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“I’m not at Sissy’s anymore,” she replied. “And I don’t think she’ll have a change of heart.” Liberty didn’t look my way again but started to walk toward the back of the building.
“She opened her home to you, tried to help you, and you threw all that in her face this morning and left. She’s going to worry about you. Are you really that selfish?”
Liberty stopped walking. Her back went rigid, and she stood there for a moment, saying nothing. I started to think she was going to ignore me and leave when she finally turned back around to face me. Her brows were drawn together, as if she was trying to figure out what I’d said.
“Selfish? Me? That’s what you think?”
A hard laugh fell from her full lips. Without the red lipstick, they were a pale pink. I liked them better that way. Not that I should like anything about this woman. But I was a red-blooded male, and she was a sexpot.
She tilted her head back, letting her waves of thick brown hair fall back over her shoulders as she stared up at the sky. I said nothing but waited to see if she was going to explain or elaborate.
When she looked at me again, she no longer looked angry. There was a quiet determination in her expression. “I need to get to work. If you are done accusing me of things that you know nothing about, I’d appreciate it if you left. Sissy is in no danger of me coming near her again—I can swear that to you,” she said, then spun around before taking long strides toward the back entrance of Abernathy’s.
I watched her go, wishing I didn’t give a fuck about her being mixed up with bad shit. She had so much potential, yet her father had really ruined her. Men bent over backward to do her bidding. Her life had been too easy, whereas Selena had had to bust her ass to get to where she was now. I was sure there was jealousy there, causing Liberty to lash out at her sister.
Fucking women.
She stopped and took the handle of a suitcase I hadn’t noticed before and rolled it toward the door. There was another one behind it. Why did she have her suitcases here? When she’d left this morning, she must have gone somewhere. Had a plan at least.
I watched her pull both suitcases inside and waited until the door closed behind her.
Turning back around toward the bushes, I walked over to see if I’d been right about her throwing up. I had been. Looked like she’d lost her breakfast.
Glancing back at the building, I thought back to last night. She’d been pale. I’d caught her before she hit the ground when she fainted. More than twelve hours later, she had thrown up what she had eaten for breakfast. She was still pretty damn pale. Selena had said she woke up and grabbed her things and left. She hadn’t mentioned her appearing sick. Why would she run off from the roof over her head when she wasn’t feeling good?
Unless there was another reason she was sick and didn’t want her sister to find out …
Fuck.
8
Liberty
The lunch crowd had cleared early, and that meant Shawn and I could take turns having a lunch hour. Monday nights weren’t normally busy, but you never knew what could happen. If I was released to go home early, then I’d have to suck it up and get another motel room for the night. I needed to find somewhere a little cheaper though. Seventy-nine dollars a night wasn’t awful, but it was more than I needed to spend. If I could find something for around sixty dollars, then spending a few dollars on some food wouldn’t cut into my savings too bad.
“Liberty,” Virginia called, and I turned to see her standing at the other end of the bar.
“Yes, ma’am?” I asked, hoping she wasn’t already sending me home. I needed today’s tips to cover tonight’s motel cost.
“I need to speak with you in the office,” she replied in a clipped tone, then turned to head back in that direction.
I glanced nervously at Shawn, who was watching me.
“Don’t look like that,” he said. “You’re the best employee they have. She’s probably going to give you a raise or some shit.”
Virginia had never liked me. She sent me home every chance she got, and if she did the schedule, I was barely on it. That didn’t really matter though because the others she scheduled more all ended up asking me if I wanted their shifts because they didn’t want to work so much.
I had done my best to win her over for the longest time, but eventually, I just let it go. I did my job and ignored her disdain for me.
“You know she’s not my biggest fan,” I said under my breath.
He grinned. “No, but Tom is.”
I shook my head and sighed before leaving the bar to go follow her back to the office she and her husband shared. If she had some reason to fire me, I was truly screwed. With no job, nowhere to live, no vehicle, and pregnant, I was going to be in trouble. Possibly homeless by next month.
The door was open, and Virginia was sitting on the edge of her desk, facing me, when I walked inside the room.
“Close the door,” she told me.
