“That’s the stuff.”
I grunt in agreement.
“Wanna watch TV?” he asks.
“You don’t want to talk about our day and make sure our emotions are in a good place first?” I hitch my eyebrow in his direction as he shakes his head and laughs.
When he clicks on the television and logs into Netflix, I notice his recommended shows and movies are chock-full of Korean dramas.
Marcus motions toward the TV and talks around a bite of pizza. “See? I don’t need to talk about feelings. I watch these and remember I’ll never get a woman anyway because I’m not the grumpy son of a rich CEO.”
“Rich CEOs are not all that and a bag of chips, Marcus. What you have to give a woman is so much more.”
My younger friend stares at me as ifI’djust spoken Korean.
“Okay, yeah.” I clear my throat and take a swig of my drink. “Moving on. Too mushy.”
After a pause, he pops his neck then pegs me with a serious stare. “What are your plans moving forward in this election? Jay is already a popular person in Juniper Grove for his contributions to relief efforts when the Mississippi River flooded several years ago.”
I release a slow breath and take a bite of pizza. “I don’t know. Yeah, he helped with relief, and he’s filthy rich. But I’ve made our town a real college town. People like to visit Juniper Grove now. When you look at Jay and me on paper, we are tit for tat on policy, promises, and procedures.”
“Look at you sounding like a real politician with your alliteration. Or are you actually a Baptist preacher?”
“What’s the difference between the two?”
We laugh as he continues to scroll through Netflix. I say the one thing I’ve been avoiding. “I think—“ a pit settles in my stomach, and I breathe through it. “I think it’s because he has a wife and kids, you know? People see that as ‘more than.’ Especially here in the south. If he can lead his family, then he can lead the city. He’ll have Vance Green’s support since Jay is actually a Southern Baptist and I’m not, which will take a lot of votes from me. But what I don’t get is that I’ve been leading the city well for the past four years.”
“Right,” Marcus helpfully adds.
“I had a wife. God just didn’t see fit to let me keep her past the honeymoon.”
Marcus pauses his search and sets the remote down. “In all seriousness, do you want to talk about it? I know it’s been eight years since the accident, but I also figure some moments of healing are harder than others.”
The man can be articulate when he needs to be. “I’ll always miss her, and sometimes I think about her when I least expect to think about her. But I’m okay. I’ve made peace with it. I just don’t think marriage is something I want to try again. She was the one, you know?”
“Understandable,” Marcus says. “So are you not going to try and even the score between you and Jay?”
“Ha. As if I’d find someone to fall in love with and marry before the election in November. Besides, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if he won. He’s a good man, and I think he’d continue to improve this town. And I don’t plan on moving my church membership to Southern Baptist. I’m perfectly content at my Presbyterian church.”
“It’s three months. Stranger things have happened. I’m sure any woman would love to be the wife of the mayor. And you’re a lawyer. That says a lot in itself.”
I choke in disbelief. “Do you hear yourself, Marcus? Quit watching those ridiculous K-dramas, okay?”
He laughs then clicks on a particularly cringe-looking drama. “Trust me. Just watch one episode and you’ll be hooked.”
I stand. “Find a girlfriend to watch these with.”
“Hm. Henrietta comes over occasionally and watches them with me. But I hear Emma Jane is matchmaking her with Frank Weston.”
“You’re late for town gossip. That’s in the past, and Grant has already given Frank a job until he’s back on his feet from bankruptcy. E. J. is attempting to match her with ReverendPhilip now.”
Marcus looks up at me from his seated position, the last bite of pizza at his lips. “What? The reverend? Is it… going well?”
“Seems to be, actually.” I shrug, feeling that familiar taste of disdain on my tongue. Why Emma Jane feels the need to match people up is beside me. Her talents do not lie in matchmaking but in relational business. Sure, she could start a great business from this, but it’s Hartfield, Mississippi, for crying out loud. Not the best place for a startup. She’s too confident for her own good, too beloved by this town such that her ego is sky-high. I have thirteen years of life on her, and if I’ve learned one thing, especially today, it’s that overconfidence in yourself will lead to your destruction.
But don’t take my word for it. Pride is the downfall of man, according to scripture.
Reverend Philip, however, has been oddly open to Emma Jane’s attempts to get Henrietta and herself in a room with him.
