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  So he wished her and her new lover well—if he was all that new.

  His cell phone vibrated on his hip and he reached for it as he pulled to a stop sign. He felt annoyance at seeing his ex-wife’s number. Answering the call, he ignored the car behind him blowing its horn. He lowered his window and waved his arm for them to go around him. “Listen, Vita. We’ve been over for years. I don’t ask you for any financial help for our daughter. There is no emergency with her on this end. Lei has her own cell phone for you to call her. There is no reason for us to talk,” he said, completely sick of her and her drama.

  The line remained quiet.

  He frowned. “Vita?” he said.

  Still nothing.

  Beep. Suddenly the call ended.

  Quint tossed the phone on his passenger seat before checking for oncoming traffic as he slowly eased the Ford F-250 around the corner. He had a feeling that his ex-wife was up to her old tricks, and she had her old boy on the prowl for evidence.

  Not his problem.

  The last person Mr. Hawaii needed to be worried about was Quint. He and Vita lived thousands of miles apart. They were divorced—at his doing. And he wouldn’t make love to his ex-wife again, even if she were blessed with a brand-new vagina.

  Somebody tagging that ass, but it ain’t me, brah.

  He pulled his vehicle onto the paved drive of his brick home. Before he hopped out to start his quarterly inspection of the two-story brick home and half an acre of land, he allowed himself a moment to miss it. He didn’t get sentimental over many things, but outside of Lei this house was a major accomplishment.

  When he decided to end his marriage, he had made the choice to let Vita and Lei remain in their home. He took nothing but his clothes and moved into his own apartment. By the time a year rolled by, and the divorce was final, he had saved enough money to put a down payment on his own house. Outside of regular child support and the barest of living expenses, he saved every cent he could.

  He and his Realtor searched for months for the right home, in the right neighborhood, with enough room for Lei to play safely in the yard. This one was a perfect fit; and the day he closed, he felt more excited than he had in the moments just before he had sex for the first time at age thirteen.

  Vita had actually sued him for child support through the court system when he moved into his new home. She couldn’t care less that he had given her a generous amount, free and willing, every pay period. And the judge had agreed; because based on his salary, the amount that was set was lower than the amount he had volunteered to pay.

  That still made him smile.

  He paid what the court ordered and put the rest of his voluntary payment amount in a bank account for Lei, which he still contributed to.

  This house was a major accomplishment after walking away from everything and starting over alone.

  And in another year or two, when he felt more comfortable about leaving Lei home alone, he planned to give his tenants advance notice, resign from his job at the apartment complex, and use his savings to pay his mortgage until he found a higher-paying job.

  Soon he and his daughter would be moving back home.

  The next evening, after all her friends were picked up by their parents, and Kaitlyn fell asleep from the sheer exhaustion of cleaning up from a twenty-four-hour slumber party, Lei gathered up all her presents and made her way downstairs.

  It was Saturday, and her father’s day off, so she wasn’t surprised to find him vegging out in front of the television, watching sports. It did surprise her that he was asleep. Not bothering to wake him, Lei moved quietly into her room and set all of her presents inside the pretty armoire he had built for her. She loved it. She loved all her gifts!

  She grabbed her diary and her fingers scribbled furiously as she wrote about watching movies, singing karaoke, their spa treatments and makeup sessions. All the snacks. Fruity and slushy drinks. Games to win prizes. Her cupcakes.

  Kaitlyn and her dad had really gone all out.

  She rubbed her fingers through her newly curled bob, courtesy of Kaitlyn and her flat iron. She bit the end of her pen before she wrote: Kaitlyn would make the BEST stepmom ever. Maybe my dad thinks so too. Fingers crossed.

  She lay back on her bed and smiled at the thought of that.

  CHAPTER 11

  Three weeks later

  Kaitlyn looked over at Kadina and Lei giggling as they looked at swimsuits in the trendy boutique located on King Street in Charleston. She was glad that her neice and Lei were just a year or so apart and could enoy hanging out with each other. Now, what either one planned to do with swimwear in the fall was completely in their minds. Ever since Lei asked her to invite Kadina to her sleepover, the two had become thick as thieves.

