Callum and I will get ice cream and sit on the bench we've officially claimed as our own, and watch the sunset burn tangerine and pink over the water. Or we'll share a basket of fries, and he pretends not to notice how my appetite has dropped. Dr. Rajab has given me some anti-nausea medicationto help, and it does, but I've still been sticking to more bland foods, such as oatmeal and fruit.
It could be worse.
I walk down the sidewalk now, heading to Rivers & Rhodes early. Book club is not for two more hours, but I want to hang out with Callum beforehand. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I know that it’s the group chat.
Tonya and Parker are night owls and mainly send their texts late into the night (technically early morning), while Jane and April are early birds due to their jobs. April works atRise N' Grind Coffeehousein town and is usually up at three-thirty every morning to open the shop, while Jane thrives on routine and said she wakes up at five on the dot every morning for yoga before work.
Bailey, however,lovesto sleep in, and she writes her own column—Bailey Banks On It—for an online magazine. This gives her a little more freedom to set her own schedule, allowing her to text throughout the dayandnight.
Atticus wakes around the same time as me to get Leo up and ready for school before heading to the garage.
Callum, though, is a bit of a wildcard in the group. He sends texts to the group at all hours of the day, but we haven't stopped talking in our own text thread.
Callum Rhodes: got you a couple of chocolate chip cookies at the bakery.
still warm.
did you ever know that you're my hero?
Callum Rhodes: Am I the wind beneath your wings?
don't quote that song to me
I'll make you watch Beaches
Callum Rhodes: already seen it.
cried like a baby.
well you are just full of surprises.
My speed might pick up at this, a little more eager to get toRivers & Rhodesnow. As I cross the street, I recognize the neon sign forHauntsup ahead, Paul’s usual bar. A sense of dread fills me, which has me picking up my pace even more.
Until I see them.
Well, I seeherfirst.
Parked on the street across from the bar, she steps out of a very familiar sedan. Tall, blonde, stunning. She's very hard to miss.
Then he slides out of the driver's side, with short blonde curls and a handsome face, dressed in a sweater I bought him last Christmas. It's the royal blue one that I had said matched his eyes.
Quickly, I duck toward the buildings next to me, sliding into the alley between them and still feeling as exposed as a bunny with a hawk circling. I can't take my eyes from them, no matter how much I will myself to look away. Her pretty blonde head glances in my direction, and I try to shrink further into the shadows, cursing myself for wearing a light colored lilac sweater tonight. Not very excellent camouflage.
I had thought I looked pretty in it, and I thought maybe Callum would think so too...
When I peek around the corner, what I see feels like I’ve been kicked in the throat.
She's pinned to the car by him. The same car I had tried to talk him out of buying, thinking it would be better to trade his old SUV in for another SUV. I already had a sedan and had subtly hinted that, when we had kids, it would be nice to have the space for them.
But Paul had just said that we would trade in my car for a newer model by then, and I would get an SUV or van.
He wanted a luxury sedan, so he got one.
He cups Elise's face with both hands. That's the move he used to do on me, the one I loved and said melted me into a puddle, like my book heroes.
That man cheated on me for two months.
We didn't evenknowthat I had cancer when he started having sex with her. It was just the possibility, and that was reason enough for him. Was it even the cancer that made him, or was it just me? Was he just tired of me? He wanted an upgraded model? A luxury model? Not the defective one.
