Free Yours for the Taking by Robin Kaye

city and start your family. I’m just expediting it.” She pulled her hand from beneath Tina’s. “And I am happy, damn it. Don’t I look happy?” When Tina gave her a skeptical look, she continued. “I have everything I’ve ever wanted.”
    “Oh, yeah, that’s why you married a stranger and moved into this monstrosity of a house. Because you’re oh so happy and have such a full life.”
    “I have the life I always wanted and it’s a beautiful house.”
    “It’s beautiful, but Gina, you gotta admit it’s way over-the-top. It looks like something out of those mansions on One Life to Live . As a matter-of-fact, your life could be a story on a soap opera.”
    Tina didn’t know the half of it, which was something Gina thanked God for every day. Tina had been too young to remember, Gina had been old enough to remember but too young to stop it. She closed her eyes and tried to feel hopeful. It wasn’t working.
    Bringing her mind back to the present, Gina chose to ignore the soap opera comment because she’d spent many a night lying in bed thinking the exact same thing and wondering if she’d wake up and find herself in some kind of reality TV show. Things like this just didn’t happen to women like her—the illegitimate daughter of a whore and a drug addict. She’d spent the last month looking for the catch in the deal but didn’t see one. “I’ll admit the house isn’t my style but it’s an investment.” She’d always seen it as an investment in both their futures, and with a whole lot of luck, maybe Rafael’s too. Now that Tina shot part of that down, there was no reason why it shouldn’t be an investment in she and Rafael’s futures. “Once I sell it, I’ll buy a little place that fits me and invest the rest. Still, I’d be happier if you’d let me—”
    Tina cut her off with a wave of the hand. “Sam and I are happy doing things our way. If he knew you’d even offered—”
    “Oh, he’ll know. I’ll tell him myself. Tina, I always thought I was the stubborn one but now I’m beginning to wonder. You’re cutting off your nose to spite your face. It’s insane not to take the money even if you want to pay it back with interest. Now is the perfect time to buy a house in a nice, safe neighborhood. The real estate market is down; you’ll be able to buy so much more of a house than you could have two years ago, and the interest rates are still so low. They’re only going to go up, just wait. Maybe Sam will be able to talk some sense into you.”
    Tina pushed her plate away. “Ha! A lot you know.”
    “Fine, then at least get out of your place and move in here. There’s tons of room and you and Sam can live rent free for as long as I own it.”
    “You’re doing it again.”
    “What?”
    “Not cutting the apron strings. Besides, don’t you think you should ask your husband about that?”
    Gina picked up her plate and Tina’s and carried them to the sink. “What does he have to do with anything?”
    “He’s only the half owner of this place, until the divorce, that is.”
    Gina shrugged. “So, it’s not as if he lives here. It sounds as if he’s spending most of his time in” —she snapped her fingers twice before remembering it— “Idaho.”
    “I can’t believe you have a hard time remembering where your husband went.”
    “I told you we’re married in name only. We went to the closing together so I could sign the documents. I moved in, then he went his way and I went mine.” Gina didn’t bother telling her little sister about that kiss Ben planted on her before he’d left. She refused to think about that. She’d all but erased it from her memory bank, or she was trying to at least. The only reason she could come up with was the way the cabby was looking at her. Still, it didn’t make sense that Ben would notice or even care.
    “What are you thinking about that has you blushing?”
    “Oh, that’s a good one, Tina. I don’t blush.”
    Tina leaned against the