Love Me or Grieve Me by Diane Vallere

Author:Diane Vallere [Vallere, Diane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781954579408
Publisher: Polyester Press

NINETEEN

Of the various pressing issues I woke to on Monday morning, one met me face to face. Wojo, Tex’s dog. He pranced over the covers next to me. He was a little guy, half the size of Rocky thanks to the chihuahua in his mix, but in some ways, he was twice as feisty. As used to having him around as I was, I couldn’t keep him indefinitely, and it seemed immature to wait for Tex to make the first move.

After getting ready, I let the dogs out for a morning run and called Tex. It was quarter to eight.

“Hey,” he answered. His voice was low and gravelly, as if “Hey” was the first word he’d uttered today.

“Hi,” I replied. I let the moment breathe before speaking again. “Wojo’s in the yard with Rocky. I can drop him off this morning if you want.”

“Wojo,” he said. After another beat of silence, he said, “Can you watch him until tonight? I’ve got a busy day booked.”

Relief flooded over me. Maybe we just needed to talk, to clear the air. “I’ll bring him to your place after I close the store. Six thirty or seven-ish.”

“Sounds good.”

The phone went silent again and I wasn’t sure if he had more to say or if he was giving me a chance to talk. “I should go. I’ve got a busy day too.”

“Okay. Thanks, Night.”

I didn’t have time to sit around thinking about our argument if I could even call it that. Was it technically an argument when the point of contention was what felt like a proposal? Wasn’t that what Tex had implied? And if it was, had I turned him down?

I packed up the dogs and drove to the bank. Pete Cross, the small business loan officer who managed my account, was in his cubicle. I told a greeter I needed to speak to him, the message was relayed, and a few minutes later, we were face to face. He stared at me as if he’d seen a ghost.

“I’m not dead,” I said. Blunt? Yes. Necessary? Definitely. “My obit was a mistake. The newspapers printed a retraction.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I had the bank send a Ficus tree.”

“And I thank you for that. It was a lovely gesture, and it’s now in the windows of my studio, though why you would send a condolence tree to my place of business if you thought I was deceased is beyond me.”

“That’s the address that was listed in the paper.”

Of course, it was.

“I won’t take up too much of your time, but this whole thing has affected my business. My credit’s been canceled, and—”

“Identity theft is running at an all-time high. People get names from the newspapers and try to establish credit. Sometimes we don’t discover it until it’s too late.”

“What happens in those cases?”

“We write off the debt. It’s almost impossible to catch these people. It’s better to head them off before they can act.”

“What does that mean for me?”

Pete wriggled his mouse and then tapped and clicked a series of times until he had my account on his screen.

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