MERLOT AND DIVORCE AND DEADLY REMORSE

by Jodi Vaughn

  I sat up in my seat, suddenly nervous and curious.

  “Really?”

  “Yes. He wants to set up a time for mediation. This is where you and Mr. Jones can meet with a mediator to assist both you and your husband in negotiating a settlement.”

  “So, will our attorneys be there?”

  “We will be there, but not in the meeting. It is usually best if you can settle things with your husband through the mediator before heading to court. It is quicker and less messy if all parties are in agreement. No attorneys will be in the room, but we will be there and available if you have questions.”

  My stomach dropped. The fact that I was really and truly getting a divorce settled over me. There was no going back.

  “I see. How soon do we need to meet?”

  “We are hoping to meet Friday. What time works for you?”

  “Well, I have things scheduled all day. And I know that Miles works in the office on Fridays. Is there any way we can meet after five?” I wanted to meet when the sun went down.

  “How about six? I have to allow time to drive to Charming and meet with you before you go into mediation,” he said.

  “That’s even better,” I said.

  “I’m going to send you an email. I want you to fill out everything you are looking for in the divorce. I’ll have a list for you to fill out, like real estate investments, how much you have left on your mortgage, savings, as well as what kind of custody arrangement you are seeking and alimony. Fill it out and send it back to me as soon as you can, and I’ll work on writing something up and then send it back to you for your final approval.”

  “Okay. Sounds good. I guess.”

  “Perfect. I look forward to hearing from you.” He ended the call.

  Unease rumbled in my stomach. I didn’t want to be rushed into agreeing to anything. I wasn’t even sure if I knew about all of Miles’ investments. The man had been screwing my best friend for over a year, and I had no idea. What else had he been doing that I didn’t know anything about?

  The bell rang, and the children started pouring out of the building like ants from a hill.

  I took a deep breath.

  I was set on this path. I had to see it through.

  Chapter 19

  “Easter is coming soon, and we still don’t have our dresses,” Arianna said glumly as she pushed her broccoli around on her dinner plate.

  “Who cares about stupid Easter dresses? I’m more excited for all the chocolate eggs.” Gabby’s eyes sparkled with the excitement that only children shielded from the world could truly know.

  “Don’t worry. There’s still time,” I said and forced myself to take a bite of the chicken parmesan I’d fixed for dinner. As a vampire, I really didn’t want to eat food anymore, but I wanted to set a good example for my girls, so I forced myself to at least nibble.

  “When are we going shopping?” Arianna crossed her arms and studied me. “I don’t want some dress that makes me look like a child.”

  “You are a child.” Gabby pointed her fork at her sister and grinned.

  “Shut up,” Arianna growled.

  “Both of you, stop arguing.” I set down my fork. “You are both getting Easter dresses like you do every year.”

  “Elizabeth Grace said we wouldn’t be able to afford new dresses ever again once you and Daddy got a divorce.” Arianna glared at me.

  “Elizabeth Grace is an idiot,” I snapped. “She has no idea what she’s talking about.”

  “She knew about Daddy.” Arianna arched her brow.

  I didn’t have a good answer for that. All I knew was that Elizabeth Grace was as vindictive as her mother, Veronica.

  “Well, Elizabeth Grace is wrong. You will both,”—I cut my eyes at Gabby, who grimaced—“be getting new Easter dresses. So, you need to think about what you want it to look like.”

  “No flowers or frills.” Arianna lifted her finger in the air. “I don’t want to look like a little kid. Maybe something in a dark blue.”

  I nodded. “Got it. No flowers or frills.”

  “What’s frills?” Gabby wrinkled her nose.

  “You know, stuff that looks like lace or something you put on a newborn baby.” Arianna sighed.

  Ignoring her, I looked at my other daughter. “So, what about you, Gabby? Do you have a color picked out? Pink, maybe?”

  “I don’t care. I’m just going to wear it for an hour at church and then take it off before eating my chocolate.” Her eyes widened. “Unless you get me a brown dress. That way, I don’t have to take my dress off because no one will see my chocolate stains.” Her face brightened.

