I smirk and tell him, “Such is your burden,” before going back to texting Maggie.
Me: Gonna hafta bail on the bbq shrimp. Cash scheduled an electrician. Rain check?
Maggie: Saturday? Aunt Bea and Auntie June are having that tea. They’d love to see y’all.
“Maggie wants to know if we’ll come to her aunts’ tea this Saturday,” I tell Cash.
He frowns. “Thought we were going to ask her to go with us to City Park that day.”
“Can’t we do both?”
He shrugs. “Suit yourself.”
I text Maggie.
Me: We’ll be there.
Maggie: *happy dance*
Me: Talk soon?
Maggie: Yes, please. And Luc? Thank you.
Me: For what?
Maggie: For being you. XO!
I stare at thatXOfor far too long. It’s only when Cash says, “Hey, if you’re finished falling all over yourself for Maggie, let’s go get some breakfast. I’m starving.”
I scowl at him. “There’s a difference between being a good friend and falling all over myself.”
“Come on. Admit it. You’ve been in love with her since day one. Then I came along and fucked everything up.”
I grit my teeth so my jaw won’t fall open. All these years, I never said anything. All these years, I thought I did a damn fine job of hiding my feelings.
“It’s not so much that I’m in love with her,” I admit cautiously. “It’s just that I love a lot of things about her.”
He crosses his arms. “Like what?”
“Like her personality and her laugh and her gracious, trusting, wide-open heart.”
“Oh, but you’re not in love with her?”
“Even if I was, it wouldn’t matter.”
He cocks his head. “And why’s that?”
“’Cause she’s in love withyou, you stupid bastard!”
His Adam’s apple bobs. “Shewasin love with me. Theoldme.”
“Youarethe old you. You just need to stop feeling sorry for yourself, stop drinking yourself into oblivion, and pull your damn head outta your damn ass.”
Before he can say something else, I stand and shove past him. “I gotta take a leak.”
Leaning against the closed bathroom door a few seconds later, I hear the haunting notes of a Cajun lullaby coming from the house next door. Usually, the sweet melody would soothe my frayed nerves. Not this morning.
This morning, I silently curse the light flickering overhead. I curse Cash for being such a self-centered, self-indulgent asshat. And then, for good measure, I curse myself for not being able to kill off all those pesky feelings that, by all accounts, should’ve died years ago.
