The line went dead. He didn’t even give her the chance to respond, never mind the chance to hang up first.
She growled as she put the phone down.
“Why do I let him get away with this? Why?” she asked aloud then looked in the mirror.
She hadn’t lost her great figure, probably because she was stressed all the time, and filled with excess energy working out, running, then sleeping very little, all because of her past. Why did Tony still have such a hold on her? Why when she looked into the mirror she saw a failure, someone who needed Tony and her brother to guide her and support her? She wished that Alvin would support her as her brother and the only family she had, but he was caught up in his own corporate world. He’d gone through two divorces and he thought he had all the answers for her. His idea of her being successful and happy was her being married to Tony and being at Tony’s command. Little did her brother know that Tony was a liar, a thief, a manipulator, and a cheat. Her brother was fooled by Tony. For all she knew Alvin probably owed Tony money, too. Maybe that was why Alvin was always asking her about her finances and about getting money from Tony after he sold their business? Why couldn’t they just leave her alone?
She had truly loved the small gift shop, and as soon as she started adding her own stained glass pieces to the inventory the orders began to start. Tony didn’t even care. It was like one day the store was theirs and thriving with potential, and the next day it was gone. Sold and without her knowledge. She couldn’t believe that she almost got engaged to the man. He didn’t even care about her designs and her love of creating stained glass artwork. He destroyed the trust she gave him. She wouldn’t trust so easily ever again.
She looked at the package and took a deep breath. Her excited feelings in completing such a beautiful piece lessened after the call from Tony. He’d never believed in her talent and ability. He’d never accepted her insight into the small business they owned. All he wanted was her money and when they established the little storefront on a tourist strip in Dallas, it could have been a gold mine, their gold mine, but he had other plans. He sold it out from underneath her. She had been stupid. Falling in love with him. Trusting him as the contracts for the business were made and things took off. It was all in his name and under his power to sell. Even though it was a large chunk of her money that was used to get the loan started, he convinced her that it was better to be in his name so if the business failed her credit wouldn’t be ruined. He always acted like he was putting her first, and it was too late when she realized he put himself first. Everything Tony did was for Tony.
She couldn’t do a damn thing about it, but the money made from selling it was significant and he reinvested it. He tricked her into believing his ideas were best and she signed where he told her, trusting him, believing he was her everything. Meanwhile, he was cheating on her with other women, and using money to live the life of a bachelor. Fighting with him and Alvin got her nowhere. She left Dallas in hopes to start over and take control of her life. She should change her phone number so Tony couldn’t call her.
She couldn’t. They would worry. They would head out here and the last thing she needed was a confrontation with them. They would flip out about her living arrangements over a garage. They would minimize her business and her art. They would put down her friends and the lifestyles here in Chance. They would insult her, beat her down, and ultimately make her leave Chance. So she would continue to appease their phone calls and their belief they still held control over her. Maybe one day she would have the self-confidence and ability to break free, but for now, she would roll with the punches and do what she loved. Create stained glass pieces with the hope to one day open her own storefront and be successful. A pipe dream? Probably, but she had to have something to hold onto, some hope, some goal, or life just wasn’t worth living and waking up every day for.
She grabbed her keys, her purse, and the nicely packaged stained glass mosaic and headed out the door. As she walked down the long flight of stairs above Dr. Anders’s garage, she noticed his wife Lisa Marie and her other husband, Troy, getting into the car.
“Good morning,” she called out and both of them smiled. Mrs. Anders was beaming. She was expecting another baby in just a few months. It was their third.
“Good morning, Alicia. Is that another brilliant creation of yours that you’re shipping out?” Lisa Marie asked.
Alicia smiled as she joined them. “Sure is.”
“I hope you took a picture of that one, too. I love seeing the finished product,” Lisa Marie said.
“I did. Are you off to the doctor’s office?” Alicia asked.
Lisa Marie smiled.
“Sure am, although my husband assures me all is well. I think he likes me coming into town to his office and handling everything in a professional manner. He should know by now after two babies that I‘m going to try and deliver natural and with a midwife. Clara is exceptional.”
“She sure is. I heard that Monica had some trouble with her delivery and Clara was able to help immensely. I think Dr. Anders just likes to show off his beautiful wife and how fit and amazing you look. I don’t know how you do it.”
“Thanks. Good luck with the piece, and send me the picture of it through the cell, okay?”
“Sure thing. Have a great day,” Alicia said to them and then made her way to her own small car parked on the side of the garage.
The apartment she rented from the Anders was beautiful. It sat above their two-car garage and overlooked the back meadows of their home. It was an ideal location with a separate room filled with windows for her to create an art studio for her work.
Alicia headed down the road and toward town. Once she got this delivered she planned on stopping by the diner to talk with Marlena She was working a couple of days a week now. Her men didn’t want her working so many hours.
Once she got to town she found a parking spot and then walked around to her trunk to get the package out.
“Need some help with that, ma’am?”
She heard the voice and immediately recognized it as Caldwell’s. How did she not see him before she opened her trunk? She looked up, and up, finally finding his eyes then having to place her hand over her eyes to shield the sun.
“Oh, hello, Caldwell. I’m good. But thank you,” she said and then leaned forward to get the long well-packaged box out of her trunk. She went to close the trunk but Caldwell did it for her. She gave him a small smile and tried to ignore the pull she had toward the man. He, like his brothers, Monroe and Sheriff Max Gordon, seemed to have an effect on her like no other men ever in her life, but they were so hard, powerful, and tough. She shied away from them every time one of them came around her. She found the three men attractive, but so did most women in town and anyone passing through. She was sure they had their share of women. Hell, Monroe and Caldwell were away on business a lot and the sheriff, well, he oozed sex appeal. She often wished they didn’t intimidate her so much so that she could pick Monroe’s and Caldwell’s brains about business and how they succeeded, but that normal conversation would never happen. She was an introvert, thanks to Tony and her brother.
She started to walk.
“Finish another project?” he asked.
She nodded and they crossed the street together. He opened the post office door for her and she saw there was a little bit of a line.
“Selling to a gallery or was it an eBay order?” he asked.
She looked at him wondering why he even cared. He was just being polite.