“What? You mean why I think you’re overspending?”
“Un-huh.”
“Because within the last six months—since you met Traci, I might add—you’ve purchased this huge red leather sectional that’s way too big for your living room, two paintings that belong inside someone’s mansion, and a Mercedes-Benz that I know you’re struggling to pay for. But what beat everything was when you had the audacity to purchase all those new stainless steel appliances for a condo you don’t even own. You’re not even planning to buy this place. So why would you do something like that?”
Simone tossed a number of lies through her mind, trying to figure out which of them would work best, but Chris had caught her so off guard, she wasn’t prepared. Normally she didn’t need to be, since she’d always been good with telling off-the-cuff lies with a straight face, but this was different. The reason? She could tell Chris was serious and that he wasn’t going to let up. He was ready to ask question after question if he had to, and she wasn’t sure how to handle this. She also didn’t know what had gotten into him, and why he was sounding so desperate.
“And why haven’t you given me a key? Months keep passing, yet I’m still ringing your doorbell like a stranger. Or I sometimes sit in your driveway, waiting for you to get home.”
“Baby, please, let’s not do this,” she said. “Not tonight.”
“No, it’s now or never. I’ve been open and up front with you about everything. Every aspect of my life. And now it’s time for you to do the same thing. And you can start by telling me your salary and how much money you owe.”
Simone stood up. “This isn’t the time for this, and I’d really like you to leave.”
“Oh, so it’s like that? You claim you’re so in love with me, but you’re throwing me out? Yeah, okay,” he said, getting to his feet.
Simone hated when they argued, something they seemed to do a lot lately. But it was mostly because of all the questions he’d been asking for the last couple of months—questions he wouldn’t stop asking.
Chris glared at her like he couldn’t stand her. “I wonder if Traci really knows just how much of a copycat you are. That you buy things just because she has them,” he said, eyeing her red leather sectional again. “That’s why you never invite her over here, because you know all of this is crazy. I noticed a long time ago that you always visit her instead, or you end up suggesting a restaurant where the two of you can meet for dinner. And I also wonder if she knows that you pay twelve hundred dollars every time you have to get those hair extensions replaced. Just so you can look like her. Or that you spend hours looking at her web site and reading through her social media pages. Or that if you’re not doing that, you’re browsing department store web sites, searching for clothes and shoes like hers.”
Simone struggled to swallow the massive lump in her throat and thought she was going to choke. Not once had she told Chris or anyone else how much she paid her hairstylist. And how did he know what web sites and social media pages she frequented? How did he have a clue about the stores she shopped at? What she did in her own home was nobody else’s business—not even his—and this was the real reason she hadn’t given him a key.
She wanted to ask him all of the above and then some, but she was afraid of what his answers might be. Except Chris didn’t wait for her to ask him any questions at all. He had a lot more to say, and he seemed to be just getting started.
He stood in front of her. “So I’m going to ask you one more time, and one time only. How much do you make, and how much do you owe?”
This night would clearly go down as one of the worst of Simone’s life, and she wanted it to be over.
“Chris, look. I’ve already asked you to leave.”
“So that’s your answer?”
Simone walked through the short hallway and opened the front door.
Chris followed behind her and slammed it back shut.
“What’s wrong with you?” she shouted.
“You’re what’s wrong with me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You and all your lies. All your deceit.”
“Chris, I really want you to leave.”
“When were you going to tell me that you’ve maxed out all your major credit cards? And all your store cards, too? When, Simone?”
Simone stretched her eyes wide and wanted to die.
“Yeah, that’s right. I saw all your statements, and I also saw that you just opened two of your eight major cards a couple of months ago. But those are maxed out, too. You owe more than seventy…thousand…dollars on things you didn’t even need. Especially that car you just had to have. And it’s funny how you never told me that you needed to put twenty thousand dollars down on it. Yet you still have a payment you really can’t afford. At least, I don’t see how you could. Not a one-thousand-dollar car note on a forty-nine-thousand-dollar-a-year salary. And that doesn’t sound like a manager’s salary, either.”
“Chris, why are you doing this? And where are you getting all this from?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
His tone was ice cold, and Simone wanted to break into tears.
“You’re a real piece of work,” he said. “You know that? Because here you had me thinking you were serious about joining my church when you knew all along you weren’t going to. But worse than that, for the last few months you’ve given me every excuse under the sun why you don’t feel like going to church. Claiming Sunday was the only day you had to rest. When this whole time, you’ve been secretly attending Pastor Black’s church every Sunday without fail. That’s why there have been times when I’ve called you right after church, and you take thirty minutes or more to call me back. You always needed time to get home and change so you could pretend like you hadn’t gone anywhere. But what hurts me the most, Simone, is the new lease you just signed with your landlord. When I first saw it, I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me, because I knew it meant you were never planning to move out of here. You lied to my face about everything, and I was too naïve to see it. Either that, or I saw what I wanted to see, because I always knew you were keeping secrets. I also knew that you worked hard to be something you’re not, and that you don’t really have any friends,” he said with tears in his eyes. “But I really loved you, girl. I loved you with every ounce of my being, and this is how you did me? This is how you treated me? Like I was nothing special. Like I was the enemy.”