  “You are so gross, Gabby.” Arianna stood from the kitchen table and took her plate over to the sink.

  Gabby shrugged.

  “Okay, I’ll start looking tomorrow for your dresses. Maybe we should all go after school to try some things on. We can go to Becky’s.”

  “Yes, Becky’s. I heard she has some new jeans in all the way from France.”

  “And I bet they cost an arm and a leg.” I scooted Arianna out of the way and loaded her dish into the dishwasher.

  “Mom, please. All the other girls have those jeans. I’m the only one who doesn’t.”

  “Fine. We’ll look at the jeans while we are getting Easter dresses.”

  She gave me a genuine smile, and my whole body warmed. It may cost me, but I didn’t care. I wanted both of my girls to be happy during this difficult time. If it meant expensive jeans, so be it.

  “Here, Mommy.” Gabby brought me her plate and covered her hand with her mouth. She yawned.

  “You must have played really hard today. I haven’t seen you this tired in a while.” I smiled and rinsed her dish before putting it in the dishwasher.

  “I did. Lori and me played dragons. I had to be the dragon this time, and she made me chase her all over the playground.” She scowled. “She doesn’t play right. If she’s going to be the knight, then she should be running after me with a sword.”

  “You’ll just have to show her tomorrow when you get to play the knight.”

  “I can’t. She won’t be at school tomorrow.” Her face dropped.

  “Why not?”

  “Because her mom is having to move out of their house after her father left them. He’s refusing to pay anything. They have no money, and their house is in foreclosure.”

  I froze and looked down at Gabby. “Do you know what foreclosure means?”

  “Yes. It means the bank comes and forces you to live on the street. Then they give your house to someone else.”

  I rubbed her cheek. “Well, not exactly. Where did Lori say they were moving to?”

  “She’s having to move in with her grandmother on the other side of town. She’s scared because it’s not in our school district and she’s afraid she will have to change schools.” Gabby frowned. “I don’t want her to go to a different school. She’s my best friend.”

  “I know, sweetie.” I felt a lump growing in my throat. This was all hitting way too close to home.

  “You know, even if she does end up changing schools, you guys can still be friends. She can come over every weekend and play.”

  “It won’t be the same, Mommy. That’s not how life works. She’ll go to a different school and get different friends. She’ll forget all about me.”

  “No one could ever forget about you, Gabby. You’re too special.” I pulled her into a hug.

  We sat there like that for a while, her tiny frame pressed against mine. As unsure of the future as I was, I didn’t want my daughter to see that.

  She pulled away and looked up at me with a smile. “Thanks, Mommy.”

  She slid off the stool. “I guess I better go do my homework so I can get back to reading my new dragon book I got for AR test.”

  “I can’t wait to hear all about it.” As I watched her leave the room, my heart felt lighter than it had in a long time.

  Everything was going to be okay. It just had to.

  Chap
ter 20

  That night after the girls had gone to bed, I curled up on the couch with my laptop. I pulled up my email. I was shocked by how many newsletters I was getting from different companies. I guess after shunning social media of any kind, I had accumulated quite a stack of email.

  I quickly went through them, dumping a ton in the trash as I went. When I finally reached the email from my attorney, I clicked.

  I read the brief email twice, making sure I understood exactly how Mr. Dover wanted the paperwork filled out.

  I set down my laptop and went into the kitchen to the junk drawer to find a notepad and pen. I curled up on the couch and listed every asset we had. We had the house, of course, along with my husband’s practice. We also had a cabin in Gatlinburg that we had built and rented out when we weren’t there. Our other property included my Volvo, Miles’ Tesla, and a Mercedes that he used to drive until he got the Tesla.

  Miles had a retirement plan that he fully funded every year. He also invested in the stock market, although I wasn’t sure how much or which stocks. We had three checking accounts, one for every day, one for vacation and fun stuff, and his personal business account for work. We also had a joint savings account. We had a safe in the house in the home office. Miles had bought it to keep his collection of guns and some cash just to have on hand.

