An Invincible Summer (Wyndham Beach #1)(37)

A week ago, Zach had had the nerve to ask her if she’d give him that little plaster heart for the tree he and Amber were going to put up that weekend in her apartment. Grace had promised to look for it when she got home, which she’d done. When she’d found it, she’d smashed it into dust with a meat tenderizer.

“Sorry,” she’d told him on Monday when he’d again asked about his treasured ornament. “I guess it got lost or something.” It gave her perverse pleasure to know that he knew she was lying, but he couldn’t do a damned thing about it.

She sat on the sofa and pulled her legs up under her. She couldn’t help how sad she felt at how disappointing her life had turned out to be. Even sitting in this room she loved in the house she loved made her sad. She’d lost her heart to the house from the moment she first saw it, and she prized every piece of furniture and every work of art. Now all those lovely things she and Zach had picked out together had been left behind, just as she had been. He’d taken nothing but his clothes and a few personal items, discarding every trace of their marriage as if wanting to erase it all from his life. And yet every day he reported to work at the law firm that carried her father’s name.

She thought about how her father would have handled a cheating son-in-law who worked for him. Then again, there’d been no cheating while Art was alive. At least, she was pretty sure there hadn’t been. Zach had been perfectly happy to be married to the boss’s daughter—until the boss died. She’d been easy enough to love when Zach thought she—and therefore, he—would be inheriting the firm. Her father’s death had changed everything.

Her stomach rumbled, a reminder she’d skipped lunch to work on a brief, and it was now almost seven. She went into the kitchen in search of last night’s leftovers, still lamenting the turn her life had taken. She just didn’t understand why she and Zach couldn’t have had the same kind of marriage her parents had. They’d been soul mates. Perfect together. Meant to be. They were each other’s one and only. She wondered if her mother ever felt this deep bitterness when she thought about losing her husband. If she ever wondered why he’d been taken from her. Why they couldn’t have grown old together.

There were times when Grace was angry with her father for dying, not just for the upheaval in her mother’s life, but for what it had done to hers. Had his death been the catalyst for the breakup of her marriage, or had he been the only thing keeping it together? She wasn’t sure. He’d been so proud to walk her down the aisle on her wedding day as she floated in a Vera Wang ocean of tulle. He’d been so pleased with her choice of husband. And then poof! Her father was gone, and Zach was gone, and she had nothing except this house and her job. She went into the office every day, closed her door, did her work, kept her head down, and then came home. It was killing her.

The only thing that was keeping her sane was TheLast2No.

She ate Thai takeout from two nights ago straight out of the container, standing at the kitchen counter while she turned on her laptop and went directly to her blog. Scanning the comment section, she found a discussion had been ongoing, apparently for the last hour.

JK-Taurus: I’ve always been a good person. I’ve never hurt a soul in my life. But all I can think about lately is—well, doing something bad.

BlackWido55: Like what kind of bad?

JK-Taurus: Like, hurting him.

JanieJoPa: You mean, like, physically?

JK-Taurus: Yeah. In a really big way.

LizzieCake_25: I can so relate. I think about smashing my ex’s knees with a big hammer.

Grace had to jump in and remind them that any talk of violent behavior was a no-no.

Annie Boleyn: Yow, LizzieCake_25! Remember the blog rules! No violence!

LizzieCake_25: I didn’t say I’d do it. I just said I think about it. And I do. I thought the purpose of this blog was to be a place where we could vent and not be judged.

Annie Boleyn: No one’s judging you, LizzieCake_25.

LizzieCake_25: Sure sounds as if you are.

Annie Boleyn: Just reminding you.

BlackWido55: So JK-Taurus, what’s stopping you from putting a big hurt on the bastard?

JK-Taurus: The thought of spending the rest of my life behind bars? Never seeing my kids again? Their jerk father gaining sole custody so he and his new wife can raise my children?

BlackWido55: Only if you get caught, girl.

JK-Taurus: My luck, I’d be caught. I’ve never gotten away with a damned thing in my life.

BlackWido55: There are ways if you’re smart. DM me if you want to know.

OurMissArden: Guys! I can’t believe you’re having this conversation! I hope you’re not serious.

BlackWido55: He ruined her life and he’s getting away with it. That POS gave her three kids and then walked off into the sunset with another woman. Why shouldn’t he be punished?

Grace stared at the screen. Was BlackWido55 actually encouraging JK-Taurus to physically harm her ex-husband? Time to jump in again. She donned her Annie persona and began to type.

Annie Boleyn: Guys, I started this blog as a place where we could offer support to each other. Trust me, no one was dumped more painfully than I was. But I’m going to have to shut you down if you keep talking about hurting someone.

Grace watched as first BlackWido55 then JK-Taurus left the conversation.

OurMissArden: Am I the only one who got a little worried there for a minute?