“Baby, I’m so, so sorry,” she said, looking up at him and grabbing his arm. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t mean to do any of this. I just didn’t know if you really loved me.”
Chris jerked away from her. “Don’t say another word to me, because I’m done. You hear me? I’m done with you for good. Don’t call me, don’t text me, don’t ever contact me again. Oh, and one more thing,” he said, pulling something from his pocket. “Here’s your key; now give me my ring back.”
Simone stared at him in shock.
His face turned even colder than it had been. “Give it to me.”
Simone slipped the ring off her finger and passed it to him. She’d half expected he would make some sort of final statement, but all he did was leave.
Simone watched him head down the driveway and get in his car, and she looked at the key he’d just handed to her. She wasn’t sure where he’d gotten it from, but she could kick herself for ever allowing him the chance to figure out the security code to her alarm system. He must have seen her type it in a million times. So not only had he thoroughly rummaged through her desk drawers where she kept all her business documents, including her bank and credit card statements and the weekly church programs from Deliverance Outreach, he’d also searched through the Internet browsing history on her computer. He hadn’t missed anything, and she knew he would never trust her again. She knew he was done with her just as he’d said, and that there was nothing she could do about it. She had a mind to beg him to take her back, but she also knew that while Chris was one of
the best men she knew and that she loved him, she wasn’t in love with him. She’d tried with all her might to love him the way he loved her, but she didn’t have it in her. She’d never been able to love anyone the way she wanted to, and she knew that wasn’t normal. She knew she wasn’t normal, and this was the reason she kept everything to herself. The reason she kept her business and true feelings as private as possible. The reason she tended to have more sad days than happy ones. The reason she smiled when she wanted to cry. The reason she told many lies—trying to make others believe she was doing much better in life than she was.
So yes, she knew her relationship with Chris was over, and she was willing to accept that, but the more she sat thinking, the shakier she became. What if he hadn’t just searched through one or two of her desk drawers? What if he’d rambled through every inch of her desk?
Dear God, she thought, and then rushed upstairs to her bedroom to check her phone. With all that had occurred at Traci’s book signing and then with her grandmother, she hadn’t checked her email messages. But sure enough, she’d received two emails from her alarm system app: one letting her know that the system had been disarmed at six thirty p.m., a half hour after she’d left for the bookstore, and then another notifying her that it was reset at nine o’clock.
Chris had been inside her condo for two and a half hours…and what if he’d discovered the one thing she’d been trying to hide since leaving Ohio? What if he’d seen that other thing of hers…and told Traci about it?
But he would never do something like that—he would never try to pay her back in such a cruel, harmful way. He just wouldn’t. Not Chris—the kindest and most compassionate man she knew.
Chapter 21
Traci removed her cup from the Keurig machine and added liquid creamer and two packs of Splenda. She smiled, because if Tim were still home, he would probably ask her if she wanted “some coffee with that cream and sugar.” He used cream and Splenda, too, but very little, and he also preferred a couple of shots of espresso because of how strong he liked his morning java—or his afternoon java, for that matter.
She sat down at the island and continued watching the Investigation Discovery channel. It was just after nine, so once she finished drinking her coffee, she was going to get her workout in and then lounge around for the rest of the day. Normally she was up well before Tim left for work, but she was sort of tired from all the traveling she’d done over the past couple of weeks. Last night had been a little exhausting, too, but she wasn’t complaining, because nothing compared to how great her readers made her feel. They made her events fun and interesting, and her book signing here in town had been even more special because of how heartwarming it was to see people she’d known most of her life—and to know that after all this time, they still kindly and willingly supported her. There were also many people who attended because they’d met her at church or because they knew Tim, her parents, or her sister, so she was grateful in more ways than one.
Just as Traci was about to turn off the television and head downstairs, someone rang the doorbell. Rarely did anyone drop by so early in the morning unannounced, so she wondered who it was. But as she approached the front entryway, she could already see through the stained-glass window inside the door that a man was standing there with flowers.
“Good morning,” she said, smiling.
“And good morning to you,” the older gentleman replied. “Are you Traci Calloway Cole?”
“I am.”
“Then these are for you.”
Traci took the beautiful yellow roses from him. “Thank you.”
“You’re quite welcome. Have a good day.”
“You too.”
As she closed the door, she wondered who these lovely flowers could be from. She knew they couldn’t be from Tim, because, one, he’d already sent her a dozen roses yesterday to celebrate the end of a great book tour, and two, he never sent her any other color except red.
Traci set the tall glass vase on the counter and opened the envelope. She pulled out the card and smiled.
To my best friend, Traci.