  They were driving her crazy, playing music and singing along to videos on YouTube, so she decided to take them shopping.

  More like window-shopping.

  After paying her parents for car note, insurance, utilities, and groceries, she had three hundred dollars left over in her allowance. And in this shop on King Street, where even the panties started at fifty dollars, three hundred meant nothing. Absolutely diddly-squat.

  She pushed back the hangers on the rack and stopped at a leather dress with lots of detail. It was the perfect dress for a Vegas party. It was a put-the-spotlight-on-me kind of dress. Deep vee. High skirt. Body-hugging leather.

  Kaitlyn’s mouth literally salivated.

  “We just got it in, Ms. Strong.”

  She turned and found Xena, the boutique owner, standing behind her.

  “I think that one is your size too. A size eight, right?” she asked, stepping forward to ease the dress and its wooden hanger from the rack. “Should I put it in the dressing room for you?”

  Xena and her small staff knew Kaitlyn well. She used to be a regular customer, and the old Kaitlyn, with unlimited spending potential, would have nodded her approval of the idea and shopped on. This new Kaitlyn knew there was no way she could spend eight hundred dollars on a dress. She just didn’t have it.

  And that was embarrassing. She felt her cheeks flame.

  “I’m really just letting my niece and her friend look around a little bit,” Kaitlyn said, trying to sound casual.

  Xena nodded. “I’ll tell you what. Let’s still set you up, and if you or the girls see anything, you won’t have to wait for an open dressing room.”

  Kaitlyn just nodded and continued to browse around the store. She looked up and happened to spot Anola and a tall man, whom Kaitlyn didn’t recognize, strolling up King Street. Kaitlyn’s glossy lips dropped open at the charcoal tweed blazer she wore with matching shorts, patterned tights, and a fierce pair of booties.

  “Love, love the outfit,” she said as she pressed her face against the glass and watched her bestie strut with the confidence she felt waning from herself.

  When Anola and her male companion neared the storefront, Kaitlyn gasped and squatted down to the floor.

  Please don’t let her come in. Please don’t let her come in. Please, God, please.

  “Aunt Kat?”

  Kaitlyn popped one eye open and looked up at her niece and Lei looking down at her. She smiled and rose to her feet, glancing over her shoulder to see Anola and the man had breezed right on past, on their way to continue enjoying the fabulous life Kaitlyn used to have.

  “I dropped something on the floor,” she lied.

  “Just checking,” Kadina said before pulling Lei’s arm for them to rush over to the accessories.

  Kaitlyn glanced at her watch. She was giving them ten more minutes, maybe treat them to a faux cocktail ring, and then they were headed to somewhere fast and cheap for lunch. She turned and eyed one of the salesclerks arranging an outfit to put on a mannequin in the other storefront window.

  Kaitlyn walked over to her, frowning slightly at the color combo and overuse of accessories. The oatmeal light wool and lace sleeveless dress was young, fun, a little edgy, and very stylish, with its lace top and
attached wrap skirt, which was at best midthigh, depending on the wearer’s height. She could see herself wearing it for a fun day of shopping at someplace ultrastylish.

  “Do you have that in an eight?” she asked.

  The clerk looked on the rack and handed it to her with a smile. She laid it atop a table of folded designer shirts. Quickly she moved about the store and pulled a pair of matching sandals with straw heels rimmed in brown leather with gold grommet. She selected a leather wrap bracelet and a simple long gold chain with a smoky quartz amulet.

  Kaitlyn stepped back to observe her handiwork and enjoyed the rush she felt. The clerk glanced at Kaitlyn’s outfit and then back at her own.

  Xena walked over to join them. “I love those shoes with it, and the single gold chain isn’t as busy against the lace. You always have good style,” she said, already reaching across the table to pick up all her items. “You hardly ever needed Justine’s help.”

  Kaitlyn opened her mouth to tell the woman not to put the things in the dressing room for her, but she just closed her mouth. She walked over to where the girls were trying on accessories.

