"Hugo?" I step back to let him in. "Were we supposed to meet up, and I forgot?"
"Nope," he answers, finding his way to my kitchen and cracking open a beer. "Just thought you might like some company on the night before the love of your life marries somebody else."
"Wow," I deadpan. "Go right for it. No lube."
"No time for lubrication, my friend." He plunks down on a chair at the kitchen table. "We need to have a talk."
"Well, you see Hugo, the penis enters the vagina, and that's how babies are made."
He snaps and points at me. "That right there is how I know you need an ass whooping."
"Bring it, sword boy."
"Averbalass whooping."
"Ugh." I throw myself into the seat across from him. "Get it over with."
"I'll start by saying you should get your head out of your ass."
My eyebrows lift, as does my beer. "Here, here."
He steamrolls ahead. "You came back to Olive Township using a name that has the same initials as your real name. You returned on a bullshit excuse, like you couldn't have sold that house from San Diego."
"I wanted to see it in person," I argue.
"And why is that?" Hugo challenges.
"To see what it was I was really dealing with."
"I could've sent photos."
I say nothing, taking a pull of my beer.
Hugo smiles smugly. "You wanted to see your old house, Penn. Youwantedto come back. And, most of all, youwantedto see Daisy. And"—he looks so proud of himself—"when you found out she was engaged, you didn't leave. You could have. One might argue that you should have. But you didn't. You went and made her your physical therapist. You helped her with her home remodel. You slipped right back into your old friendship with her, before she knew your real identity. And then you told her who you really are. Why? Because you needed her to know. If she was going to feel something for someone, it had to be you. You were jealous of your own self." He shakes his head at me. "What an asshole! Do you see what I'm getting at, Penn?"
"That I'm unbelievably foolish?"
He points a stiff finger at me yet again. "Even that is an excuse." Fingers curled in air quotes, he mimics, "I'm a fool and that's why all this happened." He drops the act. "No, Penn. You cannot blame this on being a fool. What you can do is get over everything that happened in the past. Yes, you made a mistakewhen you were thirteen. Yes, you put Daisy in a dangerous situation, and it had a bad outcome. That was a long time ago and honestly, you were pretty fucking dumb back then. We all were." He taps his forehead. "These bad boys don't fully develop until we're almost thirty. Congratulations to us, we're super close to officially making mature decisions."
"What are you saying to me right now?"
He sighs. Gusty, long and loud. "I like Duke. I really do. You would too, if you gave him a chance. But all that is beside the point. What I'm really saying to you, is that I cannot sit by knowing that you love Daisy, and let's be honest, we all know she loves you, too. If things had gone differently, you two would've probably been married five years ago."
"You make it sound simple, Hugo, but it's not. Daisy already knows I love her. I told her."
He's unfazed by this information. "Ok, so you've told her. But have you shown her?"
There's no way for me to make him understand without telling him Daisy and Duke are a farce, and I won't betray her confidence like that.
"There's no way for me to show her, Hugo."
He shrugs. "Storm the castle."
I blink. "Come again?"
"Summerhill. Tomorrow. Wedding is at eleven."
"I couldn't avoid that information if I tried. Shit's posted all over town."
