Page 7 of The Lover
Denny’s jaw dropped. He actually shut it closed with this finger. “You were married.”
“I told you it’s complicated.”
“And you divorced thaattt? Girlfriend, are you insane? Oh look, he saw you. He’s coming this way. Oh my goodness, is that scowl real? Holy shit, I think I’m going to crap my pants.”
Jake approached the table. Apparently he was a little more pissed at what I had done than I realized. Not that it mattered. He was here, and suddenly for the first time in weeks I felt… happiness.
It was how I knew I had absolutely made the right decision.
“Hi Jake.”
“Ellie.”
“This is my friend Denny. Denny, this is Jake Talley.”
Jake glared at Denny. I recognized it as his typical guy stare-down look. Denny had apparently never been on the receiving end of anything like it, because he popped up out of his chair and raised his hand.
“Don’t hurt me. I play for the other team! Bye, Ellie.” Then he took off at a near run.
Jake took his seat at the table.
“That’s Denny?” he asked.
I lifted my chin. “Yes. You have a problem with him?”
“No.”
“What are you doing here, Jake? How did you know where I was anyway?”
“I went to your dorm. Your roommate said you get coffee with your friend after class. As for why I’m here, you know why I’m here.”
“You drove three hours to yell at me about the money.”
“You’re damn right I drove three hours to yell at you about the money. Did you think I wouldn’t find it? How the hell did you even have access to my bank account?”
“I do your payroll, remember. Direct deposit.”
“You’re taking the money back.”
I took in a deep breath, because I knew I was going to have to overcome generations of built-in Montana macho to make my argument.
“Jake, after the storm, when we realized we had to stay together, we talked about this. If you were going to put your life on hold, then we would work out a deal where you would be compensated for it. That’s all that was. It was money you earned.”
He was glaring at me again. “Do you know how that sounds? Like somehow you had to pay me for… for living with you.”
I reached across the table and laid my hand on his arm. To make a point sure, but also just to touch him. Jake was here, and even if it was to yell at me it was still worth it.
“That’s not it and you know it. Because of you, we got the loan from the bank. Because of you, we got back on our feet faster than I ever imagined. What does that make me if I take all of that and give you nothing in return?”
“A friend,” he snapped.
“You said it yourself. It’s more than just getting your land back. You have an operation to get up and running. You have a house that has to get built. Last week you told me you have made no progress at all. Take the money you earned and do that.”
He said nothing for a while.
“You can afford this?”
I could. He probably wasn’t going to like why I could afford it, but that was something I could tell him later. For the next fight. Now was about winning this argument.
