Page 4 of Sins of the Father

“I’ll see you tomorrow, bright and early. Kiss Hope for me.” I hang up and go back into my closet and rummage through my drawers.

Which lingerie should I take?

Why does it even matter? You haven’t been laid in forever.

You’ll be a dried-up prune before long.

Oh God, five years until I’m forty.

I search through the drawer and pull out several sexy numbers even though I’m pretty positive my B.O.B. will be the only thing accessing my lady parts.

I pull out the outfits I bought for the rehearsal dinner and wedding, along with several others. I debate how many outfits I should take and end up with two suitcases, which is most of my wardrobe.

It would be easy to move, I guess.

Since your husband cleaned out all your accounts and left you with nothing but these two suitcases, it’s only appropriate you keep them close to your heart.

Ex-husband.

“Lord, I’m pathetic.”

“What are you pathetic about now?” Anna says and scares me half to death.

I jump and put my hand over my heart. “Did you have to sneak up on me?”

She pushes her blonde hair off her face and winces. “Sorry. Your front door was hanging open.”

“Whoops.”

She tosses me my keys. “You left these in the front lock.”

“Oops. Glad it was you.”

“You really should pay better attention to your security. We do live in New York. And this isn’t the best neighborhood.”

It’s all I could afford on my own.

“So far, this is a murder-free zone, so I’m doing something right.”

“Not funny.” She points at my bags. “Are you taking two full-sized suitcases for a four-day trip?”

“Yeah. What are you taking?”

“A full-sized case and carry on.”

“Pretty close to what I’m taking, then. So you know I love seeing you, but what are you doing here?”

She flops down on my bed and frowns. “Mitch and I just got into a big fight again.”

I sit next to her and pretzel my legs on the bed. “What about?”

“I don’t want to talk about it. But sometimes I wonder why I try so hard.”

“So stop.”

“What do you mean?”

“Stop trying so hard and see what happens.”

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