LITMIR.BIZ

      3

      Despite the relief she felt at having a job lined up, Lynn’s stomach remained tied up in knots as she drove toward the center of town. She hadn’t forgotten her promise to Lexie to find out where Ed was and when he was due back. She had her own valid reasons for wanting to know those things, as well. She knew that trying to wrangle information out of the very loyal and discreet Noelle over the phone would be a waste of time, but face-to-face, Ed’s secretary would have a lot more trouble holding out.

      The success of Ed’s insurance business was ostentatiously showcased in the large brick building he’d built just off Main Street. Personally, Lynn had always thought it was pretentious, but he’d insisted it was good for business, especially the insurance business, to look impressive and solid.

      Lynn parked in the large lot out back and went in through the closest entrance, drawing startled glances from several of Ed’s colleagues who hadn’t laid eyes on her since she and Ed had split up. Assuming they’d taken his side and not wanting to put any of them on the spot, she nodded politely and kept right on walking to his large suite of offices in the front.

      “Hi, Noelle,” she said.

      Ed’s secretary uttered a small gasp, but recovered quickly. “Mrs. Morrow, how are you?”

      “Just fine, Noelle. And you?”

      “Doing all right. What can I do for you? Ed’s not here.”

      “So I’ve gathered. Any idea where I can reach him or when he’ll be back?”

      “As I told Lexie when she called, I’m not entirely sure.”

      “On either point?” Lynn asked skeptically. “I can’t recall a single time when Ed has ever been out of touch with you.”

      “Well, of course, I speak to him if there’s an emergency,” Noelle said, looking increasingly uncomfortable. For all her loyalty to her boss, she was also a sympathetic woman and a single mother herself. Lynn thought she probably understood the situation all too well.

      “Then how about sharing with me how you go about contacting him?” Lynn requested. “Please, Noelle. You spoke to Lexie. You know how much she misses her father. And there are things I need to discuss with him that can’t wait.”

      “He’ll be back soon,” Noelle said, holding firm.

      “How soon?”

      “Next week at the latest, maybe sooner.”

      Lynn shook her head. “Not good enough. I want to speak to him today.”

      Noelle regarded her with what appeared to be genuine sympathy. “I really wish I could help you, but I need this job. I can’t violate his confidence. He’d fire me.” She gave Lynn an earnest look. “You know he would.”

      Lynn sighed. Unfortunately, she knew that all too well. Even before she’d walked into the building, she’d known she was going to be putting Noelle in an impossible position. The last thing she wanted to do was to get another single mom fired.

      She was struck by a sudden thought. Ed always kept petty cash in his office in a secret compartment at the back of one of his drawers. Since he’d failed to send his support check, she figured she was entitled to get that money however she could.

      “Would you mind if I left a note on his desk?” she asked Noelle.

      “No problem,” Noelle said, looking relieved that Lynn wasn’t going to keep pressing her.

      “Thanks. I’ll just be a minute.” She walked into the office she’d worked so hard to decorate for him, choosing colors that were warm and inviting and furnishings that were tasteful and, at Ed’s insistence, far more expensive than they’d needed to be.

      She sat in his ergonomic leather chair behind the oversize mahogany desk and opened the bottom drawer. Reaching into the compartment hidden behind a stack of company stationery, she plucked out two hundred-dollar bills and guiltily stuffed them into her purse.

      To make good on the request that had gotten her into the room, she removed a piece of stationery and jotted a quick note asking Ed to call her immediately on his return, folded it and shoved it into an envelope, then tucked it into a corner of the pristine blotter centered on his desk.

      “All done,” she told Noelle, exiting quickly. “I left the note on his desk. Please make sure he reads it, okay? As soon as he sees my handwriting he’ll toss it in the trash, otherwise.”

      “I’ll do my best,” Noelle promised, then regarded Lynn apologetically. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help.”

      “You helped enough,” Lynn assured her.

      Back in her car, she found herself trembling for the second time that day. No matter how strongly she felt that she was owed much more than that two hundred dollars, she couldn’t help thinking that she’d turned into a thief. That’s what this divorce was doing to her.

      Then she thought of her kids and squared her shoulders. She’d done what she had to do and if anyone should be ashamed of their behavior these days, it was Ed. And she’d tell him exactly that if he had the audacity to make an issue of this.

      * * *

      Even with the promise of another paycheck soon and the money she’d stolen from petty cash in her purse, Lynn couldn’t bring herself to go on a spending splurge at the grocery store. Who knew what other crises might arise before Ed finally paid up the way he was supposed to?

      She left the store with two small sacks of groceries and a heavy heart. This would barely get them through the weekend, and then what? A couple of hundred dollars seemed like a fortune, but it wouldn’t last long. It would barely cover the electric bill, much less make any dent in the overdue mortgage.

      After putting the few pitiful purchases into the refrigerator and pantry, she knew she had to do something more to address the situation. Not even another paycheck was going to solve things, not with interest and late fees adding up on their bills. Reluctantly, she picked up the phone and called Helen.

      “The support check hasn’t come again,” she told the attorney. “I just spent practically the last dime I have on enough groceries to get us through the next couple of days.” She drew in a deep breath, then confessed, “I actually resorted to taking money from petty cash in Ed’s office. I know it’s theft, but what was I supposed to do, Helen? Let my kids starve?”

      Helen uttered an epithet that would have blistered Ed’s ears had she said it in court. “Look, I can’t very well condone stealing, but let’s pretend you never told me about that. Believe me, I get how desperate you must have been to resort to that.”

      “It’s not going to make a dent in the bills,” Lynn said in frustration. “But it will cover groceries for a couple of weeks and one or two other things, if I pinch every penny.”

      “I’ll stop by with a check before the day’s out,” Helen promised her. “And before you say no, believe me, I will get it back from Ed, even if I have to take it out of his sorry hide!”

      Lynn smiled. “I want to be there for that,” she said. “Just anticipating it will be the one huge bright spot in my life.”

      “What about those bills you mentioned?” Helen asked. “Are you managing? Is Ed covering what he’s supposed to be covering—the mortgage payment, the utilities?”

      Lynn drew in a deep breath, then told her, “I just got a notice from the bank. They haven’t received the last two house payments. They’re threatening to foreclose. The electric company has given me two weeks to pay or they’ll disconnect service.”

      “That scum!” Helen said fiercely. “Does he really want to take the roof from over your heads?”

      “I

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