A Chance at Love (A Ferry Creek Novel): (a billionaire romance novel) (18 page)

“
No
you won
’
t,
”
Jess said.
“
I
’
m
helping you. I don
’
t need
ten bucks for a pizza.
”

“
But
your night,
”
Katey started.

“
Was
going to be spent eating a pizza by myself, thinking...
”

Jess stopped herself. She couldn
’
t speak of Sullivan. Not right
then. No way in hell.

“
Thinking
of what?
”
Katey asked.

“
No,
nothing.
”

“
Liar.
”

“
Katey,
I want to focus on you.
”

“
I
don
’
t,
”
Katey said.
“
Look at me. It
’
s done. Okay? It
’
s done. Jess... I
’
m divorced.
”

“
You
filed? Or you
’
re talking
about it?
”

Jess
’
s
brakes squeaked as they came to a red light. She looked at Katey and saw her
best friend shaking her head.

“
You
don
’
t understand,
”
Katey said.
“
I
’
m
divorced. It was official today.
”

“
What
do you mean official?
”

“
I
filed a while ago,
”
Katey
admitted.

The light turned green and Jess had
to drive. Her heart raced and pounded in her chest. It was hard to concentrate
on anything.

“
I
didn
’
t want to say anything
to anyone,
”
Katey said.
“
I didn
’
t want to hear anyone
’
s
thoughts or opinions about it. Not that I don
’
t
love you, Jess. I
’
m sure
you would have been there for me no matter what. But I had to do this on my
own. This was... my thing.
”

“
I
get it,
”
Jess whispered.
“
I get it. I just can
’
t believe it.
”

“
Believe
it,
”
Katey said. She held
up her left hand. It was bare. No rings.
“
I
left them for him. Even the house. He wanted it, so he gets it.
”

“
You
’
re not fighting for it?
”

“
No.
I want out. A clean break. I have the most important stuff with me right now.
The rest I could use and I
’
ll
try to get. But I honestly don
’
t
care.
”

The news was shocking and the rest
of the drive was strangely silent. Jess strained her eyes every minute or so to
check on Katey. It seemed one moment she was fine and the next Jess could see
her bottom lip quivering.

Jess respected Katey, so she didn
’
t say a word. She stopped to get
the pizza and came back to the car to find Katey with her phone in her hand.
Again, Jess remained the silent, supportive friend. When they got to Jess
’
s place, Jess grabbed plates and
placed the pizza right in the middle of the coffee table. It was just going to
be that kind of night, which was perfectly fine with Jess because her mind
couldn
’
t forget Sullivan.
The way he looked standing there in the diner. Looking around. Gazing upon
pictures. How she found the courage to actually talk to him. Then came the
question she hadn
’
t been
expecting at all... Sullivan wanted to know if they were related. To Jess, it
just showed how out of place Sullivan was coming to Ferry Creek and it was
simply a gentle reminder that Sullivan did not live in Ferry Creek and probably
didn
’
t plan on doing do so.

“
You
’
ve been in a daze,
”
Katey said as she finished a
piece of the pizza.

“
No,
not at all,
”
Jess said.
“
My mind is...
”

“
What
are you thinking about? Is it me?
”

“
No.
Can I tell you?
”

“
Please.
”

“
Bobby
’
s brother is in town now.
”

Katey
’
s
mouth opened in shock.
“
Wow.
So that all worked out.
”

“
Worked
out,
”
Jess said.
“
That
’
s a way to put it.
”

“
Why?
Is the guy an ass or something?
”

“
Anything
but.
”

Katey gasped.
“
You think he
’
s hot, don
’
t you?
”

“
Stop
it.
”

Jess felt her cheeks burning, a
trait that she couldn
’
t
control no matter how hard she tried.

“
Well,
who is it?
”
Katey asked.

“
I
’
m not basing anything about him
off this... but he
’
s a
really rich guy. He
’
s from
Virginia. He came to the diner right after it closed. He
’
s tall, strong, really good looking. And I mean, he
was just wearing jeans and a t-shirt, you know? It wasn
’
t like he tried to look good or anything.
”

“
What
did you do?
Him?
”

Jess laughed.
“
Yeah. I wiped the sweat off my
forehead and offered myself, the smell of work and grease and all. Are you
serious, Katey? He
’
s rich.
He
’
s in Ferry Creek to
settle things with the father he never knew he had. He
’
ll be gone in a few days and then I
’
m sure Bob will probably pass
away.
”

“
He
’
ll come back for the funeral
then,
”
Katey said.

“
No.
Just stop.
”

“
I
like this,
”
Katey said.
“
I like seeing hope in someone
’
s eyes. Lord knows every time I
look in the mirror I don
’
t see
any.
”

There it was. The transition Jess
had been waiting for. To talk about Katey and Nick.

