And there’s only one person I want to talk to.
So I drive back to Main Street and park. Izzy’s the only one in the office when I walk in, and her face lights up in surprise before falling again.
“What’s up?” she asks. “You look sad.”
I shake my head. I can’t do this. I should not do this. But I have to. I can’t be resented for being who I am any longer. “I don’t think we should fake date anymore,” I say in a rush. It’s the only way I can get it out, when it’s the exact opposite of what I want. “It’s…it’s not a good idea. For either one of us.”
Izzy’s eyes widen, shock covering her face. “What? Where is this coming from?”
“I just accidentally had coffee with the men’s coffee group.”
She chuckles before her face drops again.
“Was my dad there?”
“Yeah.”
“Did he tell you not to date me? Because he was probably kidding. Threatening our dates isn’t really his style. He’s always let us make our own mistakes.”
She clearly does not know Ken Harper like I do. That man would slay a dragon for his daughter.
“And would dating me be a mistake?” I ask, not sure why everything is coming out confrontational.
She shakes her head. “That’s not what I meant.”
I don’t know why she’s being so easygoing about this. They didn’t say it, but those men thought I was the worst possible option to be in Izzy’s life.
“It’s what they all thought at coffee.”
“Well, they’re a bunch of busybodies. They mean well, but they don’t know you. Just don’t listen to them.”
“That’s easy for you to say. They think you walk on water,” I say, pacing the aisle in front of Izzy’s desk. “I, on the other hand,have never been good enough for you. I wasn’t good enough to be your friend. I’m certainly not good enough to date you.”
Izzy swivels in her chair, giving me her complete attention.
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean, Iz. Look at our lives.”
“Yeah, Jax, look at our lives,” she says, spreading her arms wide as if she’s laying a sheet out in front of her. “I guarantee ten out of ten people would say I’m not good enoughfor you.Even the coffee men. Your life is exciting—full of awards and world tours. My life is small. A small company in a small town with a small group of friends.”
“You know what I’m talking about, Iz. This town will always think you’re too good for me,” I say. “Your dad hates me.”
“My dad watched as my heart disintegrated and then got blown away on a ninety-mile-an-hour gust of wind when mybest friendleft one afternoon without a word to anyone. When I sent texts and called and mailed letters with no response,” she says. “He doesn’t hate you; he wants to protect me from becoming a shell of myself again.”
My chest pangs at the visual Izzy’s painting. I heard her when she told me how bad it was, but somehow hearing her describing herself as a husk of who she once was cuts me to the core.
Izzy continues, wiping the bridge of her nose angrily as a tear runs down it, “So yeah, Jaxon, there are people around this town who don’t like you. But not because of who you were before you left, but because of who you became when you left without a backward glance.”
“Well, they’re going to think less of you for dating me. Even if it’s fake. They’re going to resent me for bringing you down. Just like my dad resented me for bringing my mom down.”
“Well,” she parrots back, “I think they’re wrong. And I don’t care what they think.Andthey don’t think that. They wereintimidating you on purpose, Jax. It was a test, and they almost got to you. And your dad didn’t think that.”
“Yes, he did—”
Izzy walks over to me, her fingers gently trailing up the inside of my forearm. It centers me. Calms my raging heart.
“You’re my fake boyfriend whether you like it or not, so don’t let the coffee group intimidate you. It’s bad for my reputation to date someone who gives in to Tim and Ralph.”