  “Okay, ladies, pick out one cute thing. Don’t go crazy, and let’s go get something to eat,” Kaitlyn said.

  Xena breezed past her. “Too bad you’re not looking for a job, because we need a new stylist to replace Justine,” she said as she started to refold some of the jeans on display.

  “No, no, I’m good,” Kaitlyn said. “But thanks for the compliment.”

  “We’re ready, Miss Kat,” Lei said.

  They both held out their choices. A turquoise ring for Kadina and a stack of beaded-and-wooden bracelet mix for Lei.

  Kaitlyn carried the items to the register. “That’s it for today. I don’t want to go on a shopping spree in front of them. You know?” she said.

  “I understand,” Xena said, coming around the desk, which held the antique cash register. She placed the small items in two separate bags, with the Adorned Boutique logo on them.

  Kaitlyn couldn’t believe how hard it was for her to unpeel those two fifties from her wallet.

  I hate my life.

  “Hey, Garcelle,” Kaitlyn said as she followed Kadina into their kitchen. “My brother home?”

  Garcelle looked up from the pot she was stirring. “No, he went hunting with your dad and brothers,” she said, bending to take a sip from the serving spoon before she rinsed it and set it back on the stove.

  Kaitlyn squatted down to press her face into Karlos’s neck as Kadina held him in her lap. The thick and solid toddler of almost two years giggled and released a little sigh of contentment, which made Kaitlyn melt as she rose and took him in her arms.

  “Aww, Auntie loves you.”

  “A baby looks good on you,” Garcelle said, glancing over at her sister-in-law and son as she closed the refrigerator door.

  Kaitlyn looked alarmed. “Please! I can barely take care of myself,” she said. “I haven’t been shopping in weeks. I’m growing out my hair because it cost too much to get it trimmed and styled every week. And I let Kadina give me a manicure because prior to that my nails were naked.”

  “I did a good job!” Kadina protested as she popped grapes in her mouth.

  “Gwapessssss,” Karlos said, reaching out his hands to Kadina.

  “Yes, you did,” Kaitlyn agreed, but then shook her head at Garcelle when her niece was busy mashing grapes to feed into her brother’s mouth.

  “I saw that, Aunt Kat,” Kadina said in a droll tone.

  “Well, Kaitlyn, you’re a smart girl,” Garcelle said. “You’ve even been to college. Why not find a job? I think that would help your parents see that you’re trying, and maybe they will even help you more.”

  Kaitlyn rocked her body back and forth as she let her chin rest on the soft and bouncy curls of Karlos’s head as he pressed his face against her chest and nestled his plump thumb between his lips. “To be honest, I’m really thinking about it, because I thought Mommy and Daddy would cave by now. So I guess they really are cutting me loose.”

  Kadina grabbed her heart-shaped rhinestone purse and quietly left the room. Kaitlyn’s eyes followed her before she shifted her gaze to Garcelle.

  “It’s really bothering her about you and your parents not speaking,” Garcelle stressed. “I mean, really bothering her.”

  Kaitlyn said nothing as she pressed kisses to Karlos’s cheek as he lightly snored.

  “I bet everyone would be so happy to see you at iglesia and then Sunday dinner tomorrow,” she said gently, obviously not wanting to seem like she was pushing.

  “Iglesia?” Kaitlyn asked.

  Garcelle looked apologetic. “Church. ‘Iglesia’ means church,” she said, smiling, as she wiped her hand and came over to take her overgrown son into her arms. “We’re having a cook-off to see who makes the best stew estofado.”

  That word Kaitlyn knew because she had eaten one of Garcelle’s stews before, a delicious estofado de pollo.

  “Can I taste it?” Kaitlyn asked.

  “It’s not ready yet, but it will be . . . tomorrow, chica,” Garcelle said on her way out of the kitchen to put Karlos down for his nap.

