“That’s all I ever wanted,” he replied. He looked like he was about to say something else but then stopped.
“What’s that look for?” Nina asked.
“What look?”
“The expression on your face. Like you want to say something else.”
He smiled, not so tightly. “Even after all this time you still know me well.”
She fidgeted in her seat. His being so nice made her uncomfortable. “Well?”
It was his turn to fidget. “Well…I did want to say something first. I just wanted to let you know why I was doing this.”
“I know why,” she said, cutting him off. “Pam made it clear that you want to live on easy street at my expense.”
He sighed heavily. “No, it’s not that…it’s…Nina,” he said, struggling with his words.
“Look,” she said, becoming exasperated, “I just want to end this.”
Todd lowered his head. “I’m sorry. For everything.”
Everything as in Pam, or everything as in the money? she wanted to ask. Instead she said, “Fine.”
An uncomfortable silence hung between them before Nina finally said, “Look, let’s just get down to business.” She folded her hands across her lap. “You and I both know this divorce was supposed to be finalized.”
At the mention of the divorce, his mood changed. He lowered his eyes, then said, “I know.”
Nina leaned forward on the table. “So then why are you trying to take half my money?”
“Well, ah, I…I mean, Pam…”
She threw up her hands. “Of course, this was all Pam’s doing.”
Suddenly, everything she had grown to hate about him came rushing back. The way he hurt her. The way he let Pam control him. “So Pam’s still running things in your relationship?”
He gave her a look to let her know that was a low blow. She gave him one back to let him know she didn’t care.
“So tell me. How did you not follow through on the paperwork?” she asked.
“You didn’t either,” he said meekly.
“I wasn’t the one that filed for the divorce.” Her brow furrowed as more memories came rushing back. “You were the one who wanted to go be with your mistress. She was giving you everything I wasn’t. She was worth you throwing away everything we had.”
“No, she wasn’t,” he slowly whispered.
“What did you say?” She’d heard him loud and clear, but for some reason, she wanted to hear it again.
“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head. “It was just a big mix-up, the whole paperwork thing.”
“But I heard you and Pam were getting married. How were you going to do that if our divorce was never finalized?”
“How’d you hear about that?” He and Pam had never officially announced it to anyone. And he hadn’t bought her a ring or even really proposed (she just started harassing him about getting married and he said okay one day just to shut her up).
Nina rolled her eyes. “Please. Pam made sure I knew. She told anyone she knew who had even the remotest chance of coming back and telling me.”
Todd groaned. Nina wanted to smile because, judging from the look on his face, that relationship had not turned out to be all that he must’ve thought it would be.
“So?” she said.
“So what?”
“So how did it happen? How did we end up still married?”
He sighed like he really didn’t want to say. “The truth?” he finally asked.
“If you even know what that is.”
He ignored her dig and continued. “It was Pam.”
“Of course,” Nina said, rolling her eyes.
“Do you want to know or not?”
She motioned for him to keep going.
“After I got the paperwork back from you, I trusted Pam to mail it,” he continued.
“And she didn’t? I would think that she couldn’t get the papers back to the courts fast enough.”
“I know. And she would have if she hadn’t gone to the outlet mall.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Nina asked. “Did she lose the papers or something?”
He sighed. “No. She spent the money to pay the court filing fee and never got around to replacing it.”
Nina’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
“I know. It’s jacked up. I couldn’t believe it myself.”
“And she just thought the divorce would materialize on its own?”
Todd shrugged. “I think she didn’t think about it at all. As far as she was concerned, you were out of the picture. Pam only thinks about Pam.”
Nina wanted to ask him what kind of woman he’d messed with. And why he was still with her after all this time. But truthfully, it didn’t matter. Pam was his problem. If she was making his life miserable, then good for him.
“So we’re still married because your girlfriend went shopping with the money for the divorce?” she asked incredulously as she leaned back in her seat.
Todd nodded.
“When did you find this out?” For some reason, she didn’t doubt his story the least bit.
“When you won the lottery. She saw you in the newspaper and that’s when she confessed. She said she had been planning to pay the money and get everything finalized before we actually got married.”
“So I guess you weren’t too mad about what she did, huh?”
He waved away that charge. “Nina, believe me, I was upset.”
“Hmph, but when she broke down that you could get half the money, I’m sure you got over it real quick.”
“It’s not that simple,” he protested. “I mean…it’s just…I could really use the money. I’m having some serious financial troubles.”
Nina folded her arms across her chest. Todd had always been really smart with his money, so if he was having financial troubles, things must be truly rough. Nina had heard he lost his job at the radio station, but she didn’t know what he was doing with his life. She’d tried to put him out of her mind. So his financial status wasn’t her concern.
“So yes, I need the money.” He sighed. “But you’ve got to understand that the last thing I want to do is hurt you.”
She almost laughed in his face. “For somebody who doesn’t want to hurt me, you always do a pretty good job.”
