Page 9 of Strictly the Worst

“They do. You’re kind. Caring. A nice person. Why wouldn’t they like you?” Angela asks. “And I like you better now that you’ve decided about the wall.” She pauses, tapping something down on her phone.

“What are you doing?” I ask her, hoping she’s on that dating site again. Her dates are legendary. In an awful way. The last guy she met ordered the most expensive items on the menu and then escaped out of the bathroom window.

She’s tried to get me to sign up, and I keep telling her I’m not ready.

“I’m writing the paint name down. I’m going to order you five gallons of it.”

“I’ll order them,” I say.

“No, you won’t. You’ll dither and second guess the choice and it’ll take you at least two weeks to pick up the phone and do something about it.”

“Okay then,” I say, grinning, “I’ll order it in two weeks.”

“You won’t be here in two weeks,” Angela tells me.

“Of course I will.” I shoot her a strange look. “And I’ll order the paint.”

“No, you won’t,” she says, turning to face me. And I know that expression on her face. It’s the same look she gave me when Jared asked for a second chance. The same one she gave me as she held my hand while I was giving birth because Jared had decided to go away on business at the end of my third trimester.

“You’re going to Grand Exuma,” she says.

I laugh. “No, I’m not.”

“Yes you are. You’re going to ask Jared if he can have Zoe for the week.” She holds her hand up when she sees my mouth open, ready to protest. “And if he can’t do it, I’ll come here and stay with her. I can move some work around. Make sure she goes to school. And don’t look at me like I’m an idiot.”

“I’m not looking at you like that. I was just going to remind you I’m off the project.”

“Then get back on it.” She rolls her eyes.

“How?” I’m genuinely curious because she seems to have all the answers. Not that I’m going to go.

“By telling Roman that you’ve changed your mind and you want to go to Exuma.” She says it like it’s so simple. “You need to go. You’ve already told me it’s a tropical paradise.”

It really is. Blue skies, even bluer seas, lush trees that form a canopy to block the hot rays of the golden sun.

“I don’t know…”

She pouts at me. “Either you go to Exuma or you sign up for this dating site. It’s time for a new beginning.”

I look around the living room, taking in the peeling walls – now complete with green squares – and the holes in the floor. Maybe she’s right.

A few days in paradise – even for work – could take me away from all this.

“And you’ll also be able to get one over on this annoyingly sexy guy,” Angela says, a sly look on her face. “Salinger, was it?”

“Yeah.” I nod, not bothering to correct her. Because he is annoying. And sexy. He exudes appeal if you’re into that kind of thing, which I’m so not. Because there’s one thing I know, men like Salinger are dangerous. I don’t need sexy and annoying, I need nice. There has to be somebody out there like that. “I’m going to do it,” I tell her, because I’m not going to let Salinger win. It’s time to start making a stand and be the woman I want to role model for Zoe.

“Yes!” She fist bumps the air and then hugs me tight. “That’s my girl. Back in action.”

CHAPTER

THREE

LINC

I wake up covered in a cold sheen of sweat. My skin is overheated, my muscles tensed, and my breath is coming way too fast. I reach up and swipe the damp hair from my brow, sitting up and looking around.

I’m in bed. That’s good at least. Swinging my legs over the side of the mattress, I plant the soles of my feet on the floor and lean forward, closing my eyes as I try to recapture my breath.

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