  Kaitlyn could just imagine the fun her family would have with their cook-off tomorrow, and she would be home, alone, counting pennies or daydreaming about the fun she had in Paris—the last trip she would ever take, it seemed. She moved over to the stove and lifted the lid from the pot. Her mouth watered at the sausages, jumbo shrimp, bite-sized chunks of chicken breasts, real lump crab meat bubbling away with vegetables in a deep and rich tomato-based broth.

  Kaitlyn’s mouth literally watered.

  Garcelle breezed back into the kitchen and gently took the lid away, to ease it back down onto the pot.

  “I talked to Kade. They’re on their way here.”

  Kaitlyn looked up in alarm, feeling like her short hair actually did shoot up to stand on end. “Is my dad with them?” she asked.

  Garcelle gave her a chastising look and didn’t answer.

  Kaitlyn grabbed her keys. “I gotta go, anyway. I got something to take care of.”

  “Kaitlyn,” Garcelle chided.

  “What? I do have something to take care of,” she insisted, already walking out of the kitchen, with a wave of her hand in the air.

  She was climbing into her car when Garcelle stepped out onto the porch, looking like a mix of Beyoncé and Shakira. Kaitlyn lowered the window as her sister-in-law walked up to the car with a small container, which she pressed into Kaitlyn’s hand, along with a few folded hundred-dollar bills.

  The money she gave back. The steaming container of stew she kept.

  Kaitlyn gave her a smile. “You know you’re my favorite sister-in-law,” she said, smiling.

  “We all are, whenever you’re with each one,” Garcelle said. “We all talk. We’re onto you.”

  “But you love me,” Kaitlyn said playfully as she put her vehicle in reverse.

  Garcelle nodded and placed her hands on her ample hips. “We all do,” she stressed.

  Kaitlyn just waved and reversed into a mini arc before pulling out of the yard and onto the road. With a final toot of her horn, she accelerated away from Garcelle and Kade’s home. She felt proud of herself for refusing the money.

  And that surprised the hell out of her.

  Hitting her family up for money had meant nothing to her before. She felt like she was the baby of the family and they wanted her to have a fun life. And fun costs. So why not ask and receive?

  But now, she felt like it was begging, and that made her feel uncomfortable. Why? Who knew? But it did.

  As she made her way back to her apartment, Kaitlyn’s eyes kept darting to the small bag from the boutique, which one of the girls left in her vehicle. By the time she parked next to Mrs. Harper’s pink vehicle, she reached for her cell phone and dialed the number to the boutique.

  “Adorned Boutique.”

  Kaitlyn closed her eyes. “Xena, please. It’s Kaitlyn S
trong,” she said in a rush before she backed out.

  “Please hold, Miss Strong.”

  What am I doing?

  Am I crazy?

  Is this what desperation feels like?

  Hang up. Just hang—

  “Hello, Miss Strong. Did you change your mind about those items you saw today?” Xena asked. “I can have them charged to your account and shipped out to you.”

  Kaitlyn licked her lips as her heart sped so fast and hard in her chest that she thought she might pass out.

  “Actually, I was thinking about the position you mentioned earlier. I think it might be fun,” she said, proud that she sounded intrigued and not completely desperate.

  “Really?”

  “Sure. Why not?”

  “Well, we’re looking for longevity. I don’t want you to take a position here and move on after a month or two,” Xena said gently.

  Translation: We do not have time for a flaky rich girl looking for something to break up the monotony before the next interesting thing comes along. Or at least that’s how Kaitlyn interpreted it.

  Is that how people see me?

  “Let me talk to Lyle—my co-owner—and if he agrees, we’ll call you in to talk to both of us together. All right?”

  “Okay, I look forward to hearing from you,” Kaitlyn said, completely aware that their “talk” was an “interview.”

  Whatever.

  The fact was she needed more income than her allowance allowed; and if her family hung in there with their plan, then even that money would disappear in a few months.

  Kaitlyn Strong swallowed the fact that she absolutely needed a job. It was becoming clearer and clearer that the safety net provided all her life by her family was slowly fading away. She couldn’t believe her family would just toss her aside like this.

  That’s how she felt, and it hurt.

  She bit her lip and shook her head as she brushed away the tears that filled her eyes and raced down her cheeks.