Those Christmas Angels (Angels Everywhere #5)(36)

“Yes, you can and you will.”

“But I want to make it on my own, Marta.” This was one of the very reasons Anne had chosen to paint under the name of Mary Fleming. She didn’t want her friends’ charity.

“If you knew Mrs. Gould, you’d know that she’s—”

“I’m talking about the commission.”

The line went quiet for a moment. “Actually,” Marta confessed, “I might end up moving in with you at some point, and I was hoping to pave the way in case that happened.”

“You’re serious?” Sometimes with Marta it was hard to tell.

“Very.”

“But you haven’t confronted Jack?”

Anne heard Marta’s sigh. “I’ve tried, and every time I broach the subject, it’s as if Jack knows what’s coming and starts talking about something else. Once he simply got up and left the room. I’m so emotional about it. All I seem to do is cry and then I get so angry with Jack and with myself that I’m a worthless mess.”

“Of course you’re emotional!” Anne said. “You have every right to be.”

“I trusted Jack.”

Anne had trusted Burton, too. Although she was reluctant to mention it, Anne felt she’d be doing her friend a disservice if she didn’t share the painful lessons she’d learned. “Keep an eye on your finances.” She hated to give her more to worry about, but this was the trap Anne had fallen into, at great cost to herself.

“Jack would never—”

“I said the same thing about Burton,” Anne told her. “What you need to remember is that if Jack’s untrustworthy in one area, he could be untrustworthy in others.”

“Like Burton?”

Anne swallowed around the lump blocking her throat. “Like Burton,” she repeated.

“How much did he cheat you out of?”

Anne didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to confess how blind and foolish she’d been. “A quarter of a million dollars is my best estimate.”

“Oh, my,” Marta breathed. “That much?”

“I’m past the anger now.”

“But how can you be?” she demanded, outraged on Anne’s behalf.

“What else can I do? Hate him? Do you honestly think Burton cares how I feel about him?” Anne had gone through all of this after the divorce, gone through it over and over again. “It wouldn’t matter. The only person I’d be hurting is myself.”

“But you must’ve been an emotional wreck.”

“Of course I was. In the beginning I was angry, and then I was so hurt I couldn’t stop crying. For a while, I wondered if it was even worth living.”

“Oh, Anne.”

She’d never told anyone about those dark, ugly thoughts. Anne wondered if she should be confessing how bleak everything had seemed during those first dreadful months. When she’d discovered how bad her financial situation was, she’d sunk to her lowest depths. Once she’d learned she could cope with even that, her sense of self had begun to reassert itself.

“Frankly, I would’ve wanted to kill him.”

Anne laughed. “I considered that, but I preferred not to spend the rest of my life in jail.”

Marta laughed, too, but there was little humor in it.

“You want advice?” Anne had been in the same position Marta was now. She knew that her friend probably hadn’t been ready to hear her suggestions when they’d spoken the week before. She also knew how difficult it was to make decisions and think clearly during any kind of crisis.

“Please.” Marta’s voice was as soft as a whisper.

“If I were going through it again, the first thing I’d do is see an attorney and have our joint assets frozen.”

Marta’s breath came in a rush. “You told me to see one when I met you in Seattle, but now? So soon?”

“The sooner the better.”

“Okay,” Marta said, her voice gaining conviction. “I can do that.”

“A good one, but not one you both know.”

“All right.” Marta hesitated. “Should I tell Jack what I’ve done?”

To be fair to both parties, Anne felt she should. “I would. In your own time. It doesn’t have to be confrontational.”

“I should keep it simple, in other words, like…like, I know what you’re doing and I’ve seen an attorney. Period. End of story.”

“Something like that.”

“I’ll do it.” Marta sounded determined now.

Anne longed to put her arms around her friend and offer her reassurance and comfort. Marta, so experienced and sophisticated, was as emotionally vulnerable as Anne had been.

“Call me the minute you know anything,” Anne said, trying to encourage her.

“About the painting?”

Anne had forgotten about her angel. “That, too, but right now I’m more concerned that you take care of yourself.”

“I…I think I’ll wait until after the holidays,” Marta said. “To see an attorney, I mean.”

“Don’t,” Anne warned. “Do it today, before you lose your nerve.”

“You’re right, you’re right. I will.”