Todd dropped his head in shame. Nina wanted to hate him, but she couldn’t help thinking that he was being sincere. Her heart was trying to block out the painful past and only recall the good times.
“I can’t say it enough. I’m sorry.”
“Whatever, Todd,” she said, regaining her feeling of annoyance. She was tired of his BS. She needed to just get down to business. “The reason I asked you to come here was so that I could offer you a deal.”
He looked at her in bewilderment. “What type of deal?”
“One million. Flat. Drop this ridiculous quest to get half, and as soon as I get the money from the lottery commission, I’ll get you a cashier’s check.”
He paused, struck by some idea. She waited to see if he would say something and kept talking when he didn’t.
“I mean, really, you can’t beat the offer. My attorney—who is one of the best in the business—is already working on pulling information to support the fact that we both believed the divorce was finalized. He’ll bring up your infidelity, which of course will make all the papers. I know it would break your mother’s heart to read how much of a whore her son was.” She pushed a stray hair out of her eye. The more she talked, the more she felt empowered. “So when you get right down to it, it’s a win-win for everyone. You get money you don’t deserve at all. I get to go on with my life.”
“And marry Rick?”
She looked at him like he was crazy. No, he didn’t have the nerve to look bothered.
“And marry Rick,” she said with finality. “Or you can risk going to court, incurring court costs, and not getting a dime.”
He actually looked like he was contemplating it. She had e
xpected him to laugh in her face.
Encouraged, Nina stood up. “Think about it, Todd. My attorney will be in touch by five P.M. tomorrow.” She headed toward the door. Todd had always been so fair. She prayed that he would take her up on her offer.
24
The shouting and laughter in the bar couldn’t drown out the thoughts that had been eating Todd alive. He couldn’t believe how nervous he was. He’d barely been able to make it through his shift, and then he’d come straight to Carrington’s in hopes that Lincoln could give him some advice.
“So, man, what do you think?” Todd asked his friend.
Lincoln was just as conflicted as Todd. “Dog, you know there’s a part of me that’s like, awww naw, get every nickel you can.” He hesitated. “But there’s another part of me that’s like, Nina is such a sweetheart and you did do her bad.”
“I know that.” Todd groaned.
The two of them were seated at their usual spot at the bar, although they were just nursing beers, since they both had to work the next day. “In addition to doing her bad,” Lincoln continued, “you did think the divorce was finalized. It just ain’t right. Think about if the tables were turned and she had left you for another man and came back after you hit the lotto, dude in tow, trying to get half your money. You wouldn’t be able to handle that. Shoot, you can barely handle her being with this Rick dude, and y’all ain’t been together in over a year.”
Todd released a heavy sigh. “You got a point.”
“Seriously, you might want to think about taking her up on her offer. I mean, a million dollars is a lot of money. It should be more than enough to take care of Grams and keep a little change in your pocket. Dog, I think I’d have to take the offer. For real. What if the judge decided you don’t get anything?”
Tannie was washing out glasses nearby. “I have to agree with Lincoln here,” she said, flashing a smile at Todd. “A bird in the hand beats being broke.”
“See, I knew we were soul mates,” Lincoln said flirtatiously.
She laughed as she took his empty glass and went to wait on another customer.
Lincoln stood up. “Sorry, dude. Gotta run. Leslie is cooking and she’s gonna have a fit if I’m late.”
Todd laughed. Lincoln always tried to play the ladies’ man, but deep down he was a sucker for a relationship. Leslie, his latest girlfriend, might end up being the one who tied him down.
Todd continued nursing his beer. Lincoln’s words were weighing heavily on his mind. If the tables were turned…Yeah, he’d be pretty upset. Part of him thought maybe he should take Nina up on her offer, not only because it would be enough money but also simply because of all the pain he’d caused her. He knew that’s what she was thinking about earlier at Starbucks. He could tell she was replaying the whole relationship in her mind, especially the day Pam came to their house and sent his world spiraling out of control.
Pam had become more and more impatient with being “the other woman.” She wanted Todd to leave Nina, and she complained and fussed about it every waking moment. Truthfully, as much as he was infatuated with Pam, he really didn’t want to leave Nina. As clichéd as it sounded, he loved Nina, he just wasn’t in love with her.
Or so he thought.
After physically fighting with Pam, Nina had put him out. No amount of pleading or crying would change her mind. The day he packed his bags and left, he knew he was going to regret it. But he didn’t have a choice. Nina refused to talk to him.
When he realized his relationship with Nina was really and truly over, he’d focused all his attention on Pam so he wouldn’t have lost everything for nothing.
He’d been miserable ever since.
“Hello…” Tannie was waving her hand in Todd’s face.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Todd replied. “I was thinking.”
“I bet you were,” Tannie said. “I was just asking if you want another drink.”
Todd glanced down at his empty beer glass. “Nah, I’m good.”
“So have you decided what you’re going to do?” Tannie picked up the glass and wiped the bar in front of him.
Todd nodded. “Yeah,” he replied. “I’m gonna take her up on her offer.”
