Wrong Way Renee (37 page)

She stared at the ceiling. How had things gotten so out of control? A man she didn’t love wanted to marry her while the one she did love woul
dn’t even speak to her. She had
no car, a mountain of debt, whiplash and possibly breast cancer.

She cried until she ran out of tears.

* * * * *

“I'll take care of everything
here
,
”
Becky assured her
the next morning over the phone
.
“Yo
u concentrate on getting well.”

That settled,
sh
e called her father at his office to see when and where her
doctor’s
appointment was. She spoke to his secretary who gave her the information and directions. The rental car, a Lincoln Town Car
,
was already parked in front of the house, ready to go.

After her appointment
with the orthopedic doctor who prescribed physical therapy
, she headed home to
her
attention-starved
cat
. Her neck brace itched so she removed it and decided to take a long hot shower. As she got undressed, she looked at herself in the mirror for the first time since the accident. A brownish-red line crossed from the left side of her neck to the right side of her chest from where the seatbelt had cut into her skin. Red burns dotted her shoulders from the airbag. She knew she was lucky, though. Her injuries could have been much worse.

Cleave phoned late in the afternoon.
“How are you feeling?
”
Concern etched his voice
.

“A
lot better today. T
hank you for arranging for the rental car. That made things so much easier. Plus, I didn't have to depend on
my mother
. Tha
t in itself is worth millions.”

H
e
laughed.
“She means well. My
mother’s
the same way. She loves c
ontrolling everything she can.”

The apple didn't fall far from the tree.

“Are you up to having your own personal chef this evening?
”
he asked.

She glanced in the mirror again.
“I don't think I'd be very good company. I'd like to get to sleep early. I'm going to work tomorrow and I'm sure my schedule is full
after being out for a day
.”

“Renee, I don't think you're ready to go to work. Maybe you sho
uld take off the rest of the week.”

“I can't. This whole thing is going to cost me so much. I can't do without a week's
pay on top of everything else.”

“What if I give you what you would have made
this week?”

He was so damn good to her. Why couldn’t she just fall in love with him?
“
Cleave
, you're so generous. I can't take money from you. But that's the kindest thing anyone
's ever offered me. Thank you.”

“What ar
e you going to do about a car?”

“I'll go looking Sunday or Monday. I spoke to my insurance company and they're only giving me forty-three hundred for my Jeep. Th
at won't buy me much, will it?”

“It's a decent down payment.”

“I guess. The problem is verifying my income to get a loan. It's always this huge hassle because I'm self-employed. They want my last thirty tax returns and two dozen pay stubs. Of course, I don't have any
pay stubs. You see my problem?”

“What if I were to cosign?”

“I can't ask you to do that.
”
Could he be any sweeter?

“You're not asking. I'm offering.”

She was growing tired of putting off his offers.
“I need to take a nap
now. Can I call you tomorrow?”

“S
ure, sweetheart. Sweet dreams.”

Since she had her finances on her mind, she decided to pay her bills to see exactly how bad the situation really was. After writing checks for the minimum payment on her three credit cards, paying her electric, phone, cell phone, cable bill and her rent check, she had a whopping three dollars left. She laid her head down on the counter
keyboard
. How could she possibly take on car payments? What
the hell
was she going to do?

* * * * *

Zoey was in the kitchenette drinking coffee
when Renee got to work the next morning
.
“How's the whiplash?”

“Getting better, thanks, Zoey.”

A smile played at the corners of her mouth.
“Was your boyfriend following the
ambulance?”

“What do you mean?”

“He's
an ambulance chaser, isn't he?”

“Funny—
not.
”
Sh
e headed to her station and set up for her first manicure.

Chantelle
sat at the next station
.
“You know, Renee, you really should watch out for
those damn
lampposts that jump out in front of people. It's
the newest hazard on the road.”

So much for sympathy.
Sh
e got up as quickly as her injury would allow and went to the computer to check her schedule. Antoine was making an appointment when she got there. At least he wouldn't be mean to her.

“Who did you think you were, cupcake? Were you goin' for Jane Mansfield or James Dean? You know, my dog had to wear one of them collars. Pissed him off so bad that he couldn't lick his balls no more. I guess that
wouldn't bother you much.”

She frowned.
Et tu?
“Why are you all being so mean to me?
”

“Mean? We're just playing with you, darling. Lighten up baby, you're too tight.
”
He hugged her before he walked away.

Her first client of the day was Pam.

Renee was surprised that she was alre
ady wearing maternity clothes.
“I like your outfit.
”
S
peaking with Pam lately was a lot like walking on eggshells.

