“A contractor’s lien? Isn’t that only good if the house sells?”
One tear trailed down my cheek as I nodded once, then gulped down half my drink.
“No! Gretch, there’s got to be something you can do!”
“I don’t know what. I can’t afford the interest rate on a credit card, and I’m not going to ask my parents for the money.”
“What about a home equity loan?”
“Maybe. But between my student loans and daycare costs, I’m not sure the bank will think I’m a good risk.”
Laura spun her barstool to face forward and took a drink from her glass.
“I fucking hate Troy. You should not have to struggle and do this alone.”
“I’d rather it be this way than have to worry about fighting him for custody someday.”
“Maybe you could work out a payment plan with the cabinet company?”
I cocked my head. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
Laura shrugged. “You never know until you ask...”
“I guess. But they’re still going to have to put the cabinets in storage because I’ll have to wait until summer break before I can have them installed.”
“Maybe if you schedule it, they won’t charge you.”
“Maybe, but I doubt it. Their attorney’s letter was pretty aggressive.”
In fact, it’d made me wish I was rich so I could have their stupid cabinets delivered, then smash them with a sledgehammer and send them back to Mitchell Cabinets and Woodworking in little pieces. Because fuck them. They hadn’t needed to escalate things so quickly.
“Okay, you’re going to ask the Universe to fix it, then you’re not going to think about it for the rest of the night so the Universe can do its thing.”
I looked at her skeptically but muttered, “Universe, fix it,” because I had to begrudgingly admit her woo-woo had worked on more than one occasion. “I’m not so sure I can just quit thinking about it, though.”
My BFF shot me a grin. “That’s what alcohol is for.”
I downed the rest of my drink just as Derrick, the hot bar owner, appeared.
“Hey! Good to see you!” He nodded toward my glass. “I see you’re going with something stronger than Coca Cola tonight.”
“Yep,” Laura answered for me. “And they’re all on me, so make sure her glass is never empty.”
I shook my head. “Don’t listen to her. If I drink more than four of these, I’ll be dancing on the bar.”
“So, we’re shooting for five, then,” he said with a wink as he scooped ice into two tumblers then filled them with waterand set them in front of us. “But you should be drinking water, too, otherwise you’ll really hate me in the morning.”
“Thanks,” I replied and gratefully took a sip while he poured the ingredients for another Cosmo into a cocktail shaker.
As he shook the metal container, he looked over at me with a grin. “I’m assuming you’re not driving?”
“No, I’ll take an Uber home if I need to. I could lose my teaching certification if I got a DUI, so there’s no way I’d risk that.”
He set a cold fresh martini glass in front of me, then placed a strainer over the shaker and emptied the pink contents until my glass almost overflowed, then added a lime slice to the rim. Without asking Laura if she wanted more, he poured the rest of the shaker’s contents into her drink.
“Thanks,” she told him with a flirty smile.
“My pleasure.”
