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“Did you talk to her?” I asked.
“No, I was afraid I might lose my temper.”
“I would have.”
“Yeah, she’s a major nightmare.”
“She’s a shrew if there ever was one,” I muttered.
“Anyway, I heard Jackson broke up with her for telling those lies.”
“About time. Why was he with her in the first place?”
Rick shrugged. “Men do stupid things when they’re lonely and horny, I guess.”
“Someone should shut her up with all those compulsive lies. I feel sorry for Mary.”
“I know. The kid must be confused.”
“Yeah. How many men has she accused of being Mary’s father?”
“Hell, I’ve lost count.”
“It’s crazy when we all know Mary is Johnny’s kid.”
Rick shot a sideways glance in my direction. “Could have been yours, though.”
I grimaced. “But she isn’t, and I have a paternity test to prove it.”
When we got to the garden center, Rick got one of the big carts and we piled five large sacks of soil onto it.
“That’s a lot of soil,” the cashier said with a smile when we got to the checkout.
“Nah,” I told him calmly. “We’re just buying back our country, one sack at a time.”
The Hispanic man looked perplexed, as if he didn’t know whether to laugh or be sympathetic.
I smiled smugly when we left the garden center. “I love saying that – it always makes people quiet.”
Rick smacked me on my shoulder. “Next time you should tell him that we need help loading it onto our truck.” He bent down and picked up one of the sacks. “This shit is heavy.”
“And what would you do? Just stand there and watch?”
“Yeah, why not? You know you can ask for help to get your things to the car, right?”
“I know, but I’m fully capable of loading a few sacks of soil myself,” I said and placed one on the truck with a big thump.
Rick wrinkled his nose. “Maybe this wasn’t the best time to work with soil – you know, with our double date tonight.”
I smelled my hands. “Hopefully the ladies won’t mind a vague scent of fertilizer.”
“No, I’m sure feces is appealing to most.” Rick grinned.
“I don’t know how you talked me into this date,” I muttered.
“Look, after your fling with Cleo, you’re like the hottest bachelor and the biggest celebrity this town has ever seen, and if you don’t take advantage of that status and stick your dick in the honey, then you’re a fool.”
Chloe’s beautiful face flashed before my eyes.
