Page 5 of Ink

“Why does he think you owe him money?” My tone is biting, and though I try to rein it in, nothing works. I’m upset. No one should be touching her. Not ever.

Her lips pinch together. “It’s complicated.”

I walk behind the counter and pull out a stool, continuing to relax myself. “I have time. Go for it.”

“You know this is none of your business, right? I mean, I get you come in here, we do the small talk thing, but you don’t actually know me.”

I can’t help but laugh. “I’m not letting this go, Bunny. Tell me now. What’s going on?”

She drags in a lungful of air and then lets out a spurt of shorter breaths that sound like a chugging train. “Dillon is an ass. I told you that. He’s controlling and abusive. I never should’ve gotten with him to begin with, but they all seem sweet at first, right? It’s a thing.”

“Abusive how?”

She swallows hard. “You saw the footage. He does stuff like that and more. Look, I don’t need you to rescue me. I rescued myself. I just… I’m moving on.”

“Is he the father of the baby?”

“Yup! Fun times, right? I haven’t told him, and I don’t plan to. That probably makes me a bad guy.”

“No. It makes you smart. Why does he think you owe him money?”

Tears stream down her face and her lip quivers. Why do I have an overwhelming urge to tuck her against my chest and make everything better?

“The cabin I’m fixing up, we bought it together. It was dumb. I shouldn’t have done it,” her gaze widens, “but we’d been together so long, I started to assume this was how all relationships were. So, he paid like three grand for the down payment. I put in another twelve. At the time, I thought it made sense because we were a couple, but it was all the money I had. Now, he wants me to sell the place or give him half of what it’s worth.” More tears fall. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t sell it because I need a place to live, and it was hard enough to find this.”

“Is his name on the deed?”

“No, but he said that doesn’t matter. He put money in and that means he owns it too.”

“If his name isn’t on the deed, he’s not entitled to anything. How long did he live there?”

She rolls her eyes. “Two months.”

“Yeah. He’s not getting shit. It’s like he paid rent for a bit and left.”

“Right,” she busies herself with sorting candy bars onto the front shelf, “except it’s not that easy.”

“So, we’ll hire you a lawyer.”

Her dark brown eyes roll. “I don’t have money for a lawyer. I barely have money for dinner tonight.”

“So, you’ll come to me for dinner, and I’ll hire you a lawyer. The MC keeps one on retainer. He’s good.”

A heavy sigh leaves her lips. “I can’t let you hire me a lawyer. This isn’t your problem.”

“I can’t let you go home and pretend this isn’t happening.”

She shakes her head and stares down at the box of chocolate, filling them in a row until the tears take over. The box falls to the ground and stacks of candy bars slide out with it. Her hands shake and she rocks in place as tears fall harder.

I round the counter, lift her into my arms, and carry her into the back. Thankfully, the store has emptied and there aren’t people to contend with.

I saw a fan in here earlier, so I start it up and aim it toward her, letting the fresh air blow into her face. I’ve seen this work for folks after stressful situations. She gulps down big breaths and stares up at me with tears falling from her eyes.

“What am I going to do when this baby comes? I’m a mess. Look at me. I work two jobs and I’m barely getting by. I have a cabin that’s falling apart, an ex who won’t leave me alone, and I’ve been trying to hold it together, but right now all I want to do is crawl into a hole and never come out again.”

“Which is why I’m taking you home with me tonight.”

She glances sideways. “No.”

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