He had laughed harder. But I hadn’t been joking.
“Linda,” I continued, “the ticket your office has should have my signature on it. Patricia Dunn. And underneath that, it should have the date of purchase and those exact words.”
I heard papers shuffling on the other end. Then Linda said something that made me sit up straighter.
“That’s exactly what’s written here.”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak. Not because I was surprised that Gary had taken my ticket. I’d suspected that since Wednesday. I was surprised that he had been foolish enough to take it to the lottery office without even checking the back.
“Mrs. Dunn, your husband is insisting that he purchased this ticket himself. He says you are his wife and that you must have signed it for him as a joke.”
I nearly laughed. Gary had spent thirty-four years explaining to me that I was too forgetful to remember where I put my purse, too emotional to make decisions, and too foolish to understand money. Now, suddenly, he wanted the lottery officials to believe that I had signed his ticket.
“Linda,” I said, “I can tell you the exact date I bought that ticket, the gas station where I bought it, and the five numbers I’ve been playing every Friday since my children were little. Would you like me to?”
“Yes, ma’am. That would be helpful.”
I gave her the information. She asked me to hold. I could hear muffled voices through the phone. Then Gary’s voice rose above the others.
“She’s lying! She’s always been jealous of me! I’ve been the one paying the bills for thirty-four years!”
What happened next changed everything… FULL STORY on the next page.
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