Page 107 of Housebroke

“Hazel, please talk to me,” he said as she went into the kitchen to let the excited pups out into the yard. “Or at least let me explain my reasoning for not telling you about the money.”

She turned to face him. “Do you think I care about your money? That I’veevercared about your money? I don’t. As far as money goes, I only need enough to feed me and the dogs and put a roof over our heads. And that’s all I’ve ever needed. And if you didn’t figure that out within the first couple of weeks of knowing me, then you’re the dumbest man on the planet.”

He held up his hands and stepped closer to her. “I know, I know. I should have told you. But by then things between us were going so well. I didn’t want to say or do anything to screw that up.”

She gave him a look of disbelief. “I’ve kept notes of everything you’ve spent on me, intending to pay you back out of the money you’ve paid me. The pots and pans and dog food and dog toys and anything else. My goal has always been to be independent, Linc. Were you not paying attention?”

“Of course I was. I am. But you don’t have to pay for any of those things. I bought them because I wanted to.”

She shook her head. “And I will move forward in my life on my own. Without anyone’s help.”

She turned and headed up the stairs, Linc right on her heels. She ignored him, pushing the hurt down until it was so far into the dark depths of her subconscious that it didn’t exist anymore.

Now she had to make a plan for her future, one that she could control. She went into her room and shut the door, right in Linc’s face.

•••

Linc paced in front of Hazel’s door, listening to her talk on the phone to someone, but he couldn’t hear who, or what was being said. He wanted to knock, to get her to talk to him, but she was so upset he figured giving her some time to calm down would be the wise choice.

But after fifteen minutes, she hadn’t opened the door yet. So he went outside and hung out with the dogs, tossing the ball to Penny, chasing Freddie around the yard, and watching Lilithattempt to herd Mitzi and Gordon to places they absolutely did not want to go. He laughed when Mitzi nipped at Lilith when Lilith pushed her toward the pool.

“I don’t think Mitzi wants to go swimming right now, Lilith.”

Dejected, Lilith came over and climbed into his lap. He petted her until she decided to go bother Penny.

The slider opened. “Come on, pups,” Hazel called.

Linc got up and followed the dogs inside, surprised to see Hazel leading the dogs outside to her car, even more surprised to see all her bags along with her cooking pans sitting beside the trunk.

“Going somewhere?” he asked.

“I’m moving out. The house is done anyway, so it’s time for me to go.”

“Hazel.” He stepped over to her. She scooted away. “Please, let’s talk.”

“We’ve talked enough. Or, maybe not enough. Obviously, you didn’t talk enough. I don’t even know you.” She threw a bag in the trunk and closed it with a hard thud, then got all the dogs hooked up in the back seat.

“Don’t leave. Not like this. We can talk through this. I made all these plans—”

“Oh,youmade plans, huh? Is that how you rich guys do it? I mean, my ex wasn’t rich, but he sure managed my life for me. I don’t intend to do the same thing again, so thanks, but no thanks.”

“Hey, that’s not fair. And it’s not the same thing. I’m not taking anything away from you. In fact, I was giving you your dream.”

She moved closer to him, glaring up at him with eyes that were both sad and angry. “The fact that you can’t even see all the things you did wrong tells me you have no idea what my dreams are, Linc.”

She handed him a check. He looked at her and frowned.

“That’s the money I owe you.”

“Hazel, come on.” He tried to hand the check back to her, but she ignored him. “Where are you going?”

She didn’t answer as she buckled her seat belt.

“Hazel. Where are you going?”

She didn’t look at him when she answered. “Anywhere but here.”

He wanted to stop her, but maybe a cooling-off period would be best. Still...

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