She gained her composure and called Megan, knowing she needed her friend tonight. After a quick call and Megan agreeing to come over immediately, she went down to feed. The horses wouldn’t complain about being fed early. She’d just finished up with her chores when Megan pulled up. She flew out of her sedan and ran up to embrace Rebecca, both of them starting to cry.
“What did that jerk do?”
* * *
Megan made Rebecca sit at the table and recount what had happened while she busily made tea. Rebecca told her of visiting Kip at the office before her flight and the subsequent calls. She carefully left out her intimate time with Grayson.
“And that imbecile had the audacity to file for a divorce before you even got back home? You should be the one filing for divorce, not him.”
Rebecca shook her head. “It doesn’t matter who files. We have a prenup and with no children, it should be a cut and dry divorce.”
“It does matter. He’s the cheater, not you. It should show that you are the one asking for the divorce!”
“Megan, it doesn’t matter to me! Our marriage is over, all that matters is that he can’t touch the ranch.”
Megan sniffed indignantly for her friend. “Still, he should pay. One way or another. What about Luke Grayson? Did you get the contract?”
Rebecca took a sip of her tea before answering, knowing she couldn’t keep anything from her best friend. “Yeah, I got the contract.”
Megan jumped up and squealed. “Oh my gosh! That’s huge! What aren’t you telling me though? You should be jumping up and down right now, screw Kip! You’re going to be huge, you’ll blow away the competition at the championship show!”
“That’s the plan. I can start practicing with Othello to his music. With my routine and his music, I think we have it made.”
“Yes, you will. So spill it, sister. What happened?”
“Nothing, really. Kip was impossible with his calls and I ended up spending more time with Mr. Grayson than I had expected.”
“Shut the front door! You spent the day with Luke Grayson? You didn’t meet with his managers?”
“No. After Mr. Grayson saw my video, he took a, uh, personal interest in my plight.” Rebecca said.
“A personal interest? You better start talking.” Megan demanded but Rebecca’s cell phone rang, saving her at that moment.
Rebecca checked her caller ID and felt her face blush as she answered her phone. “Hi.” she stuttered, looking at Megan and trying not to laugh at her perplexed expression. “No, my flight went well. Yes, I’m home safe. No, he’s not here, he, um, moved out.” She saw Megan’s eyebrow raise quizzically but tried to ignore her friend. “He filed for divorce while I was gone. No, I know it’s for the best. Yes, I’ve been thinking about you and you’re offer. I, uh, have my best friend here, maybe we could talk later? Thanks, Grayson, we’ll talk later.”
She smiled as she hung up and instantly plugged her ears as Megan screamed. “You just got a call from Luke Grayson! Oh, my gosh! You sure as hell better start talking and fast.” Megan stood up and made her way to the wine glasses. “This calls for something stronger than tea.”
Chapter Six
Rebecca had to stop several times as Megan gasped, squealed and interrupted with endless questions. She didn’t mind being interrupted. Hearing herself tell the story, it sounded incredulous. Several times she rubbed her arms, trying to avoid pinching herself to make sure she really wasn’t dreaming. When she finished telling Megan what had happened, Megan got up and poured them another glass of wine. She sat across the table, playing with her wine glass, staring seriously at her friend. Rebecca was waiting for her to tell her what was on her mind but Megan just stared. Uncomfortable and frustrated, Rebecca blew out her breath.
“What?” she demanded. “You’ve been all excited and twittery and now you’re just sitting there staring at me, like you’re judging me. So what? What?”
“I’m not judging you, at all!” Megan shook her head. “Lord knows you deserve this. The excitement, the romance, being whisked away in a jet. But…” she faltered.
“Here it comes, the but.” Rebecca sighed.
“But…you can’t tell Kip any of this. Not about Grayson or the contract.”
“I wasn’t going to tell Kip about Grayson but what’s the big deal about the contract? He knew why I was going out to California, surely he’s going to ask.”
