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Jenx finished up with Simpson and told him goodbye, turning back to us. “All right, let’s get back to creating something incredible for you.”
“I have to go, Jenx. I’ll call you later.” Rain did not wait for an answer. Instead, she stormed out the front door and down the sidewalk.
“Something I said?” Jenx quipped.
“Something I did. Talk to you later, man.” I took off out the door after her. “Rain? Rain? Wait. Talk to me!”
She whirled around and stormed back toward me, anger in her eyes. I shrank back a little. Sure, I’d seen her mad before—usually at me—but I’d never seen her quite like this.
“Why? I told you not to interfere, and you did it anyway.”
“I had to. I’m sorry.”
“Why did you have to? I had the property to put up as a guarantee of payment, collateral.”
“No. They called Beau to verify that the property would be turned over to you, and he told them there was a problem, a lien against it that had to be resolved. He was trying to negotiate a payment with the lienholder on your behalf before he told you about it.”
“How is it that you know this, and I don’t?”
“Becky overheard the conversation and called me. She didn’t mean for me to do anything. She just wanted to give me a heads-up that you might not be getting the loan and would be upset. Instead, I asked her to patch me through to Harlan. All I did was guarantee the loan for you. It’s no big deal.”
“It is a big deal when everyone around me is keeping things from me, especially the man who’s supposed to love me more than anything in the world! How could you be so dishonest? So, I might not have gotten the loan. It wouldn’t have been the end of the world. I’d have found another way.”
“Maybe, but I wanted you to have something of your own like you wanted.”
“But I don’t! Apparently I’m now beholden to you and to someone I don’t even know who holds a lien on my family property.”
“You aren’t beholden to me, and I’ve been trying to sort out the lien for you.”
“Do I look helpless to you? Who holds this lien anyway?”
“A guy named Nicholas Witherspoon did own it. I’m still trying to work out the details, but it somehow ended up purchased by your Aunt Bertha when he passed away, or she bought it from him at some point before that. I’m not sure right now.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. That’s why she said it wasn’t over. That shifty hag!”
“I wish that it was. I tried to pay it off, but she refused. She’s claiming it’s collected interest over the years, and that you owe much more than what was originally agreed upon. Beau said she is trying to take you back to court.”
“No one was going to tell me this?”
“Beau only discovered it a few days ago, and I learned about it when Beau stopped by and you weren’t home. I told him I would take care of it before it comes due at the end of the month.”
“End of the month? This month? In, like, twenty-six days? How much is this lien for, or how much is she saying it is for? You know what, never mind. I’ll go see Beau tomorrow and deal with it for myself. Take me home.”
We climbed in the car and drove back to her house without a word spoken between us. I kept trying to come up with something, anything, to break the ice, but nothing seemed right, and I knew I risked only angering her further. Instead, I just drove and hoped she’d calm down along the way. As it turned out, I was wrong. She was no less angry when I stopped in front of her house than she had been when we left Jenx’s shop.
“Rain, let’s just talk about this.”
“Oh, now you want to talk. I thought this was a partnership, Jon. I thought we could talk about anything. Instead, you’re out there doing shit behind my back without a second thought.”
“I was just trying to help.”
“I need some space. Go home, Jon.” She got out of the car and slammed the door.
I watched her walking away from me and hoped it wouldn’t be the last time we were together. I had fucked up again. I was only trying to help, but I had no right to just step in and not tell her what was going on. She was right about that. It was unfair, and I wished I could take it all back again. As she disappeared into the front door of her house, I drove away, the melancholy as familiar as an old friend.
19
Jon
So, there I was again, wondering why I couldn’t stop fucking things up with the only woman I had ever truly loved. I picked up the phone for the tenth time since I’d climbed out of my bed that morning and opened my contacts list to call her. This time, I went through with the call. No luck. Voice mail.
