The Challenge(66)

“Having fun?” she said loud enough for them both to hear her. He opened his eyes and looked like he was going to have a heart attack. The girl looked annoyed, as he pulled out of her, and she spun around like a gymnast.

“Who’s that?” she said in a loud angry voice. And then, “Oh fuck, is that her?” She had seen the belly and knew instantly, although she hadn’t met Pattie yet. But she knew the boss’s wife was pregnant. She’d only been working there for two months and Pattie rarely went to the office and she’d been busy at home.

“Yes, it is,” Pattie answered. She wasn’t even embarrassed. She was too angry to be. “Nice lunches you have here,” she said, then threw the keys at him and walked out of the room. He came after her as fast as he could get his pants up and run.

“What the hell are you doing?” he said to her in a loud whisper, his voice and face contorted with unfinished sex and rage.

She stopped and wanted to hit him. “What am I doing? Are you kidding? What am I doing? What the hell are you doing while I carry your baby?”

“The baby was your idea,” he said, grabbing her by the arm.

“I’ll tell you what I’m doing. I’m calling a lawyer. And you’re packing and getting out of my house.”

“Our house,” he raged at her, as people at their desks started to stare.

“It’s not our house anymore. It’s mine. I want a divorce. You’re a lying, cheating sonofabitch.” She had kept his phone to show her lawyer, if she needed evidence. As much as she had loved him before, she hated him now. She walked straight out of the building, got in her car, drove to the Pollocks’, and told Anne what had happened. She was shaking when she told her.

“You’d better calm down or you’ll have the baby right now,” Anne warned her, and handed her a glass of water. She took a sip.

“I’m a nurse. I’ll deliver it myself,” Pattie said. “Shit, I can’t believe this. How long has he been doing it? He’s a complete asshole.” Anne wondered if Pattie would ever forgive him. She wasn’t sure she would have. Pattie stayed for half an hour, calmed down a little, and went home to call a lawyer.

She told him what had happened. They had no prenup and Montana was an equitable distribution state, so half of everything Bill had was hers, even though she hadn’t worked. “I want a divorce,” she told the lawyer.

“Why don’t we slow down for a minute. Don’t you want to have a conversation with Mr. Brown?”

“About what? Sex in the office? Their lunch menu?”

“Why don’t we talk in the morning? I’ve got a meeting in ten minutes.”

“Fine. Start the ball rolling. Call me tomorrow at nine-thirty.” She was mad at the world and hated her husband. Bill was home half an hour later.

“I don’t call that a quickie,” she said when she saw him. “You took an hour.”

“What the hell happened?” He had no idea how she’d found out.

“You left your phone on the breakfast table.”

“You read my texts?” He was furious but didn’t have a leg to stand on.

“Yes, I did. You can read mine anytime. She wanted you to come in her mouth. Did you?”

“What is wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me? You’re asking me that? You’re a miserable, cheating sonofabitch. And don’t come to the hospital to see the baby, which was apparently my idea. I don’t want to see you, and you’re not welcome to see the baby. The only place I want to see you is in court after this.” She slammed into her dressing room and closed and locked the door. She came out an hour later, and hoping that he had packed and left. He was still standing there when she opened the door.

“I want my phone.” He looked ashen, and she saw a suitcase standing next to him.

“I’m sending it to my lawyer as evidence. Get another one, while you can still afford to.” She was going to take him for every penny she could get. He decided that the best course of action was to leave and negotiate later, when she had calmed down.

She never did. She went into labor four days later, two weeks before her due date. Anne went to the hospital with her. It was an easy delivery and Pattie only stayed in the hospital for two days. She called her lawyer two hours after the delivery. She was serious. She wanted a divorce and nothing Bill tried to say to her made a difference. He had betrayed her and their sixteen-year marriage.

“Hell hath no fury like…” his lawyer had warned him. “You cheat and get caught, it’s going to cost you.”

“That’s ridiculous. I own the ranch.”

“You married young and had no prenup. We’re an equitable state. She owns half of it. Half of all of what you have. And she’s out for blood.” Her lawyer had already called him and told him her terms.

“She won’t let me see the baby,” Bill complained. He wasn’t that excited about it, but she was his child too.

Pattie refused to speak to him, and she demanded a full appraisal of the ranch. It would take months to give it to her. Her lawyers were relentless and they had forensic accountants. Bill was in shock. She was actually going through with it.

Anne and Pitt felt sorry for the kids. Matt and Benjie were upset that their parents were getting divorced. She had named the new baby Penny, and she was three months old the first time Bill saw her, with two armed bodyguards present to ensure that Bill didn’t abduct her since she was so young. Anne didn’t trust him, and she had good reason not to. Matt didn’t understand why his mother was so mad at his father. Benjie had supervised visits with his father. At fifteen, Matt could express his wishes, and wanted to see his father two weekends a month and occasionally for dinner. Penny was too young for visitation.