Page 48 of The B!tch List

“You haven’t heard about the DNA test yet?” I asked.

“Nope.” He carried on looking at his computer screen. “Maybe today. Right,” he said swinging his chair back in my direction. “I’ve emailed him and asked if we can have an answer by the end of today. I think that’s pretty fair seeing as he put a time limit on you. Although, I have to be honest, Nance, I did a damn good job with that business proposal and purchase bid.”

He smiled and I’ll swear that the room got brighter. I gave myself a little shake for even having good thoughts about him.

“You’re feeling confident then that we’ll win?”

“When am I not confident.”

Yeah, not often.

“That’s great, I really appreciate it.” I stood and thought about shaking his hand, but enough of my skin had touched his for one decade. “Let me know and good luck with Tia.”

He shrugged. “What will be will be.” He saluted me. “Be careful out there, Nance. You never know the danger on the streets of Dayton.”

With a disdainful shake of my head, I left him humming and typing away. When I got to reception Evie wasn’t there, but I could hear her soft voice talking to Tate whose deep baritone was assuring her that everything would be okay. I was right, there was definitely something going on with her. I’d offered to be a friend and that was all I could do. Evie wasn’t from Dayton Valley originally, only moving here about four years ago. I didn’t know her well, but we’d mixed in the same social circle a couple of times as she was friendly with Jennifer, Alaska’s wife. Apparently, her mom died when she was young, and her dad was a little strict so she’d decided to move somewhere where she could be free to do what she wanted and live her own life. She put a pin in a map, and it landed on Dayton Valley. As luck would have it the day that she came into town, Bobby Patrick’s assistant walked out on him, and he was late to show Evie the apartment that she was thinking of renting above Cake Heaven, which was how she got to know Jennifer. In the space of a half hour Evie bagged herself an apartment and a job, which for me kind of proved that pin was meant to land on Dayton.

Hoping that she was okay, I wandered out into the bright sunshine and decided that I was going to treat myself to coffee and cake at Delphine’s. There was no work because the kindergarten plumbing was being upgraded, at last. I’d done all my chores and there wasn’t anything that I could do about the bank until Don Jennings got back to us, so coffee and cake it was.

The bell above the door tinkled as I walked in, and Delphine immediately looked over and waved. She was filling sugar dispensers a job I guessed she had to do a few times a week seeing as we Dayton folk generally liked our coffee sweet and hot.

“Hi Nancy, sweetheart. Grab yourself a table and I’ll be right over.”

“I’m in no rush, Delphine.”

I looked around and it was fairly quiet as it was in between lunch and dinner. There was a table free by the huge plate window that had a gold-colored steaming mug of coffee etched on the glass. I sat down and settled in, taking my kindle from my purse and feeling a sense of contentment for once. Hopefully by the end of the day I’d be on my way to owning the bank and starting the next phase in my life.

As I sat back and waited for the coffee and brownie cake that I’d ordered from Delphine, I took a second to look up from the romance that I was reading. When I looked out onto Main Street the couple across the road took my attention.

“What the hell?” I moved my seat closer to the window and peered through between the etched streams of steam. Shaw was standing in the alleyway between the food market and Stars & Stripes and damn Ruthie Grey was hanging of him with her arms around his neck.

Something happened to my stomach. It not only turned upside down, but it went inside out and twisted too. Suddenly the idea of cake didn’t seem so appetizing. He was supposed to be working for me. He’d sworn that he would steer clear of her while this was all going on. He was going to stay away until I had the keys in my hands, they were his words.

“Here you go, sweetheart.” Delphine placed the no longer needed cake in front of me along with a mug of coffee.

“Thanks, Delphine.” The words were forced out of my dry as a dessert mouth.

“That boy.” Delphine sighed and then laughed as she pointed to where Shaw and Ruthie were standing. She leaned closer to me. “I have no idea what he’s doing with that girl. Between us, sweetheart, she’s trouble.”

I should have felt glad that I had an ally in Delphine, but nausea still swirled around my stomach and besides which we were kind of related. Garth her husband was my mom’s second cousin, so she had to be in my corner.

“Anyways, you enjoy your cake, sweetheart, and I have some casserole for you to take home.”

She gave me a wink and walked away leaving me looking between the cake and the couple across the road.

Nancy’s Bitch List for Shaw

Maximus Douchimus

Captain Shitsmear

Shit Talking Cock Womble

Dildohead

Dipshit Cockhead

Scrote Noggin

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