Chapter 19
As the final customer left, I waved them goodbye and locked up behind them. It had been a long day, and this wasn’t exactly where I had thought I would be in terms of my life, but it was good. I was with family, I was serving beer, Wilder wine, and Wilder Vodka. I hadn’t even realized that this was my purpose in life, but then again, a master’s degree in chemistry didn’t get you much these days. To get a good job, you needed a PhD, or some other discipline, but I had been forced to get out of school a bit early thanks to Isabelle. I scowled at that thought, annoyed with myself. Hell, that was wrong of me. I couldn’t blame my ex-wife for everything. Or at least, soon-to-be ex-wife. I just needed her to sign the fucking papers and then she would be out of my hair forever. That was why I had moved here. That was why I had started over. To get her out of my life and get on with whatever I was supposed to do now.
Because I had been the one who decided to get out of grad school early so I could get a full-time job and start our future.
Life never really turned out the way it was supposed to, but then again, my brothers were evidence of that. Just look at how Ridge was starting his new life, changing the score, and yet he had hid everything from us.
I wasn’t any better. Only my brothers knew I had been married. Or fuck, was still married. I rubbed my temples, once again annoyed with myself for letting my thoughts go down that path. I just wanted to get this over with. But Isabelle currently had the papers, so the ball was in her court now.
I went back to closing up shop, cleaning up everything. I was the last one here, as I had already sent my staff home. It usually took two people to close out; I didn’t allow my staff to close up solo. But since it was me and I owned the damn place, I was fine doing it on my own, as any mistake made would be on me.
I had already put the bank bag away, emptied the till, and cleaned the bar area, now I just wanted one more quick run-through, and I would head home. There was a family dinner the next evening, which was still odd for me, but I didn’t mind it. It was nice to be around people who actually wanted me there, instead of people who hated me on sight.
I was whistling a tune I had heard all night over the speakers when it was as if I had summoned the devil herself.
I looked through the glass doors at her quick sharp knock, and glared.
Resigned, I knew I couldn’t hide from her. Plus, I didn’t want her to have the fucking satisfaction. So I went to the front door and unlocked it.
“Do you like keeping me waiting?” Isabelle asked, that shrill voice new. She’d always been soft and kind. Maybe demanding, but hell, I was just as demanding if you asked her. Maybe that was just what happened when you looked through the lens of people who not only didn’t love each other anymore, but actively hated each other.
“Didn’t even hear you outside. We’re closed now, Isabelle.”
“Yes, your little bar. How quaint.” She looked around the place, and I wasn’t sure if she was really seeing it, or wondering what she should get of it. The problem was, the divorce papers weren’t final. If she wanted to, she could take me back to court and try to take this.
That’s why I had put this in a family trust, and I wasn’t the sole owner. I had done what I could to protect my family and to protect this place. I just had to hope it was enough. That Isabelle was as tired of me as much as I was of her, and wanted this to be done already.
“I’d ask if there’s something I could do for you, but you always want something and I’m not in the mood.”
“You’re such an asshole.”
“Maybe. But I learned from the best.”
“Oh, shut up. I’m here to do something that you’ve always wanted.”
“Yeah?” I asked, my heart racing. I needed her to just sign the papers. To go away. I needed to start over.
“Well, I figured it was time. Now that I’ve gotten what I wanted.”
I narrowed my gaze. “What’s that?”
“Someone better than you. Right, baby?”
Aaron walked through the door then, his broad shoulders taking up most of the doorway. He had that familiar scowl on his face, over the chiseled jaw that had always made all the girls around us swoon. He had been my best friend. My confidant, and now he stood with my hopefully soon-to-be ex-wife. One of the many reasons I wanted that divorce.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, keeping my voice as neutral as possible.
“I’m making sure that my woman’s safe. Never quite sure in a bar like this. I mean come on, a bar?”
“If you guys are just here to bullshit, you can leave now. I have to close up.”
“Oh, so you’re closed, that’s why nobody’s here.”
“You can’t belittle me. I’m over it.”
A lie, but I could fake it.
“Whatever you say,” Isabelle said, before she snapped her fingers at Aaron. Aaron, the dutiful boyfriend, lover, cheat, slid papers out of his back pocket.
“Here you go, love.”
“Thank you, boo.” She shoved the papers towards me. “Signed and delivered. I sent a copy to my lawyer, and you can do whatever the fuck you want with this one. But it’s over now. We’re officially divorced. I’m done. Now I get what I want.” She waved her fingers at me, the shining diamond on her left ring finger sparkling under the bar lights.
I thought I would’ve felt a little more. A little something. But there was nothing.
My ex-wife, finally my ex-wife, was officially marrying my dumbass ex-best friend. That made sense.
“I’d say congratulations, but I really don’t give a fuck about you two. Thank you for the papers. Now get out.”
“You really are a jealous asshole,” Aaron put in.
“I don’t know what I saw in you.”
“You liked my dick and my bank account, that’s all I really remember,” I said casually.
She narrowed her gaze at me, while Aaron’s face just reddened in anger.
“Seriously. Both of you get out. We’re done here.”
“You’re acting just like Ava,” Aaron spat. “You’re a little petty bitch just like she is.”
“Considering you cheated on Ava just like Isabelle cheated on me, I’m not sure what you mean.”
“It’s not cheating if it’s love,” Isabelle purred as she looked over at her new man, and I barely resisted the urge to throw up.
“We’re done here,” I repeated. “Get out. Ava and I are pretty much winning with this.”
Aaron stopped. “My ex is such a bitch, and she can’t handle life without me. You’d know if you ever spoke to her. But she hates your guts as much as she hates mine. Works pretty well for me, don’t you think?”
And with that, he gave me a two-finger salute and Isabelle hooked her arm around his waist before they sauntered out, leaving me alone with the divorce papers and a heavy heart.
Because while I had my family, my bar, Ava had something else. Faith. Her daughter with Aaron. The little girl that Aaron left behind when he and Isabelle decided to blow up all of our lives.
But Ava hated me, and frankly, we had never gotten along. The fact that our exes had cheated on us with each other just meant that we would always butt heads. The only thing we had in common was the fact that we had horrible taste. But I still felt for Faith. There was just no way where it would make sense for me to help them out. Not that Ava would ever take help.
She was better off without Aaron, Isabelle, and me in her life.
I shook my head and slid the divorce papers into my bag, figuring it was time to get home. I’d had a long day, and things had been looking up, but now they just tasted sour.
I turned at the scuff of a boot as something came at my head, and I lifted my arm up, trying to block the blow. But whatever it was, was hard and heavy and stars shattered behind my eyes as I hit the ground, gasping for air. A boot kicked me in the gut, then caught me again in the hip before it slammed onto my shoulder, and I heard someone trying to get to the till, and to the extra bank bag I had in my bag.
I tried to get up, tried to say anything, but there was nothing, just another boot to the kidney, and then darkness.