“It's comfortable. What happened to you?
”
Pam
gestured to
her
neck brace.

“I had a car accident.”

“Someone hit you?”

“Not exactly. I h
it a light pole taking a curve too fast in the rain.
”
She hoped Pam wouldn't make fun of her as her coworkers had.

“Ouch. We had one in the ER the other day that did the same thing. But he di
dn't walk out. He's paralyzed.”

Pam’s
statement hit
her
like a jolt of electricity.
“Really?
Permanently?”

“They think so. N
ice guy. He's like twenty-six.”

“God, that's awful.
”
Sh
e realized for the first time how lucky she'd been to escape with only minor injuries.

“I see that stuff all the time. Makes you appreciate your he
alth, you know? Life is short.”

“Yeah.
”
Hadn’t she just had the same thought after the accident?
“Are you feeling well?”

“Physically. Emotionally, I'm a mess.
”
She sighed.

“Why? Have you spoken to
Pablo
?
”
Sh
e filed as she spoke.

Pam’s pale skin reddened
.
“No. He never returns my calls. I went to the firehouse to talk to him and the guys there treated me like a
damn
pariah. He was on vacation, apparently. Wouldn't you assume a guy would go on vacation with his girlfriend?
”

Renee tried to shrug, but her sore neck wouldn't allow it.
“Yeah, but maybe he's away
with his parents or a friend.”

“No, I have a
sixth sense about this stuff.”

Maybe a twelfth sense
.
She wasn’t
quick enough for sixth.
“So you think he took another
woman somewhere?”

“I'm sure of it. What kind of person does
that? He has a loving, caring, and—oh yeah—
pregnant girlfriend. And he chooses to go on vacation with someone else. Must be bec
ause I'm fat, ugly and boring.”

“
You are none of those things. Don't beat yourself up because he's a jerk. Yo
u have so much to offer a man.”

“Like someone else's baby?
”
She
wiped under her eyes.

There was no arguing with that.
“Some men love kids.”

“They love
their own
kids
. Not another man's. If I wasn't so scared of his parents, I'd go to
his house to try to find him.”

“Why are you afraid of them?”

“Because they hate me. They've never m
ade a secret of that. T
hey want him to marry a Hispanic woman. Preferably, one of their choosing. And, I've done some
…
bad things to them.”

“Like
?”

“One day I picked up
Pablo
at their house because his car was in the shop. His
mother
called me a fat, white bitch loud enough for the en
tire neighborhood to hear her.”

“Nice.”

“Yeah, she's a real peach. Anyway, the next d
ay I had their power shut off.” She giggled.

“Oh, Pam, that's awful.
”
Renee
laughe
d, despite herself.
She wished she’d thought to do that to Dan after he left her.

“I told you.
But she was a rat to me first.”

“Two rats don't make a right.
”
They both
laughed
.

“Thanks, Renee. I needed that.”

Sh
e walked Pam to the door after she'd finished her fill.
Toy
was coming next and Renee was excited to see her friend. She needed her unofficial shrink right about now.

Before Toy got there, Renee’s cell rang. She glanced at the display and frowned at her sister’s name.

“Renee, oh thank God I got you,
”
Char
said.

“What's wrong?”

“
I need a
huge favor.”

Dread crawled up her spine. “What?”

“Gary and Dad have been invited to a dinner at Senator Ha
rtford's house Saturday night.”

“Yeah?”

“We
have to
go. It's so important to Gary. You know he has political aspirations. And guess what? Both of my re
gular sitters are out of town.”

Sh
e knew what was coming. There was no way she would agree to baby-sit.
“No.”

“Hear me out.”

“No
pe
.
”
She hung up.

H
er cell rang again
. She hit the send button.

“Renee, please listen to me,
”
Char
said quickly.

“Okay. You have one minute.”

“Don't be ridiculous.”

She glanced up at the clock on the wall. “Fifty-five seconds.”

“Okay, okay. Both my sitters are unavailable.
Cleave
was in Gary's office when I called
to tell him about the
situation
.”

Uh oh.

“He volunteered to watch Alyssa and Gary Junior for the evening. He said they could even
spend the night at his house.”

She rubbed the bridge of her nose.
“You've got to be kidding.”

“I'm serious as a heart attack. Anyway, he also said he hoped you would help him, since they are
your
niece and nephew.”

Anger simmered inside her.
“Why are you doing this to me,
Char
? I'm still
sore as hell from my accident.”

“Y
ou haven't
taken them in forever.”