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I quickly found after moving to Love that Kyle knows everyone—and many in a very intimate way. Thanks for the heads up, Kyle.
Autumn is one of the few women born and raised in this town, between the ages of twenty-two and thirty, who hasn’t made out with my ex. But then, she had a pretty serious boyfriend all throughout high school.
“Never mind,” I say. “I don’t want to know.”
“How’s it going, Meggy Meg?”
A tingle crawls up my spine and into my ears, like an earwig invading my space and refusing to let me alone.
“It’s going fine. I just finished summer school.” Now, what do you want? Even to this man—whom I neither love nor respect—I cannot turn off what my mother instilled in me: Respect others, Meghan. It’s important to your humanity and integrity.
“Aw, stupid five-year-olds. That’s hilarious.”
“They aren’t stupid. Summer school does not equal stupid.” It’s difficult, but I refrain from calling the imbecile in front of me stupid. “They needed a little extra help, and their parents were good enough to bring them two extra weeks.”
Kyle balks out another laugh. “That’s hilarious.”
I clench my jaw and attempt a smile. Again, mentally slapping myself for not seeing him for the dud he was sooner. “Why are you here again? I have work to do.”
“Right. Well—” He sits his smelly hiney down on little Austin Prinket’s desk. I am not okay with that. She is the sweetest, and he is a two-timing idiot.
“There’s a chair right there, Kyle. Could you—”
He blows out a hiss but stands from Austin’s desk. Kyle shoves his hands into his pockets. “Well, you know Carma?”
My fake smile is starting to falter. I’m not sure how long I can hold it. I channel all the energy of one of those white-faced mimes and ask the universe to send a perm-a-grin my way. “You mean the woman you were seeing while you were also seeing me? The one who lives here? The one you thought I’d never run into?” Smile, Meg, smile. “Yes, I think I remember her.” I file the children’s books on my desk into my arms, ready to get back to work and put them away. Ready to be alone once more. Ready for Kyle to join Chuck in the ground—or maybe just leave town.
“Right, well, she’s never been to Hawaii,” he continues in a tone that says—we should all feel sorry for poor Carma.
My heart is a thunderstorm screaming in the night. This conversation needs to end, and Kyle needs to take Carma and move far far far away—like Timbuktu. Or maybe Antarctica. “Amazing news. Me either. Now Carma and I have two things in common.”
Number one—never been to Hawaii.
Number two—we were both dumb enough to date the chump in front of me.
“Right,” he says again, though I’m not sure he can hear anyone but himself. “So, you know the trip we booked? I think I’ll take her.”
All the blood drains from my face. The thunderstorm inside of my body halts to a still, dark silence. I take it back—Kyle can join Chuck in the ground. I won’t blink twice. “Are you referring to the trip that we planned and booked when we were together? The one that I paid for?”
“Yeah.” He doesn’t even bother to look sheepish. “Is there any way you can switch the ticket from your name to hers by tomorrow?”
The books in my hand slip out, one by one, falling to the ground. Sorry, Mom. “Are you really that stupid?”
“Well, I didn’t have to do kindergarten twice,” he says with a laugh—still not getting it.
“Sorry, Kyle. You and your girlfriend can’t use the tickets I paid for.”
His brows cinch, and for the first time, he finally looks like something I’ve said might be seeping into that pea-size brain of his. “But…why not?”
“I’m going,” I say, my mouth dry with the lie. “I paid for the trip. And I’m going.”
3
Meg
“And then I said, ‘You can’t have them. I’m going!’” I hold my phone to my ear and pace in my little living room. Teacher housing is tiny in Love, but I adore my little house with the teal door and the pink flamingos in the yard. Plus, it’s cheap.
“What?” Autumn bellows. “Meg, I’m so proud of you. When do you leave? Oh my gosh, if I didn’t have to run the farm, I would go with you.”
