When Love Runs Dry novel · Chapter 4 of 32

Chapter 4: Signed Without Reading

"Yes," I said.

Tobias stared at me.

The analysts stared at him. Delaney stared at the paper.

"Not in here," I said, and walked out past him into the yard.

He followed me. So did everyone else.

Nolan and his two crewmen were still by their truck, loading a toolbox.

They stopped loading.

Tobias caught up with me by my car and shook the paper in my face.

"My lawyer called me at seven this morning. Seven. He said, congratulations on the divorce, Tobias. I said what divorce."

"The one you signed."

"I never signed anything."

"June 3," I said. "Breakfast on the terrace. The foundation gala papers with the yellow flags."

He went still.

"You signed every flag. The agreement was in the middle. You were on the phone the whole time."

"That's a lie."

"Turn to the last page."

He didn't want to. He did anyway.

There it was. His big slanted signature. The date in my handwriting beside it.

"You were saying 'babe, I'll be there by noon,'" I said. "You didn't look down once."

One of the analysts made a small noise and turned it into a cough.

Tobias's face went dark red from the collar up.

"This is a trick. You tricked me."

"I handed you a pen. You've never read anything I gave you. Not one thing in five years."

"Get in the car."

"No."

"Meredith. Get in the car. We'll go home and fix this."

"I don't live there."

He took a breath and changed his voice. The deal voice. The one he used on boards.

"Fine. You want the house? Take the house. I'll put it in your name. Come home and we'll talk about everything."

"I don't want the house."

"Then what do you want?"

Every person in that yard leaned in a little.

"One thing," I said. "Sell the water company to the town. At what you paid for it."

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