“Rebecca, you’ve seen how self-centered he is. If he thinks for even a second that you’re going to profit from this, he’s going to delay the divorce as long as possible to get his share.”
“But he can’t. We signed a prenup agreement before we got married so he can’t touch the horses.” Rebecca explained.
“It doesn’t matter. This is a no fault state. Any profits you make during the marriage are split fifty-fifty. So far, the lessons and sale of your foals have negated the operating costs of your business, so as far as the books and the courts are concerned, your business hasn’t really profited, yet. But this contract with Grayson could change all of that. If you win world grand championship this year, your name will be money. With Othello’s stud fees and his foals, combined with your training, your breeding facility will be on the top breeders map. Kip will see that too, he’ll want to take half of what you make this year.”
Rebecca dropped her head on the table, closing her eyes. She had worked so hard for this, he had nothing to do with her and her horses or helping build her career. She didn’t want to believe that Kip could be so selfish but then the vision of him and his lover flashed through her mind and she felt a sob rack her body. She raised her head and searched for a tissue, her eyes falling on the answering machine. Yes, he could be that selfish. She took a deep breath and nodded her head. “So what should I do?”
“The first thing you need to do is call Luke Grayson and explain the situation. See if he can hold the contract for a little while and if anyone were to call and ask about the status of it, he needs to have his managers tell them that the contract is still in negotiations. Then you need to get this divorce finalized as soon as possible.”
Rebecca ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head. “I can’t involve Luke in all of this. It’s too much.”
“Rebecca, he’s already involved and by the sound of it, he wants to be. I can’t imagine he’d be thrilled if he found out Kip profited from your hard work and his music.”
“No, he wouldn’t. You’re right. I’ll call him now, he leaves tomorrow to go on tour and it will be harder to get in touch with him.” She picked up her cell phone and hit redial, her stomach in knots as she heard the phone ring. She felt herself smile when she heard him answer.
“Rebecca! What a nice surprise. I hadn’t expected to hear from you so soon. Did you change your mind and decide to fly away with me for a little while?” The teasing tone of his voice gave the butterflies in her stomach flight.
“No, though right now that sounds wonderful. I’m really sorry to bother you with this but…” she stumbled.
He quickly interrupted her. “You are never a bother to me. What’s going on?”
She quickly ran down the conversation her and Megan had.
“No problem, Rebecca. I’ll call Pat right now and have him lose those papers until you let me know otherwise. Is there anything else I can do for you? Fly you out to Florida for my concert tomorrow night? It might take your mind off of things for a day or two.”
She laughed, feeling the tension of the day ease out of her body. “No, I wish, but I have a pretty crazy schedule right now.”
“What’s so crazy about your schedule right now?”
Rebecca yelped as her and Megan swung around at the sound of Kip’s voice.
“Rebecca, are you all right?” She heard Luke ask, worry filling his voice.
Trying to force down the panic that rose to her throat, she stuttered. “No, I mean, yes, I’m ok. Kip just walked through the door so I have to go.”
“Well, tell th
e SOB to get the heck out of your life, you’re moving on to bigger and better men.” Luke stated gruffly.
She tried to hold back the nervous giggle. “I will. Thank you and we’ll talk soon.” She hung up the phone and glared at her husband. “What are you doing here?”
“Gee, is that anyway to greet your husband?” Kip asked as he crossed the room.
“Soon to be ex-lying, cheating husband, don’tcha mean?”
“Megan!” Rebecca gasped.
“You told her already?” he snarled.
“Of course she did. She needs some support from a true friend right now.” Megan snapped back.
“Megan, please, you’re not making this easier.” Rebecca pleaded.
“Fine. I’ll be in the living room when you need me.” She grabbed her glass of wine and winked at Rebecca as she left the room.
“Couldn’t even wait twenty-four hours before you blabbed to your friends, huh?” He snatched a wine glass from the cupboard and helped himself to the bottle.