  Once I was done listing everything, I set down the pad and curled up on the couch.

  My stomach hurt, and my eyes were stinging with unshed tears.

  Was this all there was to life? Getting married then getting screwed over by divorce only to divide stuff up?

  I realized that I had no income and no way to earn a living. We’d taken out student loans that we were still paying for, and I had worked while Miles was in school to put food on the table and pay rent on the one-bedroom apartment we had lived in. I had no formal education.

  How the hell was I going to support my girls?

  I sat up quickly and tried to catch my breath. It felt like some invisible force was sucking the oxygen out of my lungs.

  My cell phone rang, breaking me out of my panic attack. I grabbed it and hit the answer button. I didn’t care who it was. I welcomed the distraction.

  “Hello?”

  “Rachel? Are you okay? You sound like you are out of breath,” Miles asked slowly on the other end.

  “I’m fine. I was just…running to answer the phone,” I lied. “I was doing laundry.”

  That reminded me, I hadn’t done laundry in a while. I had to get on that.

  “We are meeting Friday evening. With our attorneys.” His voice sounded unsure.

  “Yeah. I know. My attorney Mr. Dover already called and let me know. I’m filling out the paperwork now.” My breath was regular, and the anxiety had dissipated.

  “What kind of paperwork?” Miles asked carefully.

  “I don’t know. The usual, I suppose.” It irritated me that he was now suddenly concerned. “Is there something else you need, Miles?”

  “I was just wondering how you’re doing. How the girls are doing.”

  “We are keeping busy. Both girls did well at practice. You’ll be there to watch their game, right?”

  “Yeah. I should be able to make it. I am not on call.”

  “Good. The girls would love to see you there.” I wanted to tell him not to bring Nikki, but I didn’t want him to think I actually gave a rat’s ass.

  “Is there anything else?”

  “Is everything okay, Rachel? You seem a little…on edge.”

  I sighed heavily. “Miles, my life is on edge right now. I never expected to be in this position. Yet, here we are.” I rubbed my temple and closed my eyes. “Look, I’ll see you on Saturday.”

  “Okay, yeah. Saturday.”

  I ended the call before he could. At least I had that little bit of control.

  I finished filling out the paperwork that Mr. Dover had sent me and hit send. I logged off the internet and closed my laptop. I stood and headed out into the garage to the freezer. I needed blood, and I needed a lot of it.

  I grabbed another plastic container and stuck it in the microwave to defrost.

  After trial and error, I had learned that the correct amount of time to heat up frozen cow’s blood in the microwave was about thirty-five seconds. Any less, and it was still cold. Any more, and it started boiling. Boiled blood didn’t taste good.

  I grabbed a stainless-steel tumbler out of the cabinet and poured in the liquid. I took a sip and sighed, letting the warm, thick nectar slide down my throat.

  I quickly washed the plastic container and lid. I didn’t need my kids finding bloodstained Tupperware in the kitchen.

  Movement out the kitchen window caught my attention. “Damn, Khalan. If he doesn’t stop showing up every night, I’m going to kill him.” I frowned. Actually, that would be impossible. He was a vampire.

  I walked out the back door into the night. The waterfall from the pool was the only noise in the backyard.

  I narrowed my eyes in the dark and searched for my Maker.

  I stifled a growl and walked towards the corner of the house. I heard a noise behind me and began to turn. Something hard, like metal, came down on the back of my head. I collapsed to the ground. I waited for the pain to flare, but nothing ever came.

  I stood and looked around for the culprit who’d hit me. My hand reached to the back of my head. I expected my fingertips to find sticky, wet blood, but I only felt my hair.

  “How?” I heard a voice whisper in the night, followed by retreating footsteps.

  I turned but didn’t see anyone. I ran to the front of the house, looking for whoever had hit me, but I didn’t see anyone in the driveway. I ran to the other side of the house and still didn’t see anyone.

