Free Bun for Your Life by Karoline Barrett Page A

warm, and tears welled up in my eyes. I was so going to miss him. It’s not as if I was moving that far away, but I also didn’t exactly embrace change well. “Because. We got married too young, we grew apart, and then you, and I quote, ‘had strong feelings’ for Brittany the Bimbette and wanted to divorce me so you could sleep with her.”
    Looking embarrassed, he ran a hand through his hair. “Oh, yeah. I was such an idiot. We only lasted two weeks.”
    The worst two weeks of my life. Luckily, I was over all that now. I looked up into his eyes and my breath caught. I hoped he wasn’t going to kiss me. He had that intense, misty look in his eyes that means a kiss is about to follow. I hadn’t forgotten. But not in front of the movers traipsing in and out. Never mind he belonged to Lola. I couldn’t kiss him. I refused to kiss him. I pulled my hand away. “Now you’re in love with Lola.”
    He smiled. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll miss you, that’s all. If you need anything, call. Anytime.”
    â€œI will.”
    â€œI guess I’ll let you finish up. Come in and say good-bye before you go.”
    Another thing at which I am abysmally awkward: significant good-byes. I glanced out the living room window. The movers were milling around the truck. “Can we just do it now, Bri? It’s not like we won’t ever see each other. We’re friends, right?”
    He drew me into a hug and leaned his chin on my head. “Of course we are. That’s not going to change.”
    Tears dripped down my cheeks. So ridiculous. I didn’t even know what I was crying about.
    â€œI love you, you know that,” he said.
    I nodded and hugged him, using his shirt as a tissue. “Me too.”
    He pulled away and grinned at me. “Don’t cry.”
    â€œI have allergies.” It was the only thing I could think of. We both knew it was a lie. “Thanks for letting me live here.”
    â€œNo problem. I feel bad about asking you to leave. I want you to believe me.”
    I smiled at him, so he’d know there were no hard feelings. “You do what you have to do. I love my new place. It’s perfect for me. I hope everything works out with Lola.”
    â€œThanks, Moll. Me too. I’ve learned a lot about relationships since you and I were married.” He backed away. “Take care. Text me when you’re all settled, now that you’ve found your phone.”
    I nodded. “As soon as I get a new battery for it. Take care.” I watched him leave. I went into the bathroom and grabbed some toilet paper to wipe my eyes. I looked in the mirror. Lovely. I wasn’t a pretty crier. My face was all splotchy and my eyes were red. I hoped I could get myself together before the auction tonight. I hoped I’d have energy to even go after unpacking all my stuff.

Chapter Seven
    I spent the rest of the morning in my new apartment directing the movers where to put my furniture and boxes. Most of the boxes went into the kitchen, which, for an apartment, was large, with a nice big window above a double white ceramic sink. I love cooking, so I have a lot of cookbooks, utensils, pans, a couple of food processors, etc.
    The rest of the boxes held my clothes, books, CDs, movie videos, dishes, silverware, and stuff from the bathroom. I’m not big on knickknacks, so I didn’t have a lot of those. I did have a lot of artwork to hang on the walls. I’m very partial to photography and watercolors.
    â€œHello, dear? Are you in here, Molly? Yoo-hoo!”
    I stopped unpacking one of the boxes in the kitchen and hurried to the front door. “Dottie, hi. Come in.”
    She held a plate and a Thermos in her hand. “That’s not necessary, dear. It’s lunchtime. I was afraid you didn’t have your dishes and glasses unpacked yet, so I brought you a ham sandwich, the chocolate chip cookies I promised you, an