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Denial rose up as Roxanna pressed her fingers to her tehtened her spine She was not like her na than stupid

More of a thief than an irresponsible idiot about finances

And she, daughter Roxanna Kent, was going to stop being a financially irresponsible idiot

First things on her list for toet her business insurance reinstated, pay her electric bill, get herself in good standing with her suppliers, and then see if Tessa or Darcy could cover for her while she went to the DMV for her driver’s license, and the courthouse for a new social security card

In the ether and stood so she could file as needed When that was done, the final stack with her profit and loss reportsshe hated the absoluteher accounts so she knew exactly where she stood and what cash she s was currently her top priority Even if she’d much rather take a bottle of wine upstairs to drown her sorrows for a night

“Just frickin’ get it done,” she muttered as she sat at the desk and turned on the coram with her password taped on the underside of the mouse pad

Two hours later, each beat of her heart was followed by an answering throb in her head that even pepper sense of her P&L than when she started, and the frustrating lass of wine She stared at the ative nulass of wine

When her stolanced at the clock A double take confir past six pm She’d been stuck in the office for hours But clearly, she wasn’t going to get any further with a headache and an empty stomach, so she shut the computer down

Taking another twenty froister to order herself some dinner, she tucked it in her pocket, and went to select a leftover cupcake and a bottle of her favorite Riesling from the Whitewater Hill Vineyards in Grand Junction display in her shop

With her newly purchased bag of lingerie hooked on her wrist, she pulled the door closed and headed upstairs It was quiet when she keyed in the code to enter the apartht be otherwise, she had no idea

She was used to being alone, and Loyal being gone was a good thing—a really good thing

Ignoring the contradictory heavy sensation in her chest, she set her things on the counter and found a wine key in the drawer to open her bottle Then she poured herself a full-to-the-tippy-top glass and took a big s Notes of tangerine and liue as the liquid slid down her throat to waraze strayed toward the bedroom with her next drink, and her pulsed ticked up

Wine in hand, she sloalked through the living roolanced into the bathrooht, it seeulped a s to drown out the ridiculous surge of disappointment when she saw the empty bed

She tilted her head slightly when she noticed the uneven coe of the sheet hanging down crookedly along the mattress instead of neatly tucked in Loyal had made the bed, kind of, but she’d bet her whole bottle of wine he hadn’t bothered to change the sheets

“Probably doesn’t even kno to do such a rown up with maid service He’d probably had one in Texas, too