A Winter Wedding(66)

Sometimes it felt that way, but he went on as if she hadn’t spoken. “And you’d better not do anything malicious to Lourdes. If I hear that you’ve been saying slanderous things, posting gossip on the internet or doing anything else that could damage her career—or hurt her in any way—you won’t get another dime out of me.”

“You can’t refuse to pay me forever,” she said, slightly less defiant than she’d been before.

“That may be true. But I can hold off until I owe you money. Then I can make you try to force me. And just before you manage that, I can take you back to court and whittle down the amount I owe per month. I promise you, if it goes that way, you’ll have to pay a lot more of your own bills than you’re paying now.”

“You’ve already had the amount lowered once! The judge won’t let you do it again.”

He didn’t think she was totally convinced of that, despite her words. And neither was he. He’d been so eager for the divorce he’d agreed to pay far too much, so he’d gone back to court to have the amount adjusted. But the judge had simply consented to what he’d offered in lieu of the first amount, which was still more than he should have to pay, considering they’d been together for such a short time and didn’t have any children. He’d been largely supporting her for the past five years. That was plenty of time for a childless partner to take over responsibility for her own finances.

“Are you willing to take that chance?” he asked. “Are you willing to risk getting much less? Or even zero?”

Nothing. No response.

“At least tell me you understand my terms,” he said. “Otherwise, I’ll assume you refuse to comply, and I won’t send January’s check.”

“You’re serious! I just lost my job, probably won’t even be able to eat, and you’d do this?”

She always had her parents. He wasn’t too worried about her eating. “I absolutely would,” he said.

“You’re not being fair—”

“Tell me you understand,” he repeated. “That’s all I want to hear.”

After several seconds, she gave him a grudging, “I understand.” Then she added, “But I’ll never forgive you for this,” and disconnected.

Kyle didn’t feel the elation he’d hoped to feel after that call. Noelle’s parting words left him uneasy. To keep the peace in Whiskey Creek, to prevent the past from tainting Olivia and Brandon’s happiness, and to atone for his own mistakes, he’d always chosen to avoid direct confrontation. He’d stalled Noelle, cajoled her, ignored her when he could and compromised with her when he couldn’t. His go-to solution had been to give her money, because that satisfied her the quickest. He’d never decisively kicked her out of his life—not until now—and wasn’t entirely sure how she’d react.

But he meant what he’d said. He wouldn’t hand her another dime if she did anything she shouldn’t.

He was finished with letting what he’d felt for Olivia control him. There was no question he was finished putting up with Noelle. Although he’d been shackled to both women, for different reasons, he was breaking free...

Taking a deep breath, he smiled. Maybe he did feel a little elated.





18

As soon as she got off the phone with Kyle, Noelle called Olivia, but Olivia didn’t pick up. It took three attempts before she did.

“Hello?”

At last. When Olivia answered, Noelle could tell by the thickness of her voice that she’d been sleeping.

“Noelle? Is that you?” she said when Noelle didn’t immediately respond.

Drawing out her sister’s wait for dramatic effect, Noelle fiddled with the faucet on her kitchen sink. It’d started leaking about five minutes ago, and nothing she’d tried had fixed the problem. She needed a plumber—for this and to install a new water heater. As a matter of fact, she needed a lot of things, and she’d be much less likely to get them now that she’d lost her job. She wasn’t sure why she’d been working at Sexy Sadie’s, anyway. She shouldn’t have to work two jobs, not when everyone around her had it so much easier. Olivia was planning Riley’s wedding—as if that was hard.

“Noelle?” Olivia repeated, this time with the appropriate concern. “Are you okay?”

“No. I’m not okay,” she said, faking tears. “Kyle just called me.”

There was some rustling at the other end. “This late?”

“I told you. He isn’t the considerate guy you think he is.”

Olivia made no reply, but Noelle could hear Brandon in the background. “Who is it, babe? What’s going on?”

“It’s my sister,” Olivia murmured. “Go back to sleep. I’ll talk to her in the living room.”

“Hang on,” Olivia said into the phone and didn’t speak again for several seconds—until she wouldn’t disturb her beloved husband. The same beloved husband who wouldn’t give Noelle the time of day. He was a prick, she thought, just as bad as his stepbrother.

“Okay...what’s going on? Why did Kyle call you? And please don’t suggest it was a booty call. He told me you two haven’t been seeing each other in that way.”

“Of course he’d say that. Now he’s banging the great Lourdes Bennett, he has no use for me. He was calling to tell me he’s not going to pay my spousal maintenance anymore. Can you believe that?”