Her Name Was Annie by Beth Rinyu (the little red hen read aloud txt) 📕

the rest of this brunch. I managed to get down a quarter of the quiche I had ordered while flashing a few fake smiles when warranted. Then there was the occasional nod or a shake of my head during the very few times I was included in the conversation. I was relieved when we stepped outside and my car was in sight. Just a few steps to freedom, away from these catty women—Julie included.

“Is this new?” Julie asked when Shelly stopped at the Mercedes SUV parked a few spaces away from my Honda Civic.

“Yes. It was my Christmas present from Derrek,” Shelly responded as if it was no big deal to receive such an extravagant gift.

“Well, you must’ve been an awful good girl to get something like this,” Julie remarked.

“Oh, please! Take out the good and leave in the awful.” Colleen smirked.

“Excuse me! I was not awful.” Shelly pushed out her bottom lip and pretended to pout.

I couldn’t take watching two grown women act worse than adolescents anymore. I had to get away. “Well, it was nice see you, ladies.” I wasn’t sure if I was coming off as sincere with that lie, and I couldn’t care less if I wasn’t.

“Oh yeah, you too,” Colleen replied in a singsong voice. I managed one last facial expression that sort of resembled a smile and headed off to my car.

“Steph! Wait up!” Julie called just as I reached my car. I clicked my key fob and unlocked the door, opening it up, not heeding to her request. “Really, so you’re just going to leave like this?”

“Like what, Julie?”

“Pissed at me. I don’t know why, it’s not like I was wrong.”

“Oh, go ahead, rub it in my face now.”

“That’s not what I was doing. I just don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

“Well, I guess as long as I’m a kept woman, I shouldn’t worry about being hurt by him again.”

“Come on, Steph. I didn’t mean anything by that. I just think—”

“You know what? I really don’t care what you think. It seems like you only have opinions when it comes to me, but when it comes to those two bitches I was forced to endure, you lose all sense of what you stand for. Are you really that naïve to think their perfect little world filled with expensive cars, big houses, and fancy parties is really what they make it out to be? I sat there while they put down other women who don’t live the pretentious lifestyles they live, and other kids who weren’t nearly as smart as theirs. The whole time, you didn’t say a word. You were actually nodding and agreeing with it all. Yet you have the nerve to lecture me about still caring for Jack. Let me tell you something. I’d rather still have feelings for my ex regardless of what he’s done any day, before I become like those two.”

She stared at me blankly as I got in the car and slammed the door shut. I started it up and watched her amble across the parking lot to her vehicle. As I sat there, waiting for the heat to kick in, the reality of what Colleen had said about Jack began to sink in. Maybe I was foolish for believing he had changed and starting this secret—whatever you would call it between the two of us. But I was older, stronger, and a little bit wiser than I was when I was blindsided by his little fling. We were no longer married. We no longer had that sacred vow between us, and we certainly never even spoke about our relationship status and being exclusive. So who was I to confront him about it when neither one of us was even willing to admit it was a relationship we were in?

Instead, I’d just end whatever it was we had between us. There would be no questions, no accusations and no tears on my end, but as the first one rolled down my cheek, I knew that last promise to myself had been broken. I quickly wiped it away and took a deep breath.

“That’s it…no more crying. You reached your maximum capacity of tears over Jack for a lifetime.” I gave myself a pep talk, vowing to be strong, and this time, I intended to keep that promise.

Chapter 33

MY EXCITEMENT OVER my mini getaway helped get me through the week and put any thoughts of Jack to the back of my mind. He made that a lot easier for me to do with basically being non-existent due to work commitments. I only knew this because Kara had filled me in when I had spoken with her on the phone earlier in the day.

“I’m so angry Ian might not be able to visit this weekend because Dad has him working with him nonstop on this stupid case.”

I didn’t want to tell her this was just a precursor of what lay ahead. Somehow, I think she was figuring that all out on her own, but that still wasn’t changing her feelings for Ian. She had been coming home almost every weekend since Christmas break to spend time with him. She had even FaceTimed me earlier in the week to show me all the elaborate Valentine’s Day decorations she had gotten to go with the romantic dinner she planned on making him.

There was no doubt in my mind, she was well on her way to being in love, if she wasn’t there already. I couldn’t say I was sad about it. After getting to know Ian a lot better over the past month or so, he was really a great guy. Jack still grumbled at the mention of his name, but that was to be expected. It wasn’t as if he were in the position to judge anyone and their standards of being worthy of dating his daughter. I tried not to get angry when I thought about him in that coffee shop, casually sipping on his plain old black