Chapter 6 Rowe
Rowe
“Bye, Bill! Bye, Mom.”
I pull my mom into a hug and inhale the scent of patchouli that clings to her hair and skin. It is the most calming fragrance that I know and love.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” she says.
“It’s fine.” Once Luke left, she explained that after the foreclosure had become binding, he had offered to help by buying a few pieces of furniture.
I bet he had, I thought. But I didn’t tell her that.
My mom is such a free spirit that she generally thinks most people are out to do the right thing. Most people except Luke, that is.
There’s no point in blaming her for it. My relationship with Luke was over years ago, but boy, does that breakup still sting.
Especially since I see either him or Sally Ray every day, given that they live right across the road. It also doesn’t help that they have a super-popular unicorn farm that currently has an almost-full parking lot, while we have a dying piggycorn farm filled with rolling tumbleweeds.
Bill buzzes down the window of his truck. “You coming, Sabe?”
She twists toward him and waves. “Coming.” Then she claps my shoulders and studies me with a wobbly smile. “You sure about this? That you want to try to take this on?”
“Mom, by the time you get back, I’m going to have saved our home. I swear it.”
The look on her face suggests there’s no way I could do that. But I’m determined. The last thing Luke said really knotted my knickers. He wants more than just the furniture—he and Sally Ray want to claim the house for themselves.
The people who ripped my life apart are not allowed to have my home.
“Everything you need is in the office,” she says. “All the financials.”
“Thanks. Now, get out of here. Bill’s about to blow a gasket from waiting.”
Bill is ex–armed forces and likes his life to work on a very succinct schedule. He’s not at all like me and my messy existence.
I give Mom one more hug and watch as she gets into the truck and Bill backs out of the drive with the Airstream behind them. My arm hurts from waving by the time they’re on the road and out of sight, and tears prick my eyes.
I’m alone. For the first time in my entire life, I’m all alone. Literally, truly alone.
Tallulah pads up beside me and presses her pink snout into my leg.
“I know.” I sigh. “You’re out of food. Let’s go into town.”
“What do you mean, there’s no credit left, Ron?”
I drop my purse on the counter of Mystic Meadows Feed and Tack and glare at Ron, who, only two hours ago, helped Luke steal my furniture.
Even though there was money involved, yes, I consider it theft.
Ron’s gaze drops to his hands as he nervously organizes and reorganizes a box of various seeds.
“Ron?” I repeat. “What’s going on?”
He grimaces. “I’m sorry, Rowe, but your credit’s been cut off.”
“Cut off?” I yell.
Shoppers turn in my direction and I drop my voice. “Cut off?” I hiss. “What do you mean? We pay our bills.”
“I know, but I guess with the whole”—he waves his hand, clearly meaning the foreclosure, and I can’t help but roll my eyes—“Sally had you cut off.”
Today just gets better and better.
Sally Ray owns the feedstore and Luke manages the bank. Together, those two are going to squeeze every drop of blood out of me.
“Fine. I’ll pay for it.” I open my purse and slap down my card. “Here.”
He runs the card and frowns.
“What?” My nerves are fried. I feel a migraine coming on. “What is it?”
“The card’s declined.”
“What? There’s money in the account.” Frustrated, I dig my fingernails into the top of my purse. “Try it again.”
Ron slips the card into the reader, and it beeps angrily at him. “Sorry, it’s still not working.”
“Try this one.”
He does and that card doesn’t work, either.
Two words hit me in the head: Luke. Preston.
“I’ll be right back,” I growl, yanking the card from Ron’s hand.
“I’m sorry, Rowe,” he says feebly.
“We’ll see who’s sorry,” I mutter.
I barge outside. Soon as I’m in the blistering sun, the Georgia humidity hits me like a wall. It’s so thick that it’s clinging to the air like yesterday’s panties on a hooker.
Drops of sweat sprout on my forehead and upper lip. I swipe them off with the back of my arm.
Even though it’s gonna be a hot fall, my town is adorable. It’s unicorn themed, so all the storefronts have charming scrollwork, and the names of the stores reflect the whimsical feel. There’s the Prancing Pony Café and Twilight Treats Ice Cream, among others.
There’s also a bridge where you can hang a lock after you place your and your lover’s name with the words 4 eva on it.
After snapping the lock on to the wire fencing that runs the length of the bridge, you toss the key into the river, where it will be swept away, ensuring that you and your partner will be together 4 eva.
Yeah. Luke and I did that. You see how our relationship turned out.
