Page 20 of All Wrong
She didn’t want to tell Lacie about losing the promotion to Becci. It was too fresh, and for Corinne, the sense of betrayal was too deep. She’d been doing all the right things, attending all the right classes. Taking on additional responsibilities to prove she could do the job.
Besides, Lacie would want to do something about it, like appeal to her husband. Shane knew members of the bank’s board of directors, and Lacie would ask him to inquire into the situation. The thing was, Corinne wasn’t sure she cared enough anymore. And karmawasa bitch.
“Do I need to kick someone’s heinie?” Lacie asked firmly.
The thought of her mild-mannered kindergarten teacher sister doing anything remotely violent brought a laugh to Corinne’s lips. “No, but thanks for the offer.”
“Anytime. So … if you don’t want to talk about that, tell me about your date. Did you go someplace nice?”
Telling Lacie that she hung around the police station, waiting for Nick, after seeing the cops take him away, was a no-go.
“Let’s just say, it wasn’t one of the best dates I’d ever had, and leave it at that.” Which was technically true because while it wasn’t unpleasant, it wasn’t a date at all.
A stretch of silence ensued as Lacie waited for Corinne to offer more information, and Corinne refused to go into details about where she’d gone or who she’d been with.
“Oh, Rinn, I’m sorry. You’re not having a good week, are you?”
“No.” She decided to throw Lacie another bone and tell her about the car. “And then, today, my car died on my way home from the grocery store, and I had to get it towed.”
“Oh no! What happened?”
“I don’t know. It just died.”
“Just like that? Without warning?”
“The Check Engine light was on for a while.”
“And you didn’t get it checked out?”
Was everybody going to get on her case about that? Corinne’s earlier irritation returned with a vengeance. Should she have taken her car in and had it checked out? Yes. Did she need someone stating the obvious every five seconds? No.
“I didn’t think it was a big deal, okay? And I’ve been busy,” Corinne answered.
“You need to make time. What if you’d broken down at night or something?”
“Then, I guess I would’ve done precisely what I did today—call for a tow,” she snapped.
More silence.
“Look, Lace, I’m sorry. I’m not in the best mood. It’s been a long and shitty day.”
“Did something else happen?” Lacie asked quietly.
You mean, like getting evicted and having to find a new place to live in the next couple of weeks?
Corinne wasn’t getting into that when Lacie was in obvious mother-hen mode. Lacie would probably drive over at that very moment with tubs of icecream and her Netflix password, like they used to when they were younger and one of them was dealing with life’s trials and tribulations.
From Lacie’s end, she heard a crash and a shout of, “Mom!”
Corinne grabbed at the opportunity like a lifeline. “Sounds like you’d better take care of that.”
“Mom!”
“Go, Lace. I’m fine. Really.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I swear. I’m just tired. I’m going to curl up with snacks and a good book and make it an early night.”
