YELLOW ACACIA:
Let us disclose our hearts to no one.
Trevor bursts into my house, where I am swaddled in soft knits and cupping a mug of hot tea,Unlikely Animal Friendsbabbling on the television in an effort to drive Alex’s frustrated voice from my thoughts. “We have to break up.”
I snap my neck so hard toward the doorway that it pops. “What?”
“I think Teyonna’s into me. She’s been acting down since I kissed your arm. Which I regret now, and not just because I had to taste your flower soap. Please, Ro, I bought you that kiwi smoothie body butter for a reason. You want to smelledible, trust me.”
I sit up,The Green Witch’s Gardensliding off my lap. “Wasn’t the plan to make Teyonna regret what she could’ve had?”
He thumps the ceiling with the flat of his hand. “Bro, she can HAVE it.”
I picture Alex’s expression if he gets wind that Trevor and I have broken up. He’ll come to the conclusion that (1) he was right all along and I’ve been longing for him pathetically, (2) hewas right about Trevor and me not being a good match, or (3) nobody wants to be with Romina.
“Trevor, if we break uprightafter we told your dad that we’re each other’s one true loves, he’s never going to take anything else we say seriously. Do you think he’d still give us a loan? He didn’t seem to be leaning in that direction to begin with.”
His face falls. “Hm.”
I collapse back against my pillows, exhausted. “If you have serious feelings for Teyonna again, if you see a future with her, then you should explain what happened. Tell her we only said we were dating because Allison was taunting you, that it got out of hand. Hopefully she’ll keep it under wraps.”
“She will.”
“You think you’ll get back together for real?”
“I hope so.” He jumps into bed beside me, helping himself to my bowl of apple slices. “It helps that we’ve got a wedding coming up. Women love weddings. They get emotionally horny.”
I flick his cheek.
“By the way, Kristin wanted me to pass along that the bachelorette party is tonight.”
I groan. “No way. Tell her I’m sick. I can’t think about anything but the fact that it takes two days to install a new sewer line, and May first is, like, two seconds away. I’m very busy sitting here feeling anxiety about things out of my control.”
“See, that’sexactlywhy you should go. There’s going to be a masseuse. The ladies are doing a spa thing, real tame shit. Dad’s got a guy coming in to teach us manly menfolk how to laser our initials into wooden keychains, so you’re getting the sweeter end of the deal. Dad and Kristin originally wanted to do a joint potluck in a church basement instead of traditional bachelor andbachelorette parties.” He rolls his eyes. “This was the best I could talk them into.”
A massage sounds amazing. My tense muscles deserve some love. Alex won’t be there, so how bad could it be? “Maybe. What time?”
“I’ll find out and text you.” He lands a kiss on my cheek. “Thanks for giving the all clear to tell Teyonna what’s up. This doesn’t mean I love you any less, you know.”
“I’m bereft.”
“The two of you can be sister wives, if you want. There’s always room for more love.”
“Stop. Your sweet talk is seducing me too much.”
He laughs, helps himself to a sip of my tea. “Get outta bed. You should be over there making King miserable, not over here making yourself miserable.”
“Eh, what do you know?”
“How to pull off Hammer pants.” He slaps a hand against the window as he flies past it, then is off to throw himself at Teyonna’s mercy.
Godspeed, my friend.
I do get up, to huff a hot breath onto the glass. An exhale, a wipe of my shirt, and the handprint smudge is gone. The motion takes me back to other smudges I wiped, from hallway portraits, in someone else’s house. Sweeping up crumbs from kitchen counters, cleaning the oven, dusting cobwebs from where wall meets ceiling, scrubbing grape jelly from a refrigerator shelf. Invisible work that nobody noticed, that nobody said a thank-you for, but that if I were to cease doing it, someone would certainly noticethen. And then I’d hear:What do you even do around here all day?
I happen to glance down, noticing a white flower laid across the doorstep, half trampled from Trevor’s shoe. I twirl it in myhand in wonderment. Wherever this flower came from, it wasn’t my garden.
You know, it’s interesting, the situations we will tolerate for ourselves but would hate to watch our loved ones endure. Reading the transcript of my relationship with Spencer is a sprawling kingdom of red flags, even if at the time I thought,This is probably the best it’s going to get for me now.
