Page 17 of A Package Deal

Pip and I sat on the front porch and opened our lunches. The peanut butter and jelly sandwich I’d made for both me and Georgia didn’t look appealing at all. Especially when Pip unwrapped a tuna fish sandwich and the smell wafted over. She took a big bite and set it down, cracking open a soda. She handed me the can first. I took it, feeling parched and probably needing water, but soda sounded better.

“Beer will do a woman good.”

I halted with the can already at my lips, sputtering. I swallowed the small amount that made it past my lips and followed it up with a cough. A shiver wracked my body.

“Holy German beer, Pip,” I croaked. That shit was a lava river burning down my esophagus.

Pip’s massive body shook with laughter. “Ja! It’ll put hair on your chest!”

I shook my head and handed her the can back. I most certainly didn’t want hair on my chest. Or to be drunk on the job.

“Should you be drinking that at work?”

Pip took a long swig and then looked at me like I’d grown a second head. “I have beer every day. Why do you think I am so strong?”

I didn’t have an answer for that. Pip was the best subcontractor I’d ever hired. The bawdy songs were actually growing on me and the amount of work we’d gotten done was enough for me to overlook the beer drinking at lunch. The downstairs bathroom was done. The kitchen cabinets were in but we were waiting on the countertops and the new appliances to be delivered. As soon as we had the primary bathroom completely demo’d, we’d be on to staining the floors.

“I’ll be back. I need to make some phone calls.” I stood, brushing off the seat of my jeans.

Pip squinted up at me. “Offer still stands. If you cannot find a lawyer, I will make the call.”

And holy shit, I believed her. I gave her a nod, my eyes burning with the solemn offer of support even if I had no intention of taking her up on it. I strode over to Bessie’s pen, leaning my arms against the top railing, waiting for the wave of emotion to pass before I dialed the two numbers for lawyers I’d searched the internet for at one in the morning when I couldn’t sleep.

Bessie nudged my hand with her snout and I scratched the top of her bony head. We didn’t have pets growing up, but something about this stubborn cow spoke to me. She didn’t want men milking her and I could understand the hesitation. Men were often cruel and unfeeling. I didn’t want them around me either.

A small voice in my head called me a liar when it came to a certain man in snakeskin boots, but I batted her away.

I dialed both numbers, leaving messages about what I was looking for. I couldn’t even imagine how much this was going to cost me. I had a little money saved up from selling Mom’s house after she passed, but I’d planned to use that toward buying my own house for me and Georgia. Looked like I’d be using it for a lawyer instead. It killed me to take the support Warrick offered in terms of a place to live temporarily, but I needed to think about saving every penny right now for this legal fight. A man who would fire his girlfriend when she got pregnant and then break up with her and kick her out of his apartment, wasn’t a man who deserved to be a father. More importantly, Georgia deserved so much better. She belonged with me.

Pip and I returned to work, getting the second bathroom ready for the new toilet and vanity tomorrow. The appliances for the kitchen came midafternoon, so I left Pip to clean everything up while I installed the dishwasher and the refrigerator. I’d finish the sink and the stove tomorrow morning, then get the floors stained. Pip could install the new bathroom vanity by herself.

“What’s the M stand for?” a deep voice said from behind me.

I nearly dropped the Styrofoam and cardboard the kitchen appliances had come packed in. Once I’d tossed the armload over the side of the dumpster, I turned to find Warrick at the bottom of the porch, leaning against the railing.

“The M?” I ran a hand over my forehead, wiping away sweat that was making hair stick to my face.

His eyes sparkled with humor. Warrick frequently looked like he was on the verge of laughing. Except when he was mad, like last night after I’d been served. Then his eyes had looked like a wild storm about to break open and cause lethal damage.

“M Builds.”

Ah. I let most people think it was a simple initial that stood for my first name. But I’d had a score to settle when I opened my own business two years after Georgia had been born. I walked closer, wanting to get into the shade.

“It stands for Matriarchy Builds.”

Warrick didn’t answer, but his lips tipped up higher as he studied me. “You need a tagline.”

I shrugged. “I thought about ‘women do it better’ but felt like that was too antagonistic considering at least half of my clients would be male. Men don’t take kindly to that kind of threat.”

Warrick ran a hand over the scruff that had grown on his face over the day. Sadly, he looked handsome both clean-shaven and scruffy. I wasn’t sure there was a look on this green earth that would make him unattractive. Then again, I’d had my fill of attractive men. They could be snakes just like the ugly ones, sometimes more so.

“I don’t doubt it, though I know there are men out there who aren’t threatened by a strong woman.”

I snorted and went to go up the porch stairs to see if Pip was done for the day. “If they exist, I haven’t found one.”

He didn’t answer, but when I went to find Pip, I saw the door to a bedroom open in the hallway. Glancing in, curious as to where I’d soon be living, I saw a bed and a rollaway with bright comforters. A bouquet of fresh wildflowers was sitting on the dresser in a clear glass vase. And there, right on the rollaway bed, was a stuffed animal with little goat horns and a bright pink sparkly collar.

My hand flew to my mouth and a tiny pebble-sized portion of the chip on my shoulder broke off to tumble at my feet. The man had gotten my daughter a stuffed animal to welcome her to his house. I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath. My heart wanted to trust Warrick, but my logical brain warned against relying on anyone. I’d relied on Cayden with everything and look where that had left me. One teddy bear did not make a good man. I’d do well to remember that the only person Georgia and I could count on was me.

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