“Schedule me in?”
“Yes. Usually I only see a client once a week, but I can see you need twice weekly visits.”
“You’re not paying me in cash?”
“No, you need my services, just as much as I need your protection.”
It took everything he had not to laugh. The woman had no intention of paying him in cash from the get-go. Reluctantly, he was beginning to become intrigued by the woman.
“You said you charge twenty for a session. How does forty dollars a week average into the five hundred you’re going to owe me?”
“I’m charging you two-hundred and fifty dollars each session. I’ve never had a client who needs me more.”
He couldn’t hold back his laughter.
“Lady, you’re a piece of work. I suppose if I remind you that I would do it for free, it wouldn’t make a difference.”
Zoey stood up, reaching for her crutches that she had propped next to her. “No, it wouldn’t.”
The decision to accept the offer was in his hands. He could accept it or stick to his and Ice’s original plan of hanging out in the lobby. It wasn’t really a choice, and she knew that. That was why she was preparing to leave.
“You win. Anything else?” he asked, rising from the sofa.
“No, the rest is up for you to achieve.”
“God, save me,” Stump muttered, opening the door for her to go through.
“What did you say?”
“I said I’m glad one of us is happy.”
14
Dear Mom,
Why haven’t you called? I’m worried about you. Dad says you call him all the time. Why won’t you call me? I just want to hear your voice. I want to tell you about my new school and the friends I’ve made.
We’ve been in this town for the longest time I can remember. Every night I go to sleep, I expect to wake up in another bed, in another state. I thought Dad would make me leave when school was out, but he seems happier here than I’ve ever seen him.
He’s getting married again. At first, I was really scared for her, but I can tell he really likes her. Her name is Tracy, and she is really nice to Dad, but not so nice that she lets him boss her around. They don’t argue as badly as he did with the others. She asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. I don’t want to, but Dad told me to. You won’t be mad at me, will you?
I’m in seventh grade this year. I met Jacob last year, and he’s in three of my classes this year. He is so cute, Mom. I really like him a lot. He asked me to go to the movies with him, but Dad won’t let me. It’s okay. We still sit at lunch together.
I’m putting a picture of us in the envelope for you to see. Jacob took the picture on his phone and got it developed when I told him I wanted to show you how cute he was. You should have seen him. He turned as red as his hair.
I wish you were here. I think you would like him, and he would like you, too. You don’t think I’m too young to go on a movie date, do you? When you do talk to Dad, could you tell him that it’s okay with you? I really want to go, and Kristy’s parents let her date, and she likes Jacob a lot, too.
When you do write, can you send me a picture of you? It’s been so long since I’ve seen you that I’m afraid I’m forgetting what you look like.
Write back.
xoxoxo
Love,
Zoey
Zoey yawned tiredly. It was the first day since she started her business that she was having a difficult time finding the impetuousness to begin her day. The thought of another day of Stump staring holes at her was such a downer to her energy.
That he was never going to like her chaffed. She was a likable person. She was kind to everyone, and that included six-foot-something males who treated her as if she were several cards short of a full deck.
Lying on her bed, she was intent on restoring the positive energy that had repeatedly been zapped by Stump, whoever was stalking her, and her fall. Deciding to cleanse the negativity around herself, she closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths and imagining a big pink balloon coming down from the ceiling until it was suspended over her.
Searching within herself, she found the negative reactions she wanted to set free, and like plucking weeds from a garden, she imagined herself bending down to pick the weeds that had grown every time Stump had called her a kook or crazy. Satisfied that she had gotten them all, she moved on to the ones that had grown at the fear of someone stalking her. Making sure she had gotten all those roots, she moved on to the pain she experienced with her knee.