A sheen of sweat broke across his brow, and his eyes hit Bernadette’s in a panic. She was oblivious to the turmoil rolling through his gut. He glanced back up, and Melanie had fled.
“Owen, are you okay?”
Owen closed his eyes as a sense of doom flushed over him.
I drove away from the mall with my hands white-knuckled on the steering wheel. Owen was with another woman. They’d sat close together, drinking coffee and looking like any other couple out for a day of shopping and being together. The stuff on the round bistro table made it seem they were making more plans. I saw her smiling face as she talked away to Owen. It had to be a date, based on the nicer shirt he wore. First? Second? Third? From his obvious comfort level, he must have known her for a while.
A sense of betrayal bubbled up inside me. My head told me I had no right to feel like this. Owen MacAteer was a free man and could see whomever he wanted. He had no obligation or commitment to me. Too bad my heart didn’t feel that way.
My stomach burned, and I swallowed several times as I reached for my stash of Tums. Throwing up sounded like a good idea, but not in my car.
My car. I needed to look at new cars. I pulled a sharp U-turn, probably pissing off several other drivers in the process, and drove straight to the car dealership where Jerry worked. It didn’t take him long to find me. I put on my brightest smile and hoped the raging storm in my head stayed hidden.
“Hey, Jerry! I’m so glad you’re here today. How’s Jodie and the kids?”
If he heard the brittleness in my voice, he ignored it. “I’m good, Miss Miser. Family’s good too, thanks for asking.”
“My students call me Miss Miser. I think we’ve known each other long enough that you can call me Melanie.”
His chin wobbled a bit as he nodded and shook my hand. “Thank you so much, Melanie. Is Owen here too?”
“Why would he be here?”
“Uh… I just thought maybe he’d come with you to look at cars.”
My laugh came out loud and high enough to shatter glass. “Nope. I don’t need him or anyone else to pick out a car, and besides, he’s occupied with someone else at the moment.”
Jerry’s mouth formed a perfect round shape. “Ohhhh, I see. Um… well, what did you have in mind?”
“I need a baby car. Not like a minivan, just a bigger one than what I have. More like a family sedan. Whatcha got?”
Two hours later I pulled off the lot in a Cajun red Chevy Equinox. Even if I had to drive a bigger SUV type vehicle, I could still have my favorite color. My account had taken a big hit with the car, and I still had the house to deal with. The papers sat next to me and a quick glance through them had assured me that Robert did not have the power to stop my mortgage loan. He might be able to make trouble for me, but I could either rent or sell my condo if I needed any extra income. If I guessed right, closing for the new house wouldn’t happen until after Thanksgiving, as there were inspections and official stuff that had to be done. My plan was to put a whopping big down payment that made the mortgage easy to make even with my teacher’s salary. The car, I paid for in full, which I was sure my brother and father would say something about if they had the chance. So far none of them, not even my mother, had called or contacted me in any way since the disastrous Labor Day party.
Bevvie’s ringtone started up, and I pressed the Bluetooth button on the dashboard. Damn, this car came with all sorts of bells and whistles.
“Yo, Mellie-Jellie, you up for an Italian night? I’m doing spaghetti and salad for the horde. Abby’s friends are coming over for a girly night, and Connor is planning on taking the boys to the new Marvel movie. Dinner’s gonna be early, around five tonight. See you then?”
Most of my weekends now were spent over at Bevvie and Connor’s place rather than at my condo alone. Often, it would include hanging and playing games with the kids, watching movies, painting toenails, hearing the gossip about the boys in school, and of course seeing Owen. More than once, I ended up