Wild Tendy (IceCats 2)

Ms. Pearce,

Your check, #2809, was not cashed, as your account was paid in full on the ninth of the month. We thank you for paying off your account sooner than we had discussed, and we are returning your check to you so you can destroy it. We wish you well.

Account #18083: PAID IN FULL. ACCOUNT CLOSED.

I think I’m having a stroke. My heart is in my throat, closing my airway and suffocating me. My mouth is dry, and soon, my vision is blurry.

“What in the ever-loving fuck!”

“What? I live here.”

I glance at Callie, and she’s still clutching my laptop while glaring at me. I turn the letter toward her, crumpling it with my hand. “The account is paid in full.”

She looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “I need more than that.”

“Mom’s bill. Paid.” I’m hyperventilating. I lean on the counter as she snatches the paper from me, and when I hear her gasp, I assume she got to the paid in full part. I keep blinking, trying to make sense of how this happened. After I recover…somewhat, I stand up straight and pull my phone out of my pocket. I dial the company’s number and, when they answer, demand to know who made the payment. Callie watches as I yell into the phone. “I need to know who paid this.”

“Ma’am, it says the account was paid in full with cash.”

“Cash!” I screech. “Who in the hell has $300,000 lying around? I sure as fuck don’t!”

“Ma’am, I don’t know. We took the money and applied it to the account they requested.”

“Who was it?” I roar. “I want a name.”

I hear typing, and I just know the lady is about to hang up on me. “There was no name left.”

Why do people just take money without getting a fucking name?

I slam my phone down, and before I slam my head too, I make sure I didn’t crack the screen of my phone. One of these days, I will, and then I’ll be really screwed. Or probably not… My fairy godmother from Walt Disney World will just buy me a new one! Or hell, Santa will bring me one. Easter Bunny might have one up his ass! “What the hell is happening?”

“I mean—”

“No, ma’am. I don’t want you to be all ‘this is great’ or a ‘this is a blessing.’ This kind of shit does not happen!”

Callie’s eyes widen, and slowly she shuts her mouth, looking away. I don’t snap at her often, but right now, I can’t help it.

“I need to know who is doing this.”

The door opens, and Callie turns just as I cut my eyes to the entrance. “Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” My sperm donor crosses his arms over his chest, and I let my head drop to the side while staring at Callie. She looks back at me, and I hold out my hand to him. “See? Do you see?”

Without being asked, Callie heads toward the back, but I know she’s not gone. She’s within earshot to hear everything since she’s a spy disguised as a gymnast. Hell, I might as well send her out to investigate; she could figure out who is sending this money.

“Listen, I don’t have time for this—”

He holds up his palms. “Just want to talk.”

I exhale very dramatically. I don’t want to talk. “What?”

I hadn’t noticed he was holding a manila folder until he hands it to me. “Here.”

I take it, and my hands are shaking. Here it is. The papers that take Callie from me. I open the folder reluctantly as he says, “I talked to Callie a couple days ago.”

My eyes widen, and I’m about to fly off the handle when Callie’s voice comes from the back. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to kill me.”

I close my eyes to keep in the tears. I can’t lose her. I take a few cleansing breaths before I reopen my eyes to focus on the paperwork.

“I’m leaving town for good this weekend, and I asked if she wanted to go. She told me no—she wouldn’t and couldn’t leave you.”

I stop reading to meet his pain-filled eyes. He looks clean and sober, and that surprises me.

“I haven’t done right by her or you since losing Willow, and I apologize for that. There is nothing here for me anymore. I’ve realized that, and all I do is hurt you two. So, I’m leaving, and those are the papers to make it official that I’m not Callie’s dad anymore. She’s better off as yours than she ever was being mine. She’s the one who said that. She’s the one who said if I wanted to apologize, this was how to do it.”

Talk about emotional overload. A sob leaves my throat, and I bend over, pressing my hands into my knees as I try to draw in breaths. This can’t be happening. Is it real? I look up, and he’s still standing there, watching me with no emotion whatsoever. I want to think this man loved me, us, at one time, but it’s hard to believe he did. Ever. I feel Callie come up beside me, wrapping her arms around me, and I cuddle her hard into my chest. I cup the back of her head, holding her as I cry.