“I think that’s the right thing to do.”
Todd couldn’t agree more. He wanted all of this lotto mess to be over with. Settling was the least he could do since he’d already caused Nina enough pain to last a lifetime. And maybe, just maybe, if he agreed to her deal, she’d see he wasn’t such a bad guy after all.
25
“She wants you to do what?” Pam placed both hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side. As refined as she liked to pretend she was, the ghetto could come out real fast. She was standing over him at the kitchen table. He’d asked her to have a seat so they could talk. But while he’d sat down, she’d refused to.
“I told you, she wants to settle.” Todd steeled himself for the battle with Pam. He had played out the talk he would have with Pam on his drive home from Carrington’s. But even so, he knew Pam wouldn’t see his point.
“Number one, why did you go meet with her in the first place?”
“Pam, do you really want to go to court?”
“Yes,” she cried. “You never know, the judge might give us all the money.”
Todd shook his head at her greed. “You know, Nina brought up a very good point. If we do go to court, her attorney is going to get down and dirty, revealing every messed-up thing I ever did. They’re going to talk about me cheating on her, pull up all the people you slept with.”
Pam was unmoved. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I don’t know.” Todd was trying not to get frustrated. He’d never convince her that they needed to settle if he got all worked up. “First of all, the longer we fight this, the longer before we get the money, and I need to get Grams into surgery as soon as possible.”
He ignored Pam’s dramatic eye rolling and continued. “Second, if Nina is fighting to keep her money, you can believe she’s going to come at us with everything she has.”
“Well, bring it on. I ain’t ashamed of nothing I’ve done,” Pam said haughtily.
Todd should have expected that reply. “You should be.”
“Whatever, Todd. I’m just saying, we ain’t settling. We’ll settle for four million, that’s what we’ll settle for.”
“Pam, let’s think about this,” he said, trying to be reasonable. “We really don’t deserve any of the money.”
“Why not? You’re still married to her.”
“But I’m not supposed to be. And everybody but you thought Nina and I were divorced. I think she’s being very gracious in offering us a million dollars.”
“Oh, you think she’s being gracious?” Pam snapped. “I’m happy you think she’s being gracious, but I think she’s trying to play you and you’re the fool if you let yourself be played. The bottom line is, Texas law says you’re entitled to half, so we’re getting our half.”
Todd decided to try another approach. “Pam, have you given any thought to what this could do to my mother? She would die from embarrassment if news of my infidelity were splattered all over the front page of the newspaper.”
“And? Your mother would die from embarrassment if she wore white before Easter. Shoot, your mother knows you ain’t no angel, even though she tries to pretend that you are.”
“Pam…”
“Don’t ‘Pam’ me. You let Nina bat her eyes and show you some leg. Now all of a sudden you think settling is a good idea.”
He let out an exasperated sigh. “Nina didn’t bat her eyes, and she didn’t show me any leg. As a matter of fact, she was quite rude, which is understandable.”
Pam waved her hand, palm down. “This discussion is over. We’re not settling.”
Nina’s taunt about Pam running their relationship played in his head, making him mad. “You know what?” he said. “This ain’t even about you. This is between me and her, and I say we need to settle.”
“Oh, it ain’t about me?” she said snidely. “Please, if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t even have a case. So, I’ll say it again—we ain’t settling.”
“You don’t have anything to do with it.”
“If you settle, I’m leaving.”
Todd was taken by surprise, then laughed. That was actually the best news he’d heard all day.
“Okay, I’m not leaving,” she said. In an instant her tone had changed drastically. “But I’m about to be your wife and I think I deserve a say-so in this.”
“Pam, it’s done. I’m taking the deal.” He stood to let her know the conversation was over.
“Now, you know I’m not gonna let this drop just like that.”
He regarded her sternly. “I’m not asking you, I’m telling you.”
She nodded, giving in a little too quickly. “Okay, cool. If that’s the way you want it.”
Todd left the room with his victory in hand, but something told him that despite what she was saying, Pam wasn’t giving in that easily.
26
The jog had done her good. Nina loved running. It cleared her head, and now, more than ever, she needed to be thinking clearly. She had to figure out how to get her life back on track. If Todd didn’t take her deal, it meant months of fighting in court—unless she just gave up the fight on her end. She was feeling a growing uneasiness about Rick. She’d walked in the bathroom this morning and heard him whispering into the phone. She’d tried to eavesdrop but couldn’t make out what he was saying. If he was cheating on her…Nina felt a shadow pass over her heart. “No. Don’t even go there,” she muttered. She couldn’t think that. Rick wasn’t Todd and she was just being paranoid.
Nina glanced at her Timex sports watch. Her car was supposed to be ready at ten this morning, and she needed to call someone to give her a ride to the mechanic’s. Nina hadn’t made a lot of plans for the money, but she was heading to the car dealership as soon as possible to buy a new car because her 2002 Maxima was on its last legs. This was her third time in the last six months that she’d had to bring the car to the shop.
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