Just One Thing (The Alexanders 6)

“Right now, I’m just focused on keeping my head above water. Not on a guy with a sexy ass.”

It was no wonder that her ex-husband had looked so smug when they signed the divorce papers. Don had willingly given her the house and now she understood why. He knew she hadn’t worked outside the home in years and wouldn’t be able to keep up the payments.

If she didn’t get a job that paid well soon, she and her children would be out on the street.

Okay, that was a little dramatic. No matter how bad things got, her friends would never let her end up on the street.

Mari sighed. “Do you need money? I might be able to help.”

“No. I’m going to figure this out on my own.”

There was a light knock on the door before it opened. She smiled when she saw who it was. As usual, her closest friend always seemed to know when Katie needed her.

“Let me call you back, Mari. Someone’s at the door.”

Her sister grumbled. “This conversation isn’t over.”

“I love you, too.” Katie hung up just as her friend Ridley stepped into the room.

Ridley Wells Alexander was married to her neighbor Jackson. Despite being a famous producer, he was also a really nice guy and (when she’d first met him) a single father to two young boys. She’d been thrilled to see him fall head over heels for Ridley when she came to town. It wasn’t hard to understand why. Ri was as sweet as could be.

“Hi, are you busy?” Ridley’s eyes scanned over the pile of envelopes spread across the table.

Katie’s first instinct was to hide them, especially since so many carried the embarrassing PAST DUE stamp. However, she’d been hiding how bad things were for months. At first she’d thought that Don would come back or grow a conscience and pay his child support. However as the months passed and things got worse and worse, she’d started ignoring things out of self-preservation.

But it was past time for that now. She couldn’t bury her head in the sand any longer because before long the bill collectors were going to come and take that, too.

“I’m just going through some bills. Come on in. Do you want some lemonade?”

Katie started to rise but Ri waved her off and then settled carefully in the dining room chair next to her, one hand resting on her rounded belly.

“I’m just fine. Please don’t get up. I’ve already had plenty to eat and drink today. Probably too much.”

“You look beautiful as usual,” Katie replied as she always did when Ri groused about her pregnancy weight gain. She remembered all too well feeling like a cow when she’d been pregnant with each of her sons but Ri hadn’t even gained that much weight.

Ridley’s twin sister was a well-known model and since they were identical, Ri had the same long, willowy frame. The twins were biracial so they always had a golden, tanned glow year round and they both had long, curly dark hair. Today Ri had bundled hers on top of her head in a sloppy bun that somehow still looked amazing.

Katie patted her hair. She’d pulled her shoulder length tight curls up into her usual bun. Don had hated it when she cut her hair but with two young kids, it had seemed like the practical solution. She glanced over at Ri who was the stepmother to two kids and pregnant with another and somehow still woke up looking like a goddess. She sighed.

“So what is all this?”

Ridley picked up one of the envelopes and then glanced over at Katie. When she didn’t make a move to stop her, Ri thumbed through the stack of bills, her sharp eyes taking everything in. When she got to the bottom, she let out a soft sigh.

“Oh, Katie. How bad is it?”

“Bad. I’ve already burned through all my savings and we’re barely scraping by each month. Honestly, I’m not sure what to do.”

Ridley looked like she wanted to say something but clamped her lips shut. Both Jackson and Ridley had offered her financial help before but Katie had quickly shut that down. She wasn’t anyone’s charity case and besides, that would only be a temporary solution, anyway. If she took their money, things would be okay for a few months but then what would happen after that ran out? She’d be right back in the same position. No. She had to figure out how to earn her way out of this mess on her own.

“I’m so sorry. We had no idea things were this bad,” Ridley said.

“Yeah.”

Th

ere was really nothing else to say so Katie gathered the envelopes up and wrapped them in the rubber band she’d been using to keep them together. She glanced over at the digital clock in the kitchen. The boys would be getting home from school soon and she needed to be ready to meet them at the bus stop.

“There has to be something we can do,” Ridley said. “The same skills that relate to taking care of children have to be translatable to other industries.”