Page 97 of No Plans to Fall


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If I needed some big gesture, I knew who I needed.

I opened my phone and texted James.

Scott: Hey James, I need some help with a woman, and I need something big and fast.

Chapter Thirty

MARISSA

Monday,I sent Rose and Faith to pick up my stuff at the office. I forgot to tell them to leave the fake lilac. Stupid purple flower, reminding me of Scott learning about my mom, making me think he cared.

Did he care? Was I just a piece of his plan? Why had I let my stupid heart believe in the possibility of a happy future?

I grabbed another tissue. I rubbed my nose raw, and my eyes were puffy. I needed to shower but lacked the energy. I sat up in my bed. Tissues fell around me like confetti. I should've never let him in. I shouldn’t have wanted the B&B. I knew better.

My phone was going off. I picked it up, sending Scott to voicemail again. I couldn’t listen to the messages. It would be a mistake to open my heart up again.

I stepped over to my closet and shoved my phone into my sock drawer before plopping back down on my bed.Stupid Jeopardy. It made me wish he was still on my team, stupid B&B for making me hope, and stupid Ben & Jerry’s for not fixing my pain.

I tried to cancel my appointment with Sarah this coming week,but Faith said she would buy me more ice cream if I promised to keep it. I was running low. I could go buy my own, but in a town this size, I might see Scott, or Carol, or Ashley, or anyone. I still needed to talk to Carol. What was I supposed to say? “Hey, turns out I let a snake into your B&B . . . Turns out you knew and let me fall in love with him . . . Turns out he is going to demo the place.”

I buried my head in the pillow, suffocating any thoughts of my parents wedding, trunk-or-treat, or Scott.

I wanted ice cream, but I had my limits.

“I turned on the shower,” Nan hollered from the other room. “If you aren’t in there in fifteen minutes, I'm going to throw away every bit of ice cream or cookies that come into this house for a week.” She threw open my bedroom door and waddled inside. “Plus, you don’t have a job and neither of us can afford a higher water bill. Time’s ticking, princess.”

“Ugh, Nan. Leave me alone.” I grabbed another pillow, pulling it over my head to erase her voice.

“I did. For a week. Now you stink and you need to do the dishes.” Nan left the room, and I closed my eyes, begging for sleep to swallow me.

“Oh, look, the last carton of Ben & Jerry’s . . . It would be a shame if I . . . Whoops.” I heard it hit the trash can. “The last of the cookies that Faith brought . . . What if I . . . Oops?”

“Nan! Stop!” I jumped out of bed in a panic. I stepped out of my room. “Ugh, alright, I’m up.”

“And showering?” Nan glared from the kitchen, a cookie held hostage in her hand.

“And showering.” I came into the living room. Each of my muscles cramped at the movement and my eyes ached. My soul felt heavy as I shuffled my feet toward the bathroom.

“You can’t avoid him forever.” Nan leaned against the door frame to the kitchen. “He’s called nonstop, and he sat on the porch for two hours yesterday yelling all my Jeopardy answers through the window. Maybe it’s time you talk to him.”

“Nope. I learned my lesson. Besides, he’ll just lie or pity me now and I can’t hear it. Any life he has pictured doesn’t include me. We’re both better off this way. Leaving Hillsdale.”

“How do you know?” Nan folded her arms across her chest. “Sounds like he has no reason to lie to you. Not that he lied at all.” She huffed and turned to the kitchen.

“What do you mean? Of course, he did.” He lied, and he used me.

Nan faced me. “I mean what I said. He may have misled you some, sure, but it’s not like you have told him every little thing about you before.” Her eyebrows raised in question.

“He had plans, none of them included me.” My body was exhausted trying to keep myself from collapsing.

Nan threw her hands in the air. “You both had lives before. You can’t blame him for that. Besides, you didn’t tell him about your injuries in a way that gave him a chance to process. You threw it at him and ran.”

I grabbed a towel from the cupboard in the hall. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Nan’s shoulders dropped. “I know you don’t, but honey, I ain’t going anywhere and I don’t think Scott is either. This town is mighty small to stay inside forever. So, what’s your plan now?” Nan took a huge bite out of one of my last cookies.

What was my plan now?