whole life have I been that angry or lost my composure so completely. I started screaming. Cursing. Calling him every single name I could think of. I was loud. People came running, security was called. I was escorted from the building and pretty much banned from campus.”
She sighed. “Looking at it rationally now, I understand the university’s response. Campus shootings often get traced back to some furious person. I’m not surprised I lost my job.”
“I’m sorry.” He reached over and grabbed her hand. “I’m sorry that the one person you should’ve been able to trust to watch your back was the one who stabbed you in it. And I’m sorry that it all spiraled. Losing everything you’ve worked for due to circumstances outside of your control. I also—” he broke off.
“You also what?”
“Nothing. I just also hate it for you.”
“I didn’t think I would ever have an academic job again, so TSC was a blessing.”
He nodded. “Can I ask something that probably seems pretty inconsequential in the greater scheme of things?”
“Sure.”
“Did it feel good to scream at him? To lose your mind and let him have it? Like I said, it would’ve been a better story if you’d taken a lamp to his head, but the yelling...did it feel good?” He smiled conspiratorially. “It had to have felt good.”
She threw her head back and laughed. She couldn’t help it. Everyone who’d ever heard about what had happened had admonished her that she should have kept her temper. Not have lost control. If she’d been more reasonable, she’d still have her job.
But Baby had realized the truth.
“Oh, hell yes,” she muttered emphatically. “I’m not sure I’ve ever felt more alive in my whole life than when I stood over that desk, slamming my hands down and screaming at my bastard of an ex-husband. Even knowing what it would cost, seeing his face when I let him have it was almost worth it.”
Baby winked at her. “That’s my girl.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Mr. Bollinger, I wasn’t expecting you until May, when the college semester was over.”
Baby shook hands with Clifford Reed, a lawyer in Reddington City.
“Sorry I had to reschedule my appointment from last week.”
Clifford gestured toward the chair across from his desk. Baby had been meeting with this man once a year for seven years, since Pop had died and Clifford had contacted Baby to let him know about the will.
“What can I do for you?”
Baby tried to find the words but faltered. When Clifford had first read the terms of Pop’s will–that the Oak Creek Garage went to Baby free and clear as long as Baby completed a bachelor’s degree in seven years–Baby had been shocked. Clifford had been exceptionally patient with Baby, explaining the details and helping Baby through his initial questions.
Baby hadn’t been aware that someone could do something like that in a will, but evidently, people could do whatever they wanted. Especially someone like Pop, who didn’t have any family of his own to contest any crazy provisions in a will. All in all, the will itself had been pretty straightforward. Baby could stay on as manager and acting owner, making all decisions, as long as he was taking classes toward the college degree. Every year, he provided proof to Clifford that he was doing so.
“I need to know if there’s any way out of this,” Baby finally said. There wasn’t any easy way to say it. “Or get some sort of extension or something.”
Clifford steepled his fingers under his chin, leaning his elbows on the desk as he studied Baby. The man was in his mid-fifties, friendly enough, and had always been straightforward, which Baby appreciated. “You’re so close. Three classes left.”
But those were going to be the three that put an end to all this. If he hadn’t been able to pass any of them individually, how would he ever pass all three together in one semester? It wasn’t a question of working hard. If that was the case he’d buckle down and do it.
But it was way more than that.
“What if there are extenuating circumstances?” he asked. “Things Pop didn’t understand when he decided to write his will this way.”
Clifford took his glasses off and wiped them with the cloth on his desk. “You know, I discouraged Albert from doing this. He knew he was dying, knew the cancer was going to take him quickly, but I told him that this was a bad idea. That there were things that could happen which might stop you from