“Couldn’t even wait for our sheets to get cold before you were in bed with another?” she spat out as she sat back down at the table, taking a sip of wine as she tried to calm the anger she felt building.
“So who else were you blabbing to on the phone? Telling your mother about mean, nasty Kip?” he asked sarcastically.
“No. I was…” she caught herself and took another drink. “I was talking with Mom but I haven’t told her yet. I figured I should tell her in person.”
Kip snorted and took another drink of his wine, finishing his glass and filling it again. He paused before drinking again and looked at her coyly. “So how did it go in California? Were you able to convince Luke Grayson’s managers to let you use his song at the horse show?”
“I’m not sure.” she lied. “They said they had to talk about it and they would call me.” she finished quietly.
Kip snorted again and set his glass down. “Silly, naive Rebecca. When business people say don’t call us, we’ll call you, it means no. But of course, you wouldn’t know that. You have no business sense at all and if it wasn’t for your daddy’s money, this joke of a ranch would’ve gone under years ago.”
He stood up and pulled out a folded packet of papers from the inside of his jacket pocket. He threw them unceremoniously onto the table in front of her. “Here’s our divorce papers. I had my attorney draw them up yesterday.”
She stared at them like they were coiled snakes about to strike at her. “You had them drawn up already? We haven’t even talked about how we are going to divide everything.”
“Don’t be such a nit, Rebecca. We don’t have any children and since we have the prenup, you can’t touch my business, so don’t even think you can milk anything from me. We leave this marriage the same way we entered it, me with my software business and you with, well, your creatures.” he said nastily.
Any feelings of sorrow she had felt because her marriage was ending left her and was replaced with anger and revulsion. The man before her was not the man she wanted to spend her life with.
She got up and grabbed a pen out of the drawer. “So how soon will this be done?”
He smiled and she found it reminded her of a used car salesman who had just hooked another sucker. “Well, you can look over them tonight before you sign them. If we get them filed tomorrow, the divorce will be final ninety days from the filing date.”
She grabbed them and began to hastily sign her name on the lines that were marked. “So why wait? Let’s just get this done tonight. Obviously you have an attorney in your back pocket so you can just have him file them today.”
He grew slightly alarmed at her frantic reaction and tried to sooth her. “Well, you don’t have to be hasty. You can read them and get them back to me tomorrow.”
“Why?” she glared at him. “Is there something in here that gives you what is mine?”
He laughed arrogantly. “Something of yours? All you have is this backwoods hick ranch and filthy flea-bitten beasts. No, you don’t have anything that I want. But Tiffany and I have dinner plans tonight and …”
“Tiffany?” Rebecca snapped, hating the anger and jealously in her voice but unable to stop it. “Is that the tramp’s name that you were with? Our divorce papers aren’t even filed and you have plans with that woman?”
Megan, hearing the Rebecca’s raised voice, came running in. “What the hell is going on in here?”
“Kip here is wanting me to hurry because he has dinner plans with Tiffany.”
“That is not what I said. I told her to look them over tonight and I can file them tomorrow.” Kip quipped.
“And I told him that since he has a lawyer in his back pocket, he can get them filed tonight!” Rebecca resumed signing the papers.
Megan took a hesitant step towards her friend. “Rebecca, are you sure about this?”
“Why not? There isn’t anything I have that he wants.” She continued flipping and signing pages, fighting the tears back. “And if anything turns up that he says isn’t there, I’ll tell the courts he inserted it after I signed them.”
“You can’t do that. Megan is a witness!” Kip snapped.
Megan squared up in front of Kip. “I’ll back her up one hundred percent, under oath, to anything she says.”
Kip took a step back and shook his head. “There’s nothing this redneck has that I want. It’s all straight forward and legit.”
