“What are you going to do?”
“Well, I need to decide whether I’m staying here in Manning Grove or going somewhere else. But I don’t know how to do that after losing everything. Even if I had money, I can’t buy anything because it’ll be seized!”
She had even lost her damn dignity.
Cassie bit back a frustrated sob. Heather already knew all of this, it was why she so generously offered up her home when their parents refused to help.
At least temporarily.
And it wasn’t like her parents owed her anything. They didn’t, but still... If Daisy was ever in a bind, she wouldn’t slam the door in her daughter’s face.
But she also didn’t know if she wanted to settle in Manning Grove. From what she saw so far, it seemed nice, but she questioned living in a town and raising her daughter where a motorcycle gang existed.
She didn’t know much about MC’s but from what she did know, they were normally a rough and violent lot. She’d seen the Hell’s Angels and the Pagans in the news before. She knew gangs like that were nothing to mess with.
And Cassie didn’t want to live in fear. If it was just her, she could handle it, but she had Daisy who didn’t fear anything.
“Cass, we love it here. The schools are good. It’s a great town to raise Daisy in. Find a job, and once you put away enough money, find a place of your own.”
“I’m afraid any money I’ll earn they’ll seize.”
Heather shrugged. “So, don’t open a bank account yet.”
“Well, what do I do with a paycheck?”
“Cash it.”
“If they don’t garnish it first to pay back his debts. I could end up working for free. And that wouldn’t help me get my life back in order.”
“Oooooor you could find a job that pays you in cash until your divorce is final or that little situation is settled.”
“It’s not a little situation and I can’t get a divorce until he signs the damn papers.”
“Right. And therein lies the problem.” Heather groaned. “I’m so sorry, sis. God, I loved Dennis, too. I thought you two were perfect for each other.”
“You weren’t the only one. I feel so stupid for not seeing what was right in front of my face.”
“It wasn’t in front of your face, Cass, so don’t blame yourself. As soon as you realized there was a major problem, you kicked his ass out.”
“I should’ve sold the house immediately.” She didn’t because she needed a place to raise Daisy, and while she discovered the one problem, she didn’t know about the even bigger one.
“You didn’t know.”
“Fuck,” Cassie bit off. “How could I be so blind?”
“Those types of people know how to hide things well. You’re not the first wife to be duped and you won’t be the last. At least you and Daisy have a roof over your head, and we love having you here.”
“For now.”
Heather shrugged again. “For as long as you need.”
“I’ll go out and start searching for a job.”
“It’s going to be tough since jobs aren’t plentiful up here, especially ones that pay under the table. I doubt the Amish are hiring since they usually raise their own workforce.”
“Maybe Daisy and I can go panhandle at the center of town.” Cassie laughed. “She could talk anyone into throwing us a spare dollar.”
Heather laughed, too. “Not sure the police would like that since they do their best to keep this a family-friendly, wholesome place.”
“Yeah, and Daisy would be sent up river for resisting arrest. I could see her running from them and screaming ‘fuck the police!’ at the top of her little lungs.”
Heather bent over, howling.
Cassie was laughing so hard, she was crying. But it felt good. It had been a long time since she’d been able to simply laugh like that.
Most of the time she wanted to just sit in a corner and cry. Normally, she was not the self-pity type of person.
“Mommmmaaa.”
Cassie wiped the tears away and saw her daughter standing in the open doorway. “Yes, baby?”
“What’s so funny?”
“Your momma told a joke,” Heather answered Daisy, moving toward Cassie. “We’ll be right in.”
Daisy harrumphed like an eighty-year-old woman and disappeared back inside, slamming the door shut behind her.
Heather jerked her into a hug. And while Cassie appreciated her sister’s support, that hug made the happy tears turn sad.
“It’ll all work out, I promise,” Heather murmured into her hair. “There’s nowhere to go now but up.”
Cassie sure as hell hoped so.
Chapter Three
The front door buzzer sounded and both dogs tore from reclining at Judge’s feet out to the front of the shop in zero-to-sixty seconds flat.
“Yo! Just me,” came the holler. Not that it was needed, the dogs’ barks were enough of an indicator who was walking in. Right now, they were whining and yipping. If it had been a stranger, their barks would be more serious.