  I looked over the fence at the next-door neighbors’. It was dark inside the house. We were a good distance away from each other, but I knew it couldn’t be the Christophers. First, they were old, and second, they only lived in Charming a few months out of the year. They had another home in Florida that they were currently at.

  I stood on my tiptoes and craned my neck to look down the street. I didn’t see anyone fleeing or any cars pulling away at breakneck speed.

  “What are you doing?”

  I jumped at Khalan’s voice and spun around. I pushed him hard in the chest and glared. “I knew it!”

  “Knew what?” He gave me another of his bored looks.

  “I knew you were the one who hit me.” I looked around on the ground. I spotted a shovel lying near the shrubs.

  “What are you talking about now, Road Kill?”

  I stomped over to the shrubs and picked up the tool. “You hit me. With this shovel.” I pointed at my head. “On the head.”

  “Are you crazy?” he sneered.

  “Why would you do that? Why would you hit me on the back of the head with a shovel?”

  “Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just got here. I didn’t hit you with anything. Except a snowplow. I did do that.” He grinned.

  I growled and tossed the shovel to the ground. “What do you want?”

  “I wanted—”

  “Is everything okay, Mom?” Arianna stood at the back door, eyeing Khalan and me.

  My stomach dropped, and my eyes widened. “Yes, honey. Everything is okay.”

  “Who is he?” Arianna didn’t move.

  I didn’t blame her. Khalan was intimidating.

  “He’s the…gardener,” I blurted out.

  She frowned. “I thought Mr. McDougal was the one who planted the penis flowers.”

  “Arianna. Don’t say that.”

  “Say what? Penis? What do you want me to call it? Dick? Coc—?”

  Khalan snorted.

  “Arianna! That is enough. Just call it the obscene flower bed project.”

  “Fine. The obscene flower bed project.” She crossed her arms and glared at me. She cut her eyes over at Khalan. “Are you going to fix that monstrosity?”

  He gave
her a droll look. “I don’t do dick flower beds.”

  She shook her head and walked back inside. I turned my glare on my Maker. “Great. Now she saw you.”

  “So?” He shrugged.

  “So? Are you crazy? I don’t need you coming around here causing problems for me when I’m trying to keep my girls happy and healthy.”

  “Well, if you want them healthy, then you need to start drinking human blood. That way, you won’t go into bloodlust and drain your kids dry.”

  I walked back to the house. I opened the door and tossed my parting words over my shoulder. “And the next time you hit me on the head, I’m hitting you back. In the nuts.”

  Chapter 21

  I finished the week strong, but I was running low on my blood supply. I called up the farmer after I had dropped the girls off at school and headed back to Happy Acres to get some more. This time went a lot faster. I brought back my bucket that Earl had let me borrow, and brought another one, as well.

  He didn’t blink an eye when I asked for more blood. Just asked me how the blood sausage came out. Thankfully, his wife was not at home. She was in town buying groceries.

  I wasn’t sure, but I had the feeling that she wouldn’t approve of me taking blood from the cows.

  Once I got back home. I drank two tumblers full and crawled back into bed to recover my energy from being out in the sun.

  I had a sitter coming to stay with the girls while I went to mediation.

  The last thought I had before pulling the covers over my head was that tonight would be pretty easy in the way of dividing up assets. Miles would want the girls and me to be happy. He’d always been a good dad. He was just a shitty husband.

  That night, I settled the girls with the babysitter, Leslie. Leslie was a senior in high school and in the band. She was a straight-A student, who preferred algebra to boys and expanding her mind to growing her wardrobe.

  Some might call her nerdy, but I called her smart. She even played board games with the girls instead of texting all night long.

  I slid into my Volvo wearing my black A-line skirt, a white blouse with a ruffle around the collar, and my black Louboutins. I left my hair down and wore simple jewelry of gold hoops and a bracelet. I wanted to look professional and not like a dipsy housewife who didn’t do anything all day.