Page 3 of Special Delivery Cowboy
My voice came out flat. Dead. "Get out."
"Tinsley—"
"You have until I get back from that cabin to get your shit out of here. All of it. Toothbrush, protein powder, hair gel, everything. And Grayson?" I looked him dead in his stupid blue eyes. "I quit. Effective immediately. Find yourself a new assistant who fits your lifestyle better."
His expression morphed into anger. "You can't quit. We have a full roster of patients—"
"Watch me." I walked to the door and held it open.
Flossie slid off the bed first, wrapping herself in my sheet—mysheet—and sauntering past like she'd won a prize. Grayson grabbed his shirt, put it on inside out, and opened his mouth like he wanted to say more.
"Out. Now. Before I help you leave."
He left.
I slammed the door, turned the deadbolt, and stood there for exactly thirty seconds.
Then I burst into tears.
The crying lasted maybe five minutes. Big, ugly sobs that I immediately hated myself for. Then the tears stopped. Turned off like a faucet.
And the fury came.
I ripped the sheets off the bed—all of them—and stuffed them into garbage bags. Threw Grayson's pillow in after them. Found his face wash in the bathroom and flushed it down the toilet. His protein powder? Trash. His overpriced hair gel? Trash. The framed photo of us on my nightstand? Trash.
My phone rang while I was hauling the second garbage bag to the door.
Melody, my best friend since the third grade.
I answered on speaker, dropping the bag with a satisfying thud. "He was fucking Flossie."
"I'm sorry, WHAT?"
"In my bed. I came home sick and walked in on them." I was already moving, grabbing the vacuum from the hall closet. "And get this—he was planning to break up with me tomorrow at the cabin. Said he's proposing to her on New Year's Eve instead."
"I'm going to kill him. I'm going to murder him."
"Get in line." I started vacuuming with aggressive strokes. "I'm going to that cabin anyway. He paid for it, which makes it even better."
"Hell yes you are." Melody's voice was fierce. "You're going to eat all the cookies, drink all the wine, and have the Christmas you deserve."
"Damn right I am." I moved to the kitchen, phone still on speaker. "I quit my job too. Told him he could shove his dental practice where the sun doesn't shine."
"THAT'S MY GIRL."
"I'm going to the twenty-four-hour grocery store. Right now. I'm buying everything I haven't eaten in half a year." I was pacing now, furious energy crackling through me. "All the cookies. All the pasta. All the cheese. Everything."
"Do it. Buy the whole damn store."
I grabbed my purse and keys, still talking to Melody while I locked up and headed downstairs. "I can't believe I've been so blind. This whole time he's been banging my neighbor."
"You're better off without him, sweetie."
"I know." And I did know. Already, underneath the anger and hurt, I knew. "I'm going to spend Christmas alone and figure out what comes next. New job. New life. New everything."
"That's the spirit. Call me when you get there tomorrow?"
"Will do." I threw my purse in the passenger seat. "Love you."
