Page 9 of Taming His Honeydoll
He droned on as if she hadn’t just screamed in his ear. “Live in it or sell it at your discretion. But if you were to divorce, the property would revert to them immediately. Henceforth the notice for you to vacate the premises. I’m terribly sorry.”
“That can’t be true,” Emma screeched, tears spurting into her eyes. Henry’s parents were trying to take the home back because Levi wasn’t their grandson—that had to be it!
“I’m afraid it is.”
“I-Is that even legal?” She stuttered. “Surely they can’t do that.”
“I’m afraid they can do that,” he said regretfully. “You have until November 25thto get your belongings and be out. After that, a lock will be put on the door and anything left inside will be confiscated and sold with the house. I believe they already have a buyer in mind. A formal written notice will be sent in the mail as a follow-up. Again, I apologize to have to give you this bad news.”
The evil bearer of horrific tidings rang off and the phone slipped from Emma’s hand. She just sat there staring out the front window of her car watching the wind whip leaves over the hood. What was she supposed to do now? Where would she and Levi live? She couldn’t go home anymore. She couldn’t afford to pay rent either; she was barely making ends meet as it was. Not to mention Henry had just cut off her child support. Her slight headache morphed into full blown because someone was now using a sledgehammer inside her brain.
The thought of Sawyer flickered through her mind and was instantly dismissed. The whole idea of him even knowing about Levi put her into complete panic mode. There was no way she could ask for his help. Having to share her son with his father, provided he even wanted him, was out of the question.
Besides that, she had a sneaky feeling that Sawyerwouldwant his son—he just wouldn’t want her in his life. He might even be married by now and the thought of another woman trying to take her place as Levi’s mother infuriated her.
Tears squeezed from her eyes and anguish cut like a knife into her heart once again. How could he have left her like that? How could he have lied to her in their most intimate moment? The memories hurt as the questions raced through her panicked mind once again.
All rational thought had flown out of her head when Henry had provided a solution. She’d grabbed his offer like a drowning woman would a life preserver. Furious with Sawyer, she’d done a spiteful thing in sending him that clipping with the horrible note. She’d wanted to hurt him back.
In retrospect, it had been an immature thing to do. If he didn’t love her, then he wouldn’t even care about her marriage, but she’d certainly torpedoed any future desire he might have to help her if he found out about his son. What a mess.
“This can’t be happening,” she groaned, the pounding behind her temples getting harder.
“Emma! Emma!”
Now the sledgehammer was talking to her.
It was a few seconds before she realized the knocking sound wasn’t in her head, it was on her window. In a daze she turned to see Marsha’s friend Chessy Anderson staring at her through the glass. Where had she come from?
“Can you roll down your window?
Her voice was muted now, but Emma understood. She liked Chessy. Chessy was married to Ty though, and Ty was just as bossy as Oliver. Not seeing Ty anywhere, she numbly hit the auto button and the window slid down.
“Are you all right, Emma?” Chessy asked, concern glimmering in her green eyes. “I saw you just sitting here so I decided to check on you when you didn’t move.”
Emma couldn’t speak, she just continued to stare. Her voice control center seemed to have blown a fuse. Maybe it was all the hammering.
Chessy tried again. “You look like you’re in shock. Is Levi, okay? How about I call Marsha or Oliver?” She took out her cell phone.
“N-No,” Emma managed to croak out. “D-Don’t do that.” Her fingers shook as she smoothed her honey-blond hair back behind her ear and tried to pull herself together.
“You’re obviously in no shape to drive,” Chessy replied. “Can you walk to the coffee shop with me? We can get a hot cup of coffee and get you warmed up. Your hands look cold.” She reached in and took Emma’s hand off the steering wheel. “Yep, cold as ice.”
Emma snatched her hand away. “I-I can’t talk to you. You’ll tell Marsha and Marsha will tell Oliver.” She reached down to turn the car on.
“Wait...Emma,” Chessy cried.
“Everything all right, Chessy?”
Emma’s heart sank when Chessy’s husband Ty walked up beside her, the deep voice rolling over her senses. His tall, powerful figure in his expensive-cut, cream peacoat emanated control, just like Oliver. She should have known that he would be in the background somewhere. She shivered when he put his arm around his wife and suddenly wished she had someone to do that for her. He and Oliver might be controlling, but they were all about protecting and loving their wives. Suddenly, she had never felt so desperately alone in her life.
