedside,askingGod for my forgiveness at night. I didn’t want to forgive her. But did I really want to be a prayer on this woman’s lips for the rest of my life? Icrossedmy arms andleanedagainst the door jamb,chewingon the inside of my mouth while Iassessedher. Her tiny framedwarfedby the massive office. An ideasnakedthrough my brain as Iregardedher.
“You want to make it up to me?”
Her eyes lit up. “I’ll do anything I can.”
Emboldened by the two women flanking my sides, I strode right up to Jacob’s massive porch and landed three hard knocks.
When the front dooropened, his eyesregisteredsurprise. Itookup as much space in the doorway as possible.
“HiUncle Jake,” I said, pushing past him, without an invitation.
“Nicolette,” he feigned happily. “What... are you doing here?” he asked with a phony smile.
“What, I can’t drop by my uncle’s house for a visit with some friends?”I bat my eyelashes.
He chuckled nervously. “Well, of course you can! If I’d known you were bringing company, I would have tidied up a bit.” He clasped his hands, looking around.
I stepped toward him. “No need actually, Jake. This is your official eviction notice.” The smile dropped from my face like a rock plunking into water. His phony grin faltered. He blinked away the confusion.
“I’m s-sorry, wh-what?” he stammered.
I pushed an open palm in Katie’s direction, never letting my eyes divert from his uncomfortable, confused twitches. Katie placed a short stack of papers in my hand. I pushed them into Jacob’s chest. He fumbled with the packet.
“Transfer of ownership? Nicolette, what is this?”
I walked deeper into the farmhouse so that the three of us encircled him.
“You see, my best friend Chelsea herehasbeenholedup in a tiny little two-bedroom ranch with three little girls and one bathroom for several years now. She needs more room. And you need to leave Godot. So, Ithought, what a perfect opportunity for you to pay yourgood fortuneforward.You’regoingtosign this over to her and then youhavetwenty-four hours to vacate the premises.”
A practiced smile stretched across my face. I clasped my hands, mimicking his position. I waited and watched a rainbow of emotions flash across his face, soaking up every bit of his discomfort.
“And why would I do that?” His voice dropped an octave.There’s the conniving little opportunist I knew was lurking there.
“Because I’m asking nicely. And I’m only going to ask nicelyonce.“ I took two strides toward him, pulling a pen out of my back pocket. “But you should know, I’m prepared to get mean. So,please, test me.”He swayed, ready to call my bluff.“Because the next question I ask will be in a lawyer’s office, reexamining my Aunt Shirley’s will that wegraciouslydid not contest.”