Congratulations on the success of your book signing last night, and please know that I am so very proud of you and all your accomplishments.
Love,
Simone
“How kind,” Traci said out loud, and then she walked over to the island and picked up her cell phone. She dialed Simone’s number, and Simone answered right away.
“Thank you so, so much for sending the gorgeous roses,” Traci said. “They’re absolutely beautiful.”
“You’re quite welcome.
“It was very thoughtful, and I appreciate you thinking of me.”
“You deserve them, and I really enjoyed being at your signing last night. So many people came out.”
“They did, and I can never thank them enough. It’ll be the same way for you, too, though. Your book is great, and it’s going to do very well. I even think it’ll make the New York Times list, because it’s such a touching love story. Plus, I’ll definitely be promoting it on all my social media pages, in my newsletter, and at all my events. I still have quite a few more scheduled between now and your release date.”
“Gosh, Traci. All I can say is thank you, but let’s be clear about something. I don’t see how I could ever make that list if you haven’t.”
“Why? Because I have three books out? That doesn’t mean anything. Some authors make the list with their first novel, and I really think you’re going to be one of them.”
“I don’t see it, but thank you for being so positive.”
“It’s the only way to be, and I’m not joking when I say you have an amazing book.”
“Well, I’m glad you feel that way, and actually, I need some good news right now. More than ever.”
Traci took a seat back at the island. “Why, what’s wrong?”
“Chris broke off our engagement.”
Traci scrunched her eyebrows. “You’re kidding! Why?”
“It’s a long story, but I’m having a really hard time dealing with it.”
“I am so, so sorry. Chris seemed like such a wonderful guy.”
“Yeah, I thought he was, too, until he broke up with me last night for no reason.”
“What did he say?”
“That he couldn’t be with a woman who couldn’t commit to having all joint bank accounts with her husband. And he was also upset because I wanted to join Deliverance Outreach. Chris wanted me to join his church, and he said he couldn’t marry a woman who wanted to attend somewhere else.”
“He ended things with you because of that? Because you wanted separate accounts and wanted to attend a different church? How strange is that? I mean, Tim and I have joint everything, but it just seems like you guys could’ve found some sort of compromise about that.”
“I know, but he wasn’t interested. He wanted things to be his way or no way.”
“Gosh. I had no idea you were even having those kinds of disagreements.”
“They’ve been going on for a while, but I never thought he would break up with me over them. But it’s okay.”
“I know you’re saying that, but I can tell you’re devastated. I can hear it in your voice.”
“It’s tough, but I’ll be fine. I have to be.”
“When did this happen?”
“Right after your signing. He came by when I got home. Actually, when he’d told me he was too exhausted to come to the bookstore, I’d thought something was wrong. But never in my wildest imagination was I thinking he was going to call things off between us.”
“Wow, I just can’t get over this, because Chris really seemed like a wonderful guy. I know I keep saying that, but he did. Which just goes to show that you never know how people are. You never know who you can trust anymore, and I hate that.”
“You’re right, and so do I.”
“Are you getting off at your usual time?” Traci asked.
“I am, if not before.”
“
Then why don’t I pick up some food and bring it over. That way you won’t have to spend the evening alone.”
“Well, if you wanna know the truth, I’d much rather come visit you or go to a restaurant. Because being at home is only going to remind me of Chris and what I thought we had. We didn’t live together, but he was over all the time.”
“I understand. Well, coming here is fine, and I’ll just have something delivered. Plus, Tim won’t be home until around six thirty tonight, so we were planning to order carryout, anyway.”
“Thank you so much for doing this, Traci. Thank you for being my friend.”
“Of course. I’m here for you, girl, for as long as you need me to be.”
“See you soon.”
“You hang in there.”
“I will.”
Traci set her phone down, trying to wrap her mind around what Simone had just told her. Traci truly felt sorry for her, because what a blow this must’ve been. One minute thinking someone was in love with you, and the next, learning that he no longer wanted to get married. But again, Traci still couldn’t get over the way Chris had obviously changed, because none of what Simone had told her sounded like him—which made Traci wonder if there was more to the story. She didn’t think Simone was lying, per se, but maybe something more serious had happened between them and Simone didn’t feel comfortable sharing it with Traci. Either way, she was going to be there for her friend just as she’d told her. She would help Simone through this any way she could.
Chapter 22
Simone had just walked inside her condo. She’d thought about going straight over to Traci’s right after work, but then she’d decided she wanted to change into something more comfortable. Before Traci had called her, she’d felt a little down about her breakup with Chris, but when she’d learned how much Traci cared and wanted to support her, her spirits were lifted. Just last night, she’d been questioning Traci’s loyalty to her as a friend, but now she knew her thinking had been irrational. Traci had simply been busy with her readers and hadn’t purposely tried to snub Simone in any way. She would never do that because it wasn’t who she was, and Simone would never suspect something like that about her again.
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