to take you to lunch tomorrow.”
The sick feeling in her stomach told her that it was more that Jane Kido was going to eat her for lunch than tell her that she’d won the fellowship with no strings.
* * *
? ? ?
BRIDGET HADN’T BEEN ABLE to get ahold of Matt the night before. She shouldn’t have been as pissed about it as she was, but his phone going to voicemail had made her even more agitated. The last thing she’d needed the night before had been agitation. Having lunch with her mother-in-law, the one who’d just offered to give her more than a hundred thousand dollars, was nerve-wracking enough.
She didn’t know why, but she smelled something rotten about the whole thing. It didn’t sit well. Jane Kido was too sharp not to see the optics of this—it looked nepotistic and corrupt. It would put their name in the same breath as the Chapins. People would talk about how they were corrupt, and it would obviate the whole existence of their philanthropy.
In the back of her mind, she suspected that this was just an elaborate way of getting rid of her. And part of her wondered if this wasn’t at Matt’s behest. There had been nothing strange about the last time they’d seen each other. He’d kissed her forehead before slipping out of her condo to get to class. They hadn’t shared “I love yous,” but it had felt like there was more to this than assured closure.
But Bridget had been fooled into believing that she had a future with someone before. Maybe he’d decided that being with her was too much for him or not what he wanted and was having his mother clean things up for him. Maybe she’d been wrong all along and he really was the kind of guy who used his money and privilege to escape hard work or inconvenience.
She didn’t think that was true, but she couldn’t exactly trust herself.
When she walked into the supremely elegant restaurant, the kind of place where ladies who lunched smiled with their mouths and stabbed with their words, she didn’t let any of her anxiety, confusion, or anticipatory grief show. She held her spine straight and put a smile on her face.
She didn’t even miss a step or let her smile fade when Jane looked her up and down in the same way she had the first time they met—as though she was lacking. Instead, she extended her hand and made sure it wasn’t shaking.
“Please sit.” Jane motioned to a chair across from hers. “I took the liberty of ordering the branzino for two.”
Fish wasn’t Bridget’s favorite—it reminded her of Lenten Fridays and sacrifice—but she didn’t tell Jane that. This woman didn’t get her vulnerabilities in a moment when she wasn’t even sure if she was going to blow up her marriage. The one she hadn’t known she wanted to stay in until a few days ago.
“Thank you. Sounds delicious.”
Jane gave her an almost-indulgent smile when the server came over and poured them both a glass of white wine. Then her mother-in-law picked up her glass as though she was going to make a toast, and Bridget braced herself. “To your new fellowship.”
“Mrs. Kido—”
“Please call me Jane.”
Now Bridget was in a bit of a cold sweat. “Jane, I think there’s been a mistake. I sort of wasn’t thinking about the fellowship application when I married Matt, and I know I can’t accept it. I shouldn’t have gotten it in the first place.” Jane quirked her head, and Bridget couldn’t seem to keep herself from talking. “How can I fix this?”
After a beat, Jane said, “I’m glad you asked.” She turned and pulled a manila envelope out of her shoulder bag. She pushed it across the table. “A final divorce decree. I had to pull a few strings with Judge Dickerson’s clerk, but he expedited them for me. We’re good friends.”
Fucking Judge Dickerson, screwing her over again. Bridget wanted to throw up. All over the table and all over the final divorce decree. “I don’t understand.”
Jane smiled again. “It’s simple. You sign these papers, leave my son alone, and then you get your