Acts of Desperation(24)

“First, you didn’t ask, I offered. And second, I’m the best she can get so why don’t you let me worry about my case load.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes, but you’ll have to repay me,” he said with a hint of a smile.

I let out a light laugh. “You’re flirting with me when I’m weak. Perfect. What exactly did you have in mind?” I asked, smirking.

He gave me a mischievous grin. “Nothing, I just wanted to see you smile.”

And I did. “Well it worked. Thanks. And thanks for offering to help.”

“It’s no problem. Now, give me your phone,” he said.

“Why?” I asked.

“Just give it to me,” he said, and I handed it over. “I’m putting my number in here. Tell your sister I’m taking over her case and to stop worrying. I’ll take care of everything else. We can walk through the details on Monday. Just let me know when she can come in.” He finished programming his information into my phone and handed it back.

“Wait,” I said. “Why did you come in here? We started talking about my sister. Did you want something?”

“Yeah, you,” he said, and my heart leapt. “I want to take you to dinner. I’ll call you tomorrow. Now, go home, you’re going to need your rest.”





Chapter Eleven


During my drive home, I called Sarah and told her Jax was taking over her case. I gave her a rundown of things and set up a time for her to come in on Monday morning. I felt her relief through the phone. When I finally got home, I was so drained that I went immediately up to my room. I stripped down, threw on an old t-shirt, and crashed—I didn’t pass go and didn’t collect two hundred dollars. I slept like a rock, but unfortunately, my growling stomach woke me up a bit earlier than I would have preferred for the start of the weekend. So, I rolled out of bed, pulled on a pair of loose fitting sweat pants and trudged groggily downstairs.

The house was silent, so I assumed Liz had quietly slipped out in the wee hours of the morning and was off tending to an event. In the kitchen, I ground some of my favorite Costa Rican Tarrazu coffee beans—something that I love to do but rarely have time for during weekday mornings—and dropped an English muffin into the toaster.

I pleasantly wasted away my morning devouring my weekly dose of celebrity gossip snuggled up on the couch wrapped in my red velvet throw. Around noon, I decided to hit the gym so I could continue the war of keeping my butt where it belongs; I was currently losing my battle and taking the week off hadn’t helped any. Somewhere during my thirty minute treadmill run and walking lunges, Jax had called and suggested a time for dinner. I confirmed the time via text and sent him my address. Now, I only had to count down the minutes.

When I walked in the door at home, tired and hungry, I got a call from Sarah.

“You’re sooo going to love this,” she said, her voice heavy with sarcasm.

“What? Do I even want to know?” I asked, throwing my things on the back of the chair at the table. I went over to the fridge and grabbed the fixings to make a sandwich.

“Yes, just wait till you hear this. So, Anders came over late last night to pick up the kids, and he was super cheery.”

“That’s new,” I said.

“I know. I thought it was because of the ruling, but he never mentioned anything about it. Instead, after the kids were loaded into the car, he pulled me into the garage. I expected him to launch into his same old yelling-in-my-face routine, but instead he told me he’s starting a running group.”

“A running group?” I said. “What because he finally realized he’s packed on a few pounds?”

“Nope.” She laughed. “Wait for it…a running support group—a divorcing-men-leaving-loveless-marriages support group.”

I snorted at the absurdity. “You’re kidding me?” I said.

“I could not make this stuff up, I swear. Ridiculous, right?” she said.

“Completely. Boy, this whole divorce has really been tough on him, hasn’t it?” I laughed.

“Yeah, right.” She huffed.

Anders was a whole new kind of crazy. I was amazed a bit more as each day passed by the things he did. And with each story I heard, I learned to expect the unexpected from Sarah. While we talked, I ate my sandwich, and when we finished chatting, I took my tired body to the couch. I put in my ear buds and turned on some music, and my eyes suddenly got very heavy. The last thing I remember was listening to a slow Eddie Vedder song then I woke up to my phone ringing in my ears. I shot up, and ripped the tiny speakers from my ears. I tried to look at the screen but ended up blindly swiping my finger when my eyes wouldn’t focus.

“Hello,” I grumbled, rubbing my eyes.

“Sember?”

I perked up. “John.”

“Hey, were you sleeping?” he asked.

“Yes. What do you want?” I asked and my heart started to pound. Truly, after what he’d done, I could have gone the rest of my life without speaking to him again.

“To talk to you,” he said.

“What’s there to say?” I asked.

“I want to see you so we can work this out.”

“There’s nothing to work out,” I said.

“Come on, haven’t you had enough time to cool off?”