That effectively killed whatever appetite Zona had left. She shoved away her plate.
“And you trusted him,” said Gracie.
“He’d been trustworthy. Once. Before...” Her hand fisted, strangling her napkin. “All those times he needed to take extra money from savings for the business. Needed to stock new appliances in the store or get new office equipment. Had to cover for a supplier. Instead, he was covering for himself.” Discovering his raid on the college money opened a financial Pandora’s box filled with credit card advances and payday loans. He’d even used up the line of credit on the house, which had been reserved for that upcoming kitchen remodel that never happened.
If she’d only known what lay ahead, she wouldn’t have signed off on that HELOC when he’d first suggested it. “We probably won’t even use it,” he’d said when she worried about adding that to the second mortgage they’d taken out three years earlier to expand the business. “But better safe than sorry.” She wound up unsafe and very sorry.
“Gambling is like any addiction. It takes over and you end up doing things you would never have done if you weren’t hooked,” said Gracie.
“That last huge withdrawal. I didn’t know until it was too late.” Zona sighed. She would have sobbed, but she was too emotionally exhausted.
“I know. But you’re rid of him now. You can make a new start.”
“Back to square one,” Zona said bitterly, examining her chipped nail polish.
She was lousy at giving herself manicures. But she’d have to get better. Visits to the nail salon were now a thing of the past.
She’d had money in her account after the house sale for about two breaths and now, two years after discovering Gary’s betrayal, all she had left after two marriages was her dishes, her clothes, and her “new” Toyota with a hundred and fifty thousand miles on it. And her Wolfgang Puck pots and pans, ghosts left from better times. She’d sold her furniture. All except Grandma’s brass bed, which had been in the guest room. Which maybe someday she’d use if she ever in her lifetime could afford a house again. She didn’t need the California king she and Gary had slept in anymore. She had no one to share it with. All she had was plenty of nothing thanks to Gary. The human septic tank.
“At least you’ve got a roof over your head,” Gracie pointed out.
“Who moves in with her mom at forty-two?”
“Someone who needs to get money back in her bank account. You’ll be okay. It’s a place to live, and you’ve still got a job.”
And she had her freedom. Gary would probably keep circling the drain, but he wouldn’t be taking her any further down with him.
“It could be worse,” Gracie finished. “It can always be worse.”
“Don’t even say that,” said Zona.
“Nothing more is going to happen,” Gracie assured her.
And then the building began to shake.
LOUISE WAS CHATTINGonline with one of the men who would be going on her singles cruise when she felt the movement under her. At first, she thought she felt unbalanced because of an oncoming migraine. Or was she having a stroke?
But then she knew, it was the earth under her that was unbalanced. This was why her fur baby, Darling, had been whining all morning. And here she’d thought he just wanted more attention. Darling’s doggy senses had picked up on the quake long before Louise had become aware of it.
With a squeak, she pushed her chair away from her kitchen table. “Run, Darling,” she cried, and raced into the hallway with her dog by her side. The unsteady floor beneath her shifted and jiggled like a county fair fun house, making it a challenge to keep her balance. It was a good thing she did yoga.
She slid to her bottom, pressed herself against a wall, and hugged Darling, who whimpered and licked her face. People were always saying you should hide under a desk or table, but the idea of her kitchen table collapsing on top of her freaked her out.
She heard a crash coming from the living room, a sure sign that her fancy glass lamp had fallen over. “Oh, Lord, don’t let me die,” she prayed as Darling whined. “I’m wearing my old underwear.”
Another moment and the shaking settled down and she let out her breath. Darling gave another doggy whimper.
“It’s okay,” she assured him. “We’re fine.” Just another day in paradise.
Louise hadn’t always been a California girl. She’d gotten married and become an import from Central Florida’s Lake County. That was years ago, but she’d never gotten used to earthquakes. They were so... unsettling. Things had never gotten too unsettled in Glendora, but reading about the damage those quakes did to other parts of the state, the lives they claimed, had embedded fear at the back of her brain.
Harold, when he was alive, used to remind her often that there was no such thing as a safe place to live. Something or someone would get you anywhere. She supposed he was right.
She waited for the aftershock. It came a few minutes later asonly a slight jiggle, like a giant somewhere was simply turning over in bed. It looked like it hadn’t been a big enough quake for anything more, for which she was thankful.
“We’re okay now,” she assured her dog and herself, and Darling barked his agreement and licked her face again.
She texted both her daughter and her granddaughter to make sure nothing had fallen on them.