And today, Luke is apparently the undesirable gift that keeps on giving, because Mystic Meadows Savings and Loan is directly across from the feedstore. Soon as I walk in, the tellers duck in their seats.
“We don’t want any trouble, Rowe,” one says.
Ha. So they already know why I’m here.
“Is he in?” I say, not bothering to wait as I head to Luke’s office.
“He’s busy,” replies another teller.
“Not anymore.” I throw open Luke’s door and stare him down.
He’s cleaned up since this morning—put on a suit and tie.
My ex shoots back in his rolling chair and pretends to look surprised. “Rowe. Two visits in one day. To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Cut the crap, Luke.” I stomp over to his desk and drop my hands on it, leaning over as far as I can without falling on top of the slick surface. “Give me back my money.”
One side of his mouth ticks up in a smug smirk. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You disabled my credit and debit cards.”
“I would never do such a thing. But since you’ve got a problem, let me refer you to Member Services.”
He reaches for his desk phone, but I slap his hand away. “I don’t want Member Services. I want my money!”
He drops his voice. “If you continue to yell at me, I’ll have to call the sheriff.”
I. Hate. Him. So. Much.
After forcing a smile that’s tighter than a virgin’s butthole, I grind out, “Why aren’t my cards working?”
“Well, Rowe, let’s take a look.”
He pulls his chair back up to his desk and punches some keys on his computer. He frowns and shakes his head before swinging the computer screen around for me to see.
“Looks like there’s been suspicious activity on your accounts—both your credit card and your personal checking.”
“Suspicious activity?” Shock rocks through me. “What?”
He nods. “For your own security, your accounts have been frozen until an investigation is completed.”
“For my own . . . ? Bullshit. That’s bullshit, Luke.” My heart becomes as hard as stone. “What suspicious activity?”
“It doesn’t say.” His voice is tinged with fake sympathy. “All it says is that they’ve had to deactivate your cards as well as freeze the money while the investigation is being completed. Everything should be cleared up in a week or two.”
“A week or two! What am I supposed to do about feed?” I shove my finger under his nose. “And don’t think I don’t know that you had Sally Ray cut off my line of credit at the store.”
He pushes my hand away. “All I know about is the bank. I don’t regulate what Sally does over there.”
“Horse manure.”
“You have a lot of fecal references today.”
I’ll show him fecal references. In fact, I’ll shove them right up his rear end. “What am I supposed to do about money in the meantime?”
He sits back and taps the tips of his fingers together like a greedy oil baron about to con a small-time farmer out of the petroleum pools under his land.
“I’m sure there are more things to sell in your home—antiques you’ve got hidden upstairs.
As memory serves, I gave your mom a wad of cash this morning. ”
I lean in until we’re nose to nose. “Let me make this crystal clear for you, Luke, since you and Sally Ray don’t seem to understand: There is no way in hell that y’all will get one more piece of my property.”
“Sixty days,” he sneers. “You’ve got sixty days until you and that shitty little piggycorn farm of yours are out on your ass, and that property will belong to me—I mean, the bank.”
We stare at each other for a couple of beats before he breaks the contest first. And yes, it was a contest, and yes, I won.
He riffles through papers on his desk. “If there’s nothing else that I can do for you, I need to get back to work.”
“Sure. Get back to work.”
My world is melting faster than a snow cone on a summer’s day, and he needs to get back to work.
Without a word, I turn on my heel and storm out of the bank. I head over to my truck—an early-’80s Ford F-150 with a diesel engine. The thing is so well made that it’ll probably outlive me.
I slump against the door and drop my head to the window. What am I going to do? All my money’s tied up in that bank.
Maybe there’s some in the house that I’m forgetting about. There’s probably enough for a few groceries, but not enough for the piggycorns’ feed.
Their sparkleberry food is expensive, and it’s the main staple of their diet. But maybe the ones that I’m trying to—
“Rowe!”
Ron peeks out from behind the feedstore, motioning to me.
“What now?” I grouch.
When I reach him, he pulls me around the corner. “I feel awful bad about what happened in there and for everything that went on at your house earlier.” He rubs the back of his neck in embarrassment. “So here.”
He moves aside, unblocking from view a fifty-pound bag of feed. My heart leaps into my throat.
I throw my arms around his neck. “Ron! You are my hero! Thank you so much!”
“Now, don’t get excited,” he tells me, pulling back bashfully. “You’ll have to repay this pretty fast. Sally Ray keeps a keen eye on inventory, and if she notices that it’s missing, I’ll be fired.”
“Okay, I promise. Soon as I get home, I’ll take a look and scrounge up all the money that I can.”