Seasons of Sorrow by C. C. Wood Read Free Book Online Page A

squeezed with a steel vise.
    Brandy put a hand on her back. “Do you want to leave?”
    Slowly, Charlotte shook her head. She knew this first time would be the hardest but she had to do it. Brandy was right. There wouldn’t be someone around to do things for her forever. Already the phone calls and people coming by with food were occurring less and less. Charlotte knew it was because no one wanted to face that it could happen to them, that their children were mortal too. And she couldn’t blame them. It was a hard lesson.
    “No, let’s get the rest of what we need and get out of here,” she said.
    After selecting a couple of bottles of wine, which she knew she would need after today, she followed Brandy around the store but the small enjoyment she experienced earlier disappeared. Charlotte caught a glimpse of the woman with the baby a few more times while they shopped and she looked away quickly.
    Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, their shopping trip was finished and they were at the checkout line. After the cashier rang up the groceries, Charlotte stepped up with her debit card. She hadn’t thought before but she realized that Brandy had been paying for her groceries for the last couple of months. Guilt pierced her. Sure, Brandy drew a good salary at the law firm where she worked, but she needed to spend her money on things for herself. Charlotte decided to figure out how much her friend had spent and try to pay her back.
    She ran the card through the machine. It beeped and the screen said Transaction Declined . That was strange. She tried again at the cashier’s prompt, but the same thing happened.
    “It happens sometimes,” the cashier said. “That reader is touchy. Let me try it on my computer.”
    Charlotte handed her the card. Again, the screen read the same. Anxiety rose within her and, after seeing the baby earlier, Charlotte didn’t know how to respond. Brandy stepped up and ran her card through the machine, a neutral expression on her face. She didn’t say anything and neither did the cashier. Charlotte just stood mutely as they completed the transaction, then followed Brandy out to the car like a puppy.
    After they loaded the bags and climbed into the car, Brandy started the car but didn’t put it in gear. When Charlotte looked at her, her friend was gripping the wheel so tightly her knuckles were white. Suddenly, Brandy cut loose.
    “That motherfucking, cocksucking son of a bitch!” she screamed, pounding the steering wheel with her palms.
    Charlotte flinched at the outburst. Brandy had a bad temper but rarely lost it. When she did, it was usually ugly.
    Brandy twisted and looked at her. “Do you realize what just happened?” she asked.
    Charlotte shook her head.
    “That asshole, Derek, took all the money out of your account.”
    “What?” Charlotte whispered. It never occurred to her that Derek would do something like that. They had been married for eight years, together for ten. “Why?”
    Brandy threw herself back in her seat. “I suspect because he’s getting ready to serve you with divorce papers and he wants to be sure you don’t have the money to hire a decent lawyer. Or he decided to cut and run,” she said darkly. “It’s a typical practice during a divorce process, especially if one of the spouses is unemployed.”
    “He can’t do that, can he?” Charlotte asked.
    “Oh, he’ll have to give it back to you, but it would be after going before a judge and getting the judge to order it. That could take months.”
    Charlotte remained silent.
    “Let’s get back to your house and find out what’s going on,” Brandy said.
    Charlotte nodded.

    Charlotte sat at the kitchen table, her head in her hands. Derek had taken all but fifty dollars out of their joint checking account. He’d left one thousand in their joint savings. When they discovered what he had done, Brandy had Charlotte open a separate account in her name only and transfer all of the money into it. When