“Good.” Megan said and without taking her eyes off of Kip, held her hand out to Rebecca. Rebecca slapped the papers into Megan’s hand and she shoved them into Kip’s chest. “You can file them today. We’ll be looking for the correct date on them.”
Kip grabbed the papers and backed out of the kitchen. “Fine with me. Both a couple of psycho chicks. I’ll be glad when it’s done. Here’s your key.” He flicked it over to Rebecca and she let it fall to the floor. “All of my stuff is out of here, been moving it out for the past month, not like you would notice. You’ve been so self absorbed that you didn’t even have a clue.”
Neither Megan nor Rebecca moved or said anything as he left. When the sound of his car faded, Rebecca felt her knees shake and she fell onto the kitchen chair.
“Rebecca, are you alright?”
“I don’t know. My whole world has been turned upside down. I don’t even recognize who’s life this is.”
“I know it’s scary right now. Unexpected change is never easy but one day, you’re gonna look back on this and praise God that it happened.”
“I hope you’re right, Megan. I feel so lost right now.” Rebecca hiccupped, sorrow flooding her body.
Chapter Seven
She tried to focus on her house and her horses. She had days when she felt strong and secure and other days where she could barely drag herself out of bed. The first few days after signing the divorce papers, she wandered around like a ghost, the grave sadness overwhelming as she realized Kip had been right, all of his stuff had been moved out and she never had a clue. How long had his things been “disappearing” from their home and she never saw it?
Her home, she corrected herself. It had never really been his home. All of the furniture had been hers, all of the paintings and dishes, all the things that make a house a home. He’d just moved in computers and personal items, like his clothes. It’s no wonder she never saw him moving out.
As the weeks progressed, she felt stronger, more sure of herself and she was able to focus on getting Othello ready for the big show. She’d had a state-of-the-art sound system piped into her indoor arena a year ago and was able to play a looped version of Luke’s music. When she had first decided on this song, she had played it while she rode in the arena, warming up her stallion. She was pleased when Othello reacted so positively to the music and picked up her cue so subtly that it appeared as though Rebecca was a part of Othello, instead of being just a rider.
So many times she found herself lost in his song, her eyes closed and relishing her memories of when she had been with Luke and her rou
tine to the song so flowing that at times she found that Othello had finished the routine, nothing missed, everything perfect. She felt pride well up in her heart and praised Othello lovingly. He was such an amazing stallion and soon the horse world would know that too. She knew if they won this competition, her future and the future of her ranch would be secure, regardless of what Kip thought.
The evenings were harder for her when she couldn’t keep her body and her mind busy. She was often sad, not because she was alone but because she was used to being alone. Signing the divorce papers and Kip moving out really hadn’t changed her life and that thought depressed her.
She’d talked to Luke a few times and that helped but he was busy being on tour and she was trying to regain her balance. She could have talked to him more often because he called every week but more often than not, she let it go to voicemail. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to him or that she’d changed her mind about him but she still felt wounded and nervous about the divorce. She knew she couldn’t trust Kip and she wouldn’t allow herself to relax until she had the final divorce papers in her hand. After that happened, she would give herself a mini vacation to go see Luke.
She walked over to the calendar above her desk and picked up a red Sharpie, adding another X through the day, counting down the ninety days. There were only four days left before the day, and she had decorated it with drawings of balloons and confetti, trying to make it a day of celebration as opposed to a day when her marriage officially ended. Kip hadn’t contacted her since that night and she actually felt relief. She knew they had nothing else to say to each other. That chapter of her life was almost over and she was ready to move on. She’d told her parents about what had happened and they had, of course, rallied around her and supported her. She spent two to three nights a week eating supper over at their place and she found it comforting, eating at the same table where she had grown up. One night, after her dad had gone up to bed, Rebecca and her mother had sat at the kitchen table and cried together. The tears had eventually turned to laughter as they celebrated the fact that not only was Kip out of Rebecca’s life but so was Lorena, his crazy mother.
Love's Everlasting Song Page 7