“
Katey,
will you tell me what happened?
”

Katey sighed.
“
I guess I have no choice, huh?
”

“
None
whatsoever.
”

“
Most
if it you already know,
”
Katey said.
“
Nick and I
just aren
’
t meant to be
together. But I wanted it so badly that I would do anything. I would put up
with anything. I thought I was doing it for him but I realized I was doing it for
me. Because I don
’
t want to
be alone. I don
’
t want to
live alone. I don
’
t want to
have nobody. I don
’
t want
to date and wonder and wait and start everything over.
”

“
You
make the single life sound so great,
”
Jess winked.

“
That
’
s why I didn
’
t want to say anything,
”
Katey said.
“
I didn
’
t want to offend you.
”

“
You
’
re not going to offend me,
”
Jess said.
“
It will be a tough thing to go
through, Katey. To go from having a house and a marriage to a single life. Not
a lonely life, Katey. You
’
ll
never be alone, especially if you stay in Ferry Creek.
”

“
I
know,
”
Katey said.
“
I just always had this dream.
The man, the house, the family. Right? The front yard. The porch. The red door.
Thanksgiving Day dinner. Christmas dinner. Everything.
”

Jess smiled and leaned towards
Katey.
“
You realize the
door to your house - your old house - was blue, right?
”

“
Shut
up,
”
Katey said.

She finally smiled and a wave of
relief came over Jess.

“
I
had to say it,
”
Jess said.

“
Back
to my point... with Nick. It just never worked. I mean, just never. Then that
whole thing happened with that woman and Nick finally admitted to me what he
was doing with her. Or I should say...
to her
.
”

“
Oh,
Katey,
”
Jess said.

Katey shook her head.
“
The thing is, it
’
s fine. It didn
’
t bother me at all. Honestly.
Thinking about it did, but when the truth came out, I almost felt relieved.
Everything Nick and I were was fake. We were an image in a neighborhood and
nothing more. So I ended it right then. He shrugged his shoulders and told me
to send the paperwork to the shop. He left and that was it.
”

“
Have
you seen him since?
”

“
Sure.
He would come to the house to do laundry or get something out of the bedroom.
We haven
’
t spoken really
and now everything is finalized.
”

“
But,
Katey,
”
Jess said,
“
doesn
’
t that take time... I mean, a divorce?
”

“
Yeah.
I did what I had to do.
”

It didn
’
t surprise her that Katey moved fast because that
was always Katey
’
s
attitude. She wanted everything yesterday. But to imagine her going through a
divorce, alone.

“
You
went through everything alone,
”
Jess said.

“
I
had to,
”
Katey said.
“
I had to just get through it.
Once and done.
”

“
I
saw you crying on the ride here.
”

“
Yeah.
That was because of what I said before. About the house. The red door. The
family. All that. I feel like I was robbed of my dream. Especially at my age.
”

Jess understood that all too well.
While she didn
’
t have grand
dreams of a house with a red door, her age was definitely becoming a sensitive issue
for her. The last time she really had a serious relationship was in high school.
It was pathetic to think and even more pathetic to admit to someone, but it was
the truth. The only thing Jess could defend herself with was that in high
school, with
that guy
, he swore he loved her and he swore he
’
d take care of her. When she told
him she was pregnant, he was in Florida, in college, playing quarterback. He
told her it would never work and that when he signed a professional contract he
would help her with the baby. The last time Jess talked to him was right after
she lost the baby and he let out a long laugh and actually said,
“
I guess we dodged that one, huh?
”
Jess hung up and never
heard from him again.

“
Just
take one step at a time,
”
Jess said, breaking up her own thoughts. For a second she wondered if she was
talking to herself.
“
That
’
s all any of us can do.
”

“
Well,
steps have been taken,
”
Katey said.
“
I
’
ve cried it all out. I
’
ve signed the papers. I
’
ve left the house.
”

“
That
’
s good,
”
Jess said.
“
I
’
m so sorry all this happened to
you but I am proud that you were able to be so strong to go through it.
”

“
Thanks,
”
Katey said.
“
Now, back to happier news. Tell
me more about the new hunk in town.
”

“
The
new hunk,
”
Jess said and
shook her head.

She opened her mouth to attempt to
avoid the topic when her doorbell pinged. It was the most annoying doorbell
Jess had ever heard in her life. She hated it. It was literally the sound of a
ping
.

“
Who
could that be?
”
Jess asked
as she stood. Then a terrible thought came to her.

Darryl.

What if it was Darryl?

What if he was drunk or mad again?

Jess hated herself more than ever
for getting involved with him. He wasn
’
t
a bad guy by any means at all, but he was just a guy on a bad path and he had
no care or concern of getting off it. Whatever the hell was going on the past
few weeks with Darryl was obviously deeply rooted. Jess wanted to know, but
didn
’
t want to ask because
she didn
’
t want to become
that person that Darryl relied on.