CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
(part three)

Thursday — 12:13 A.M.

Sandy shooed away Tanesha and Heather around nine. She had to force Jill to leave. After receiving a firm promise that Sandy would call her, Jill made Sandy another cup of Tension Tamer tea and left around eleven.

Sandy had laid down to sleep. But the tears seeped out of her eyes.

Overwhelmed, she tossed and turned for what felt like an age before she got up. Sitting at the antique dressing table Aden had bought for her, she peered at her image in the mirror. She could see why Jill was worried.

Her hair was clean but messy. Her skin looked pale and her face drawn. She smiled at herself in the mirror. Even her smile looked faded. She had the stunned look of someone who’d just seen a ghost or witnessed something horrible. Her eyes were blood shot and puffy from unshed tears. Wrinkles sprouted along her forehead.

Looking down at her left hand, she slid off the engagement ring Aden had given her. No point wearing it now.

There was little point to anything anymore. She hadn’t worked in forever. She was sure her clients had moved onto other hairstylists. She couldn’t go back  to her home, the condo that her father bought for her. She couldn’t go out and get drunk because of the baby.

And her knight in shining armor was in jail.

And her knight was in jail.

In jail!

Tears seeped again.

Cleo walked across the dressing table. She rubbed her face against Sandy’s tears. Sandy picked up her black and white cat then set her in her lap. The cat kneaded Sandy’s lap with her nails before jumping off. Cleo hopped onto her favorite perch on the mantle in front of the fireplace.

Sandy and Aden hadn’t talked about him going to jail. It was stupid. She was an idiot for not making him talk about it. But with everything else going on, and two traumatized children to care for, they just hadn’t gotten around to talking about it. She had no idea what he wanted to do with his house, what he wanted to do about the kid’s school, what he wanted to do about… almost everything. Not only was her knight in jail, she had no idea what he wanted her to do with his life.

She only knew she was responsible for his entire life. Samantha Hargreaves gave her Aden’s checkbook and his power of attorney.

No. There was no point in wearing his diamond now.

If he got out of jail, they would decide what to do next. But for now, she needed to focus on all of her responsibilities – Noelle, Nash, her obligation to her father’s crap, Aden’s financial mess, and the baby. That’s assuming she never worked again.

Sandy dropped her head into her hands. It had been a long time since she’d felt this sad and overwhelmed. She wanted to wail, beat her fists against the floor and kick her heels. But that wasn’t going to change anything.

For the next ninety days, she was on her own. That’s assuming everything went well. And Aden did easy time. And he got through testing. And community corrections had space. And a whole bunch of other things she didn’t understand.

She heard a floorboard creak in the hall. There was a sound of a small knuckle against the wood. Sandy got up to open the door.

Noelle stood on the other side.

Denver Cereal continues tomorrow…