"And you're pissed about it."
"Wouldn't you be? She promised, Ryan. She looked me in the eye and promised she'd be there."
"Sure. That sucks." Ryan took a drink of his beer. "But did you let her explain what happened?"
Grant shifted in his chair. "I didn't want to hear more excuses."
"That's not what he asked," Mark said. "Did you let her talk? Like, at all?"
"She tried to explain about her job?—"
"And you cut her off," Chris guessed.
Grant didn't answer. He glanced around at his friends, all sitting there, giving him their full attention.
"Dude." Ryan leaned back in his chair. "You have to let a woman talk."
"I didn't want to hear about how demanding her job is or how her boss piled things on. I've heard it before. It's the same pattern—she overcommits, something comes up, and everyone else gets bailed on."
"Okay, but did she actually say that?" Mark asked. "Or did you just assume that's what she was going to say?"
Grant opened his mouth to speak and started to realize Mark was saying the same thing his dad did.
"Because from where I'm sitting," Chris said, "it sounds like you were so busy being angry that you didn't actually listen to what she was trying to tell you."
"She broke her promise?—"
"Yeah, and that sucks. We get it." Ryan's voice was firm but not unkind. "But people make mistakes, Grant. But like…it’s a kids’ pageant. Things happen. And if you didn't even let her explain what went wrong, then how do you know she chose work over you?"
"Because she always does."
"Always?" Mark raised an eyebrow. "You guys have been dating—or fake dating—for a few weeks? Tops. So, is it possible that she did that in high school and you're holding onto it like it happened yesterday?"
Grant bristled. "It's not just high school. It's a pattern. Everyone in town knows Riley Monroe is too busy for Pine Valley. Too focused on her career to show up for anything. She’s missed tons of stuff over the last ten years that was important to her friends and family."
"Everyone in town also knows Riley just spent two weeks here being at every single holiday event," Chris pointed out. "She went to the reunion. The tree lighting. Christmas with both families. She showed up, Grant. Until the one time she couldn't. Not everyone works for themselves, man. We’re not all self-employed. Maybe she thought she could handle both things, and something just went wrong. She tried to talk to you as soon as she got back."
"And when she couldn't, you didn't let her explain why," Ryan added.
Grant set down his beer with more force than necessary. "She said her boss kept piling things on. What else is there to explain?"
"I don't know, man. Maybe a lot. Maybe nothing." Mark shrugged. "But you won't know unless you actually let her talk."
"She said she had something important to tell me. About her job. And I cut her off."
"Yeah, you did," Ryan said flatly. "And now you're sitting here sulking instead of finding out what that important thing was."
"What if it doesn't matter?" Grant's voice came out rough. "What if she just had more excuses?"
"Then at least you would have heard her out," Chris said. "At least you would have given her the chance to explain before you decided it was over."
Grant stared into the fire, his chest tight. He'd been so angry. So hurt. He'd wanted Riley to hurt the way he was hurting.
So he'd shut her down. Over and over.
And now he didn't know what she'd been trying to tell him.
"Maybe," Mark allowed. "But you won't know unless you ask. And you can't ask if you're sitting out here with us drinking beer and feeling sorry for yourself."
