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“I can’t imagine her causing so much trouble. What does she want?”
His grandma came back in from the garage with a couple of boxes. She started arranging the items into them. On one, she wrotedonate. On the other, she wrote his mom’s name.
“Orchid keeps coming back for more money,” Kane said.
“Yikes,” Sariah said.
“I wasn’t exactly a cheapskate in the divorce either. I made sure she left with a sizeable sum of money. But apparently, it’s not enough for her.”
“What does she want all the money for?”
“I think her new boyfriend has been pressuring her to get more funds from me. From what I understand, he’s in financial trouble.”
“You don’t owe that guy anything,” Sariah said with a frown and anger dripping from her words.
“No, I don’t,” he agreed.
“The entire thing makes me sick,” his grandmother said. “You don’t owe that gold digger another penny.”
The problem was, he might owe her quite a bit more if she proved this baby was his. He didn’t mind paying his fair share, but he didn’t want her to make excuses, saying the baby needed financial support when it was really her boyfriend who wanted it for whatever sketchy business he was involved in.
“You’re way too nice to her, if you want my opinion,” his grandma said. “That cheating woman still hasn’t gotten what she deserved.”
“Orchid cheated?” Sariah asked.
“That was why we split up,” Kane said.
Her eyes were wide as she looked at him. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
He hadn’t talked to Sariah much about his divorce. It was painful to let her know how much he’d been through. He’d been a fool to ever let Sariah go. Kane had begged her to move to New York with him, but she hadn’t wanted to leave Maple Creek. Sariah was a small-town girl through and through. There was no way a long-distance relationship would have worked out for them. He didn’t want her to put her life on hold for him either. She deserved to live a normal life where she could be free to date around without being tied to a guy who wasn’t around much.
“It’s in the past now,” Kane said. “Sometimes you have to learn lessons the hard way.”
“What lesson did you learn?” Sariah’s cheeks reddened. “I’m sorry. You probably don’t want to tell me all your personal business.”
“No. It’s fine,” he said. “I’ve learned how to be a better judge of character.”
“Because he misjudged Orchid. Big time,” his grandmother piped up. “But I knew from the beginning she was no good. She was only after his money.”
“She’s not wrong,” Kane said.
“That’s crazy,” Sariah said. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out better for you, Kane.”
“I’m not sorry,” Kane said. “I stopped loving her long ago. Our marriage was dead long before we ever split up. That was probably why she cheated on me.”
“That doesn’t excuse her behavior,” his grandma said.
“No, it doesn’t,” Sariah agreed. “Cheating is never okay. If you want to move on, then break off the relationship first. It’s not rocket science.”
“But Orchid wanted the money, remember,” his grandma said. “If she’d broken it off, she wouldn’t have had access to the same level of wealth.”
“That’s disgusting,” Sariah said. “Sorry, Kane. I know she was your wife.”
“Hey, you’re not saying anything I don’t agree with. I’m past trying to defend or rationalize her bad behavior.” And it was a good thing he’d moved on. He would be in a lot more pain if he were still hung up on Orchid. For a few moments, they worked in silence.
“Have you heard anything about the new mall?” Sariah asked. “That town meeting is tonight coming up this week if you still want to go.”
“Actually, I have been looking into it,” Kane said. “I found out where they want to build it.”