Page 4 of Enticing the Fixer

Kinsley

After shoving the gearshift into park, I stare at the swishing windshield wipers and slump into the seat. If it were any other day, I’d drive home, pull into my two-car attached garage, and hide under the covers.

But this night is different. Come hell or high water, I’m going to get shitfaced.

And it appears that the high water has arrived.

I chuckle at my lame attempt at humor, but it quickly sputters away in the emptiness of my car.

There’s nothing to laugh at. It’s not every day you watch your ex-husband celebrate his son’s fourth birthday with another woman. It wouldn’t be so bad, but our divorce wasn’t settled until his new son was six months old. You do the math.

Go in. It does no good to hide out in here.I grab the floral umbrella off the passenger seat and trudge toward the front door of Callahan’s Bar. The couple in front of me walks arm in arm up the sidewalk while snuggled under a black umbrella.

When the man leans down and kisses the woman’s forehead, I gag. People suck.

A gust of wind whips my umbrella outward, allowing a smattering of rainwater to pelt my face, and my skirt to plaster to my ass.Shit.I grab the edge, righting it before I get too soaked to go inside. I should have stayed in tonight. It’s not like I couldn’t cry in my beer another day.

As the storm picks up, I tuck the umbrella toward the ground while walking into the gust. Then splat, my foot slips into a puddle, causing water to wash over the top of my boot. I send a quick prayer of thanks that I wore my black boots rather than the brown ones. Those boots leak like a sieve, and I detest wet feet.

The man in front of me opens the door, and the coolness from the building seeps outside onto the sidewalk bringing with it the scent of fried food, cigarette smoke, and beer.

“Here you go, Ma’am.” He tips his head toward me and holds the door open as his platinum blonde companion slips inside.

“Thank you.” I smile while picking up the pace, causing the groundwater to splash up to my ankles and grab the door from him. “I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome.” He smiles, winks, and eyes me up and down in a creepy, vomit crawling up in your throat kind of way. “Have a good night.”

My teeth gnash together, and I frown. Why are all men assholes? He’s with a woman, and he’s flirting with me. She’s not four feet in front of him.

“Thanks.” I flip my umbrella down, shake the water off with more force than intended, and wish the straight men of the species would go extinct like the dinosaurs did. Surely there are enough gay men who would willingly donate sperm to populate the world.

As they walk away, the woman mutters a string of words. The only one I recognize isrude.

Would you feel the same way if you knew he was mind-fucking me? The words are on the tip of my tongue, but I refrain from spewing them into the crowd. Catch me in a couple of hours, and he won’t be so lucky.

I scan the crowd, searching for my cousin. Ann waves from a table by the bar. The place is packed for a Friday night as the band plays a fast song. A group of college students jumps up and down, singing along with the popular tune.

Not that I was worried she wouldn’t find a spot. Her husband’s father owns the establishment. If she wants something, she’ll get it.

“Hi.” I slide into the open seat across from her. A strand of hair flies in front of my face. Even with an umbrella, I didn’t enter the bar unscathed. I tuck it behind my ear as the tresses stick together. “Thanks for meeting me.”

“You said it was important.” She leans forward. “Is everything okay?”

“What do you think?” I lay the umbrella on the floor and set my black clutch on the table.

The waitress breezes by, carrying a platter laden with deep-fried food, causing my stomach to grumble.

“I think you’ve had a shitty three months and needed to see a friendly face.” She pats my hand. “And that’s what I’m here for.”

Tears sting my eyes. I blink hard to keep them from overflowing. “You’re right. It’s been a shittastic three months.”

My father was killed by a probable drunk driver three months ago, leaving me with a mess on my hands. He didn’t consider that at fifty-five he’d be dead, and I’d be left fighting his shareholders for the right to head his company.

Or maybe he did consider it and never intended for me to take over.

With my luck, I’ll stumble upon a secret passage twenty years from now, finding his will. Where he wanted everything to go to someone else.

“I’m sorry, Honey. You know Sean, and I would help you in any way we could. The same goes for Emma and Jake.” Emma is Ann’s younger sister, and their husbands are brothers.

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