Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 71911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
I opened my mouth to say something, although I wasn’t sure what to say to that comment. However, Mrs. Jo didn’t seem to need a response from me. She wasn’t done talking.
“No matter. It all works out the way it’s supposed to. Fate has its plan, and that’s the way it goes. That good-looking man who has been taking her out even took Cam last night. They went to that putt-putt place down along the strip. I reckon fate has Brielle going in another direction, although I sure thought it’d be you there for a bit,” she said, then held out the pie to me.
“Brielle is dating someone?” I asked, surprised by this information.
I’d just been gone for three weeks, yet the way Mrs. Jo was talking, Brielle had been dating this guy a lot. What, had she just started dating again the day after I left? Had I read more into her behavior the night in the theater?
“Oh, yes. That nice construction worker. He’s a fine man. Brings her flowers and went swimming with them the last day before Cam started back to school,” Mrs. Jo said. “Take this pie and add some vanilla ice cream to it. That’s the best way to eat it.”
The construction worker. They’d finally had that date, and it sounded like it had gone well. From what Mrs. Jo had said, the man was up Brielle’s ass. Didn’t he have a job? Working for me? When did he have time for all this swimming and putt-putt?
I managed to thank Mrs. Jo for the pie as she walked me to the door. I stepped out into the hallway and expected her to say good-bye and close her door, but she was watching me. Was I supposed to say something else about the pie? I’d thanked her already.
“Fate is what we make of it. We can let it happen, or we can manipulate it. All depends on what you want badly enough. Seeing the future isn’t a gift we’re given. Sometimes, you just gotta listen to your gut, take fate’s handlebars, and steer. But then that’s all up to you now, isn’t it?” Mrs. Jo said, then smiled at me before closing her door in my face.
I looked down at my pie and wondered if she’d truly made me this because she thought I needed it or if it had been a way to get me down here so she could tell me all of that. What had happened to her talk about me not being what Brielle needed?
I started to knock on her door but paused and dropped my hand back to my side. This wasn’t my business. I should be relieved. I should be happy for Brielle. Getting in her way and screwing with their lives wasn’t okay.
Turning to walk back to the elevator, I heard a door open behind me and glanced back to see if Mrs. Jo had decided she needed to say more. But it wasn’t Mrs. Jo’s door. It was Brielle’s.
She stood there, staring at me with those big blue eyes, and I felt something in my chest tighten. Damn her for getting to me.
“Hi,” she said with a small lift of her hand to wave.
“Hey,” I replied, then held up the pie a little. “Mrs. Jo made me a welcome back treat.”
She smiled, but it didn’t meet her eyes. “She’s good about that.”
I wanted to say more. Ask her about the construction worker. Ask how Cam’s first week back at school was. Ask how she was doing. Just listen to her talk. But I did none of those things.
“Tell Cam I said hi,” I told her, then reached down to press the button on the elevator.
“I will,” was her soft reply.
I stared at the elevator doors until I heard her door close. Glancing back, I saw her head to the stairs. She was leaving and had chosen not to use the elevator because of me. I could go after her and apologize. But what would I apologize for exactly?
We hadn’t been dating. I’d had one hot moment with her that I thought about too damn much. That was it. Other than some fun back-and-forth sparring with our words, there was nothing else.
My taking care of her when she was sick had only been because she needed a friend. She needed help. And I was scared that something would happen to her. I had cared.
The elevator doors opened, and I stepped inside.
I still fucking cared. Too much.
twenty-two
brielle
“We are going up there!” Clara said close to my ear as she slid back onto the stool beside me.
I glanced back over my shoulder just as a girl with short, curly red hair was announced. She was going to be singing “Oops! … I Did It Again.”
Shocker. The first karaoke of the night was a Britney Spears song. I rolled my eyes and turned back to my drink in front of me on the bar. This entire night was a mistake. I should be home, watching my television. Possibly eating ice cream or maybe making brownies for when Cam came home tomorrow from his sleepover with Jeremy.