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Thank you. Thank you so much. But also, I don’t know what to say about the other night, yet.
We don’t have to talk about it right away. I’ll wait until you’re ready.
I smile at the text then push myself up from the sofa and start preparing for the day. A half an hour later, I make my way out of the door with my brand-new laptop bag strung over my shoulder and accept the grilled cheese sandwich Marci holds out for me.
“Love you, byeee,” she calls. “Go kick some ass!”
Barb, one of the regulars at the diner blows me a kiss as I sail past. The place is already starting to fill up.
The town is alive with tourists, even at this hour. Tourists who are heading to the beach or enjoying Heatstroke’s eclectic collection of boutique stores, antique shops, restaurants, and the Heatstroke Museum—one of my favorite parts of the town because it’s basically a collection of melted objects, dated with the year that Heatstroke’s vicious summers destroyed them.
A low whistle stops me as I walk down the sidewalk.
Olivia waves at me from across the street where she leans against an old Buick, as if I’ll go over to her. I ignore her, tension already banding in my chest at the thought of interacting with her again.
But, of course, she’s relentless. She intercepts me outside the bookstore. Inside, Mrs. Langemeyer sits behind the little counter with her nose in a book, and I wish I could trade places with her.
“Hold up,” Olivia says.
“I have nothing to say to you.” I sidestep her, but she matches me.
“Just wait a second, June, we’ve got to talk,” she says.
“No, Olivia. We don’t have to say anything to each other. You’ve made where you stand pretty clear.”
“You didn’t even give me a chance to explain about what happened,” Olivia says. “I know you think I’m a shitty person for what I did to you.”
“For what you did to me? What about Alex? What about Cash?”
“Well, shit, I couldn’t take care of Alex, and Cash is like, a whole different thing. It’s complicated.”
“You told Cash that I wasn’t into him,” I say. “And then you dated him and broke his heart. You slept with his friend and abandoned Cash and his baby.”
“He didn’t want me involved.”
I shake my hair back from my shoulders. “Cash told me he offered you support, a place in Alex’s life, and you refused. You threw it away before you knew what you had to lose.”
Olivia’s mouth opens and shuts. She brushes her fingers over her lips, and I’m struck by how tired she looks. There are dark circles under her eyes, her cheeks are sunken, and she’s trembling when she moves.
“He offered you help even though you slept with the drummer in his own fucking band,” I snap. “And now you roll back into town expecting handouts and to ruin relationships? You don’t care about anyone but yourself.”
“You haven’t walked a mile in my shoes,” she says. “You don’t know.”
“Everything that’s happened has been a choice. You chose this.” I don’t care how harsh I sound.
“June, you’re not perfect. I know you like to think you are, but you aren’t. Did you ever think about how difficult it was to be me? I was always the third wheel. Everybody loved you. You made friends wherever you went. Hell, you didn’t even need me as a best friend. You could’ve picked any other girl because everybody loved you. I just wanted something for myself. I wanted to feel special.”
Olivia’s eyes fill with tears, but she blinks them away, and then it’s almost as if her face sharpens. Like all the dark, gritty edges of her come out in the light of day. “You’ve finally learned how to stand up for yourself, but it doesn’t change anything. You’re still just June. June the weak little victim who needs everybody’s help.”
The words feel like physical slaps, but I refuse to react to them.
“You might have the people in this town wrapped around your little finger, but you’re not me. You’ll never be Cash’s first love. You’ll never be Alex’s mother.”
I let the words roll off me. This is her last attempt to mess things up, and I won’t allow it. Compared to living with Mom, this is nothing.
“You mistake me for giving a shit about your opinion,” I say.
She sucks in a breath, hating that I haven’t broken down. “I just came to tell you I’m leaving,” she says. “And I was going to tell you to enjoy your time with my ex-fiancé, but it looks like you two are over before you began.”
