It had been four weeks since Rita brought Jodi home to Garvey’s. Jodi had been in her room the whole time. She barely ate. She barely spoke. Jodi slept all the time. There were times Barbara, Garvey’s front desk manager, would walk by her room and hear Jodi crying. Every time Barb entered the room, Jodi would stop crying and act like she wasn’t crying. Jackie struggled to cover for Jodi. No one knew she had been pregnant when she had left town other than Jackie and her now ex-boyfriend, George. Trina, the head bartender, Daniel, the head chef, Barb, and the waitresses had flooded Jackie with the same questions. Why was Jodi so depressed? What happened while she was away? Jackie had said she couldn’t tell them anything until Jodi was better and to keep quiet about her being back in town. The last thing Jodi needed was news of her return getting back to Matt Kirby. Jackie was afraid Matt would rush Garvey’s, and tear the place apart to see her. Jodi couldn’t take

Jackie, Trina, Barb, and Daniel sat at a table at Garvey’s. They were kicking around ideas for Saturday night. Their brainstorming session was interrupted by Jodi bursting the doors open. She strode to the back of the bar. Billy was behind her, but he stopped to sit on a bar stool.“I need a fucking drink!” Jodi yelled.They all got up from the table and went to the bar.“Careful. The claws are out,” Billy said lazily. “Meow.”“What happened?” Trina said.Jodi found her bottle of choice. Tequila. She slammed two shot glasses on the bar in front of Billy and started twisting the cap off the bottle with a purpose. Jodi hadn’t had a drink since she had found out she was pregnant. She was getting back on the horse.“You ran into Matt, didn’t you? I knew this would happen,” Jackie groaned.“Did you know he was fucking someone else and didn’t tell me, too?” Jodi barked and sloppily poured tequila in the two shot glasses.“Wha . . . what?” Jackie stuttered. She knew some of the ladies in tow

Matt had left Mindy’s house around 2 a.m. Cindy had spent the night at a friend’s house, which gave Matt and Mindy time alone. Needless to say, he was pretty tired when he left. Yet, he had a good night’s sleep. So, good that he had overslept. He didn’t get to the station until 9:30.He parked his black truck at the side entrance to his office. He unlocked the door and walked in. He fired up his computer to check his email, and then he heard boisterous laughter.“What the hell?” Matt murmured. He walked to his office door and opened it.The talking and laughing was louder.Matt wanted to know what was going on. He quietly snuck down the hall and stopped a few inches from the corner of the wall - a foot away from the reception desk.“Carter, you still looking at that video?” Goldman asked.“I’m showing it to Patty and Dalton,” Carter said.“I’m sticking around to look at it again,” Lawrence stated. “I’m not ashamed to admit it.”“Oh my goodness,” Patty said in a high-pitched tone. “It

Matt was surprised by the woman who sat down on his lap who loudly said, “How you doing, sweetheart.”He looked up at the woman to politely get her off of him. He almost had a heart attack when he saw the cool dark eyes of Jackie Garvey staring him right in the face.“A lot of people have gone through a lot of trouble to help you get where you are today. We’ve all gone through great pangs to keep your reputation clean. How could you come here tonight?” Jackie asked with heat.Matt couldn’t respond because he was still adjusting to what she had on. Jackie was the conservative twin. She didn’t wear skirts or shorts that were too short and she never showed too much cleavage.Tonight, Jackie was dressed like a madam. She wore a black leather corset that was pulled so tight that her tits looked like they were going to pop out. Pants? She wasn’t wearing any. She had on a black lacey thong and black thigh highs that were being held up by a garter belt.“Cat got your tongue?” she asked.“Um .

Williamson held Matt back from going after Jodi. Jackie, Williamson, Lance, and Matt watched as Billy ran after her.Once Jackie saw Billy run out the door to follow Jodi, she whirled around on Matt. He held his hat in one hand and was trying to push Williamson’s hold off with the other.“What the hell did you say to her?” Jackie asked angrily.“Nothing,” Matt answered with bewilderment.“Lance, please go back in the bar. I can handle this,” Jackie said as evenly as she could.“Just holler, if you need me,” Lance said, and then quickly went back through the doors they had run out of.“It had to been more than just nothing,” Jackie stated.“I . . . I . . . noticed a scar. A long red scar between her belly and . . . private area, okay,” Matt answered defensively. “I asked her about it and all of a sudden she had some sort of panic attack. What the hell happened to her while she was gone?” he asked in a demanding tone.Shit, Jackie thought and put her hand on her forehead. Jodi’s C-secti