I bite my tongue and stifle the smirk. “Goodnight, Lana,” I say. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She’s already going up the stairs of her porch when, over her shoulder, she says, “No you won’t.”
“I will.”
“Nope!” She puts her key into her yellow door that is just…her.
“Yes, I will.”
“Stalker!”
“Persistent!”
“Annoying!”
And her door closes.
Her door is yellow, the house is a light gray, the railing around the porch and stairs are white, and it all fits. It’s a house she owns, all on her own. She made her dreams come true and she didn’t even need me.
I’m not a part of this life, and I’m not sure if I ever deserve to be.
I pull into the parking of Meredith and Marilyn’s Bed and Breakfast. Otherwise known as The M&M B&B in this town—that’s what we’ve been calling it since the couple opened it when I was six.
The place has been here for twenty years, and this will be my first time staying here. After I unload my three luggage and my matching Louis Vuitton duffles, I lock my car and walk the four steps up the porch. I push the door open and bells jingle above my head, and I see Meredith behind the counter.
She smiles, at first, but I notice the way it falters when she seesme. “Christian…you’re in town…?”
I smile. “Hi Meredith. I am, yes. I was hoping you have a room.”
Meredith purses her lips and nods. “Are you staying?”
A punch in the gut. More like a stab between the fourth and fifth ribs, but, fine.
“I plan to, yes.”
“Well,” Meredith sighs, crossing her arms. “Marilyn is Team Lana.”
I huff. “Who isn’t?”
She shrugs with her mouth and shoulders. “Haven’t met anyone who isn’t yet.”
I roll my lips in and nod, the grip on my duffle tightening. “Me either,” I sigh. “I suppose there isn’t a room for me then?”
Meredith sighs heavily through her nose and hops off her stool. “You tell Marilyn, I’ll kill you.”
I nod and her fingers click across the keyboard of herlaptop. She turns and grabs a key from a slot. “Thank you, Mer.”
She shoots me a look and then flicks her eyes back to the screen of the laptop. “I’m not entirely Team Christian, just so you know.”
“I don’t expect you to be.”I’m not either.
Meredith huffs and puts the key on the counter. “You’ve got a lovely twin bed on the second floor.”
I dip my chin and take what I can get. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“Don’t mention it. Literally.”
It takes two trips up and down the stairs with all my luggage before I can find my room at the end of the hall, and I sigh as soon as I step in. It’s warm and humid. It’s barely the beginning of summer, but the nighttime is always cold.
