“Who’s the spook?” Samuel asks.
“Ignore him. Would you like anything?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Tea?”
I ring a bell. One of the staff girls comes in. I ask for tea and water. She leaves.
“Servants,” he comments. “Nice.”
“Staff,” I correct. “Now, Samuel. I want to talk about this problem we’re having.”
“I bet you do.”
“And I want to tell you that you’re a fucking asshole, Dad,” Amber says.
I laugh and put a hand on her knee. “You’re getting ahead of yourself.”
“I know. I can’t wait.” She struggles to her feet. “I’m almost crippled because of you. And this whole marriage thing was just your way of ruining my life. And then the ads and the morning shows? You’re the worst, most vile piece of shit ever to exist in this world. I never want to see you again.”
He smiles in her face. “You done?”
“I’m done. I hope you choke on your own vomit and die.”
“Nice,” he says.
She sits back down. I pat her leg.
The staff girl comes back. She places tea in front of Samuel and waters in front of me and Amber. I sip mine as she leaves and Samuel just smiles.
“Shall we talk business?” he asks.
“I own the land you want.”
He leans back, frowning.
“I don’t believe you.”
“I bet you don’t. But it’s true.” I snap my fingers and the girl returns with a folder. I pass it over to Samuel. “Go ahead.”
He takes it and goes through the documents. Then he laughs, amazed, and closes it. “Okay. This looks real.”
“I bought that property. It’s mine now.”
“How’d you manage that? Dave was a stubborn old asshole.”
“I talked to his son. Apparently, they both realized that the marriage thing was insane and backed down. Amazing what can happen when you talk to people and treat them like humans instead of like things.” Amber smiles at him.
He laughs and shrugs. “Okay. Looks like you got leverage now. What do you want?”
“I want you to do two things. First, I want you to run an ad campaign stating that you were lying about everything. I want you to spend as much as you spent on the first one.”
He snorts. “No way.”
“Second, I want you to agree to a restraining order. You’ll never be within two hundred feet of Amber again.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“No, I’m not,” she says. “I’m nothing to you now.”
He leans back and crosses his arms. “All right. Say I do those things. Then you’ll just give me that land?”
“Yes,” I say.
“No other strings? No money?”
“Aside from my two requests, no. I told you, there are things more important than money. But I want final approval over the ads, and my lawyers will draw up the restraining order.”
He eyes me for a long moment then nods. “All right. Make it happen.”
“Good.” I stand and put out my hand.
He reaches and we shake. I pull him close and lean in to whisper in his ear.
“If I ever see you in person again, Samuel, I’m going to break your leg just like you broke Amber’s. Do you understand?” I crush his hand as hard as I can.
He looks back at me. “Let go.”
I let go and smile. “Johnson there will see you out.”
He walks away, clearly shaken. He looks back.
“I get what I want,” he says. “I don’t care about anything else. I got what I wanted.”
“That’s right,” Amber says. “You got it. And I hope you die alone on that land, because you’re scum.”
He stares back for a long moment before leaving the room. Johnson escorts him out.
I turn to Amber and grab her. I pull her against me and hug her tight. She lets out one sob, a hard one. I hold her tight then kiss her. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. It’s over. It’s over.” I kiss her hard and she looks up at me. “I love you, Amber.”
She looks surprised. But she shouldn’t be.
She’s known. I think I’ve known for a while now.
“You… you love me?”
“I love you.”
We kiss again. “I love you too.”
I hold her tight. I hold her tight against my body and smell her hair and breathe her in.
That man is gone. The nightmare is over.
“Think you can move to Virginia?” I ask, laughing a little.
“Yeah,” she says and looks at me. Her face breaks out into a smile and she looks so much lighter, so free. “Yeah, I think I can.”
We kiss and I hold her hands in mine.23AmberOne Year LaterI turn down a long, tree-shaded lane and slow my SUV to a stop. I idle for a second next to the curb before pulling into the parking lot. I get out and walk up to the clinic’s door, taking the steps two at a time.
The receptionist gives me a warm smile. “If it isn’t my favorite Amber,” she says.
“Hi, Shaylene.” I lean against the front desk. “Is the doctor in?”