“Then why’d you keep away?”
I exhale, pained by the reality of my neglect. “It’s hard to say. I was busy, at first, then…I don’t know. I felt guilty after a while because I hadn’t called. Then there was my family and how disappointed they were in me.”
“Well, I don’t forgive you,” she says.
My stomach twists into knots. “I can respect that.”
“But I hope you don’t keep your distance while you’re around.”
I give her a light smile and hope that somehow we can bridge the gap between us.
“Is Jake still so moody?” she asks.
“Oh, he’s moody, alright, and boy do I rub him the wrong way. I can’t say I blame him.”
Irene bites her lip, like she wants to ask me something. I can’t imagine she’d be afraid to ask me anything, not when she starts out our conversation by confessing to facesitting an ex of mine.
“I hear Garrett was dating Vicki for a time.”
Her face darkens. “Damn near killed him. Vicki had a son living off and on with them, and Garrett treated him as his own, but when he couldn’t take Vicki’s shenanigans anymore, she wouldn’t let him see him. It damn near broke Garrett’s heart. The poor boy’s living with his grandma now, and she won’t let him see him either. He’s so good to Lori. No, scratch that—AMAZING with Lori. If Vicki would have been able to get her shit together, they woulda had it good. He poured all his money into getting her into rehab, only to have her using again two days after leaving.”
My stomach lurches violently at the revelation. Now, Garrett’s money problems make sense in a whole different kind of way. “Oh…”
“Yeah, I was so pissed. He tried sticking with her for her son, but he could only take so much. I fucking pulled that bitch’s hair out.”
“Wait—what?” My hand covers my gaping mouth. “When did you go gangster?”
“You fuck with my brother, or Uncle Ret, as Lori calls him, you fuck with me.”
“That’s-that’s a lot to take in.”
“Garrett’s an amazing man, any woman would be lucky to have him, but he has the worst luck. He lost his scholarship due to an injury he got pushing a kid out of the way of a speeding car. It clipped him, and there went his career in college football. He became a mechanic, bought up Janer’s, then Hurricane Vicki came to town and damn near killed him. I swear, if another woman pulls any kind of shit with him, they’ll never find the body. It’s not like I have to worry with you, though.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I know you had a crush on him when we were kids, but tell me, when’s the last time you’ve dated someone with less than seven 0s in their bank account?”
“That’s not fair!” I snap back. “I don’t go looking for rich men. The guys I date I meet at work or through friends.”
She casts me a cynical gaze. “And we all know how you ditch your poor friends.”
I get up, my hands shaking from the harsh exchange.
“Tam!” Irene calls to me as I turn to leave.
I’m angry, ready to storm out the door and wait in Garrett’s car, but there’s a small part of me that knows I have to see this through to the end.
“I know I’m an asshole for what I just said, but it’s hard seeing you after all this time.” I hear her chair scrape across the floor, and her footsteps draw closer. “Don’t disappear again.”
I turn towards her, and we embrace. She feels different, her once muscular frame now soft with curves.
“I know I fucked up, but I’m going to try,” I reply.
“Good.”
We walk outside, and I see Lori trying to push Garrett on a swing.
“I think the saying is, my ovaries just exploded,” I whisper to Irene.
