The Hardest Cut by Jamie Bennett (book club recommendations .TXT) 📕

I nodded and saved this entry into my “To Apply” file.  “That would be fun, then.  He could teach me to play cards during our downtime.  Is he nice?”

Hallie suddenly looked worried.  “No!  He’s a mean man.  Really mean, nasty.”

“Then why did your grandpa like him?” I asked, staring at her.

“Um, he had bad taste?”

“Hal, I’m not going to fall for Quentin Avery if I go to work for him, ok?”  I could tell she didn’t believe that, but I wasn’t going to fall for anybody.  Never, ever again.  I meant it this time.

“Ben just texted you again!” Marley exclaimed.  “That’s one million and one messages.”  She tried to put the phone into my hand, but I let it fall onto the counter.  “Gaby!”

“I don’t want to see what he has to say.  I don’t care.”

“Well, if this is the way you managed your boyfriends before, I totally get why nothing ever worked out for you,” she told me.

There was a big silence in the store.

“Marley, apologize to Gaby.  Right now,” Hallie ordered, and Marley opened her mouth, but her expression said that it was to argue.  “You may have a boyfriend, but that doesn’t qualify you as any kind of relationship expert.  Apologize.”

Marley turned to me scowling, but then her face softened.  “I didn’t mean that, Gaby.  Don’t cry, ok?  Hallie’s right and I don’t know what I’m talking about.  I like Ben a lot and I wanted you to be happy.  Here.”  She handed me the tissues.  “I’m really sorry.”

“That’s ok.  You probably are more of an expert than I am, but I’m still not going to look at my phone, ok?”  She nodded and I pushed back the stool.  “I’m need to go practice in the back for a while.  Final cuts are next week!  And I have to make it.”  Once again, I really, really needed it.  I went out to that hard concrete pad and worked until I was panting, which was great, because it took total focus.  I couldn’t think at all about what had happened between me and Ben the night before, because when I did, I got swamped with sadness that made me feel like I was drowning.

But I had to get over that, because I’d be back at his house tomorrow with Tessa.  No matter what, I wouldn’t leave her: no matter how big a mistake I’d made in sleeping with Ben, no matter how much I hated him for not loving me.  And I totally hated him.  Totally.

“Gaby?” Marley stuck her head through the back door and held out my phone again, but very cautiously.  “Now it’s your mom.  Like, ten times.”

This one, I had to answer.  I wiped my face to remove some of the glow and took the phone.  “Hi, Mom—”  Her words, fast and frantic, cut me off.  “What?  I’m coming, ok?  I’m coming over.  Mom?”  She’d already hung up, and I looked at Marley.  “Something’s wrong with my brother.  I have to go.”

“Let us know!” Hallie called to me as I got my purse and ran to the green car.  I drove it as fast as I could to my mom’s house and then ran inside.

“Hello?” I called.  “Mom?  Anthony?”  Instead of them, my nephew came hurdling down the stairs and threw himself at me.  “Case?  Hi, buddy!  What’s wrong?”  I carried him into the kitchen with my ankle starting to throb from all the exertion of the day.  My brother was sitting at the counter, staring at the wall with such a look—“Anthony!  What happened?  What’s the matter with Mom?” I demanded.

“Mom?  She’s fine.  She’s over at my old house.”  He stared at me now, still with that same blank look.

I shifted Case in my arms.  “Your old house?  What do you mean?  What’s going on?”

“Kristi left.  She left me.”

Oh, gravy.  I sank down on the couch in the family room and cuddled Case to me, and I put my hand over his ear.  “What happened?” I whispered.

Very quietly, Anthony said, “Her guru.  They went to San Francisco together.  She sent me a text saying that they’re searching for their bliss there.  They plan to live in his van until they find it.”

“Their bliss?  In a van?”  Oh, I was going to puke.  I hugged Case even tighter and made sure my palm was blocking his hearing.  “Did you know about them?”

“I suspected.  She’s been spending every waking moment with him.  She called him her soul mate.  He’s her soul mate, but I’m her husband.”  Anthony stared at the wall again.  “I guess not anymore.”

Case picked up his head and shook off my hand.  “I want to go upstairs and play with my cars.”

I kissed his cheek.  “Ok.  I’ll be up in a minute.”  He scampered off.  “Anthony, I’m sorry.”

“Me, too.  Mom’s cleaning out our stuff from our old place.  We’ll move in here.”

“Because you’ll want her help with Case?” I asked, confused.

“Because I lost the house.  It was foreclosed on last week.”

My mouth dropped open.

“I’m sorry, but I need my car back from you now,” he continued.  “The SUVs got repossessed.”

“What?”  I shook my head to clear the shock.  “What?  Why?”

“Because I didn’t have the money to pay for them,” he sniped, and just for a moment, I saw my brother’s former proud expression.  But then it slipped away and he was left in misery again.  “I don’t have anything.  No savings, no house, no car.  I had so many ideas and I was trying to make things happen, but nothing ever did.  I’m a failure,” he said, slowly shaking his head.

“But you were so successful!  You had all that nice furniture, and Case was in private school and took all the extra classes, and you went on those great vacations…”  He just kept swaying his chin back and forth, no.  “No?”

“I just have debt.  A lot of debt.  I kept thinking that the next project would work,” he said, and it sounded like he was pleading a little.  “But