Page 44 of Chains
“I’m not jeopardizing my business. I worked hard to come up with the money to purchase the building and property. I vowed I’dneverborrow against it. I’m sorry, but you may have to put your business venture on the back burner until you can raise enough capital. You could try and raise money online through crowdfunding for startups. I did that when I’d decided to buy the clinic. I posted my business plan and goals on Kickstarter. I can help you with that.”
Bret stood there glaring at her. “We’re going to be a married couple in two months. Do you know what the fuck that means?”
“Yes,” she said softly. “And I am supporting you. I raised more money than I imagined with the business campaign I posted. I told you I’d help you with that.”
“You’re unbelievable!” He stomped back to the driver’s side of the car. “Fuck you.” Bret backed the sports car out of the driveway and sped away with the tires squealing.
His actions left Autumn frozen on the lawn as she inhaled a sudden breath into her lungs. It seemed that Bret was always angry at her for some reason, and when she didn’t give in to his demands, he’d act like a recalcitrant child throwing a tantrum. The sound of a car backfiring shoved Autumn into the here and now, and she hurried up the sidewalk and went into the house.
Cinder rushed over and rubbed against Autumn’s legs, purring. She bent down and scooped the cat into her arms, cuddling Cinder close to her as she swallowed past the small lump in her throat. Refusing to cry, Autumn crossed the room and went into the kitchen.
“Are you hungry?” she whispered against Cinder’s ear.
The cat meowed and squirmed a little in Autumn’s arms, so she put her pet down, took out a can of food, and emptied it into Cinder’s bright blue bowl.
A sudden surge of loneliness engulfed her. She chided herself for being foolish. For as long as Autumn could remember, she never liked leaving things on a bad or sour note. She walked into the family room and rifled through her purse, searching for her cell phone. When she found it, Autumn clicked on Bret’s number as she held her breath.
She’d almost hung up when he picked up on the fifth ring.
“I’m packing,” he said.
“I feel bad about our fight,” she said.
“Did you call to tell me you can loan me the money?” His voice was terse.
“No, but I will help you to come up with a way to get it. How much do you need?”
“About fifteen grand.”
Autumn suppressed the startled gasp aching to burst from her throat.
“I can earn that back threefold in a few months of launching the business.”
“Let’s talk about what we can do when you get back,” she said.
A long pause. “I have to go. I’ll call you when I get to Grand Junction.”
The phone clicked off and Autumn held on to it for a long while before she rummaged through her purse again and pulled out Chains’s phone number. She tapped in all but one of the numbers, then stopped.
“What the hell am I doing? I’ve got to get a grip on all this.” Autumn put the phone down and jumped when it rang. “Hello,” she answered tentatively.
“Hi, Autumn. I wanted to tell you that I had a great time at the brunch this morning. I loved meeting your parents,” Sadie said.
A breath of relief escaped from her chest; for one crazy moment, she’d thought it was Chains on the phone.
“They enjoyed meeting you too. Regina put on a lovely brunch. I’ll never be able to compete with her, that’s for sure.”
“Do you want to?” Sadie asked.
“Not at all.” Autumn giggled. “What’re you doing for dinner? Bret has to go to Grand Junction for business, and he’s leaving tonight, so I’m free.”
“He bailed out on youagain?”
“I guess so, but he does have a drive ahead of him.”
“Why didn’t he have an early dinner with you?”
Sadie’s question only made Autumn feel lonelier. “He had to prepare for tomorrow’s meeting. Do you want to go out tonight?”
