I folded my arms and sat back, waiting for him to pull out a butcher knife and put me on the six-o’clock news. There had come a point in my unprepared speech when I’d realized that I could never appease a man like Sanchez. Begging or bartering would only maintain a relationship with him I no longer wanted. The only way out was to be firm and show him my verbal middle finger. Then I could decide how many states I needed to move away.
He peered in the box again and leaned in tight. “You think you’re one smart bitch, Vanilla. But you know what I see? A loser with cheap nail polish and a bad dye job. You’re nothing but a secondhand girl who’s going to wind up working one shitty job after the next and marrying an alcoholic who uses you for a punching bag. So you’re going to get what you deserve, one way or the other. There’s nothing special about you.” He stood up from his chair and tucked the box beneath his arm. “You’re going to live and die in that trailer.”
Sanchez tipped his chair over when he walked off with an intentional swing in his step, trying to convey how tough he was.
He looked more like a man suffering from hemorrhoids.
I blew out a breath and felt an overwhelming sense of relief. I almost regretted not having someone there to witness how well I’d handled myself.
“It’s over,” I whispered. Now I just had to pay off Maddox for the rest of my life. My inner voice might have fainted, but I was proud of myself. Trevor would have been proud too.
***
“I’m so glad you came!” Lexi greeted me in a casual pair of black shorts and a cotton shirt with quarter-length sleeves. I was glad it wasn’t formal because all I had on were a pair of jeans and a pretty blouse. She swung the front door wide open and smiled warmly. The Weston house smelled like heaven—a mixture of delicious meat in the oven and potpourri from a small vase on a table by the stairs.
I noticed a pile of shoes in the hall and kicked my sandals off. I hadn’t heard from Reno all day and I wondered if he would be joining us.
Lexi led me through the living room and into the kitchen. The cabinets and appliances were straight ahead, and to the right by a wall of windows was a long wooden table with bench seating. Most people these days just grabbed dinner and went to their corners, but it looked as though they made a concerted effort to have family meals. Someone had strung up tiny white lights above the tall windows behind the table. The windows were curtainless and probably brought in an ample amount of sunlight. A clamor of noise made me jump and I glanced at an overflow of pans pouring out of a lower cabinet.
“Sorry about that,” Ivy said.
I admired the white daisies on the table that were in clear jars filled with water. The room had a restaurant atmosphere with all the casualness of home. The kitchen appeared significantly larger than the dining room, and then I remembered this had once been used as a hotel. Perhaps people had eaten in their rooms.
“Smells heavenly,” I said, glancing toward the stove on my left. Ivy scooped something onto a plate and turned off a burner.
“Here, try this,” Lexi said, handing me a glass of wine. “This is the first white wine I’ve ever loved. Tell me what you think.”
I took a short sip to be polite. “Mmm. It’s more sweet than dry.”
“Exactly. Austin thinks it tastes like fruit juice and should be served at the kiddie table,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“I do,” he agreed, ambling into the room barefoot with a closed-lipped smile. “I’m afraid the wine doesn’t match the sophistication and complexity of my alpha female.”
Austin had on a pair of loose jeans and a blue button-up with the top two buttons undone, revealing a medallion he always wore around his neck. He wrapped his arms around Lexi’s waist from the side and kissed her on the neck, brushing her long brown hair away.
“When’s dessert?” he murmured.
“Hi, Miss April.”
I turned around and smiled at Maizy. She had on a pretty blue dress with white flowers. Someone had combed her blond hair back in a ponytail and secured two rainbow-colored hair clips on either side. Maizy also wore a scowl on her face.
“What’s wrong, hon?”
“I hate blue.”
“April! It’s been too long since I’ve seen you,” Lynn said from behind me in the hallway. Lexi’s mom came into the shop every so often to take Lexi out to dinner with Maizy. I envied the relationship she had with her mother—they were a tight family. As it should be. She gave me a brief hug. “How are you, honey?”
“Hi, Lynn. I’m doing good.” She didn’t like going by Miss Knight and had always insisted that I call her Lynn. Even though I wasn’t a child, it still didn’t feel right calling her that since I’d been brought up to address my elders respectfully. “Have you changed your hair? It looks a little shorter, but I love how you’re styling it.” I reached out and touched the ends of her blond hair.
“Just a trim,” she said. “The long hair was becoming too much to manage. Did Lexi tell you we’re having pot roast?”
“Ah, yes. Ivy did, actually. Can I help with anything?”