“Well, if you must know, I lost my job last week…and my girlfriend. So I decided to get out of town for a while.”
“Damn,” Taylor said. “I’m sorry.”
“Thanks. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume you don’t spend much time on social media.”
“Busted,” Taylor said. “Other than managing the accounts for the shelter, I don’t really pay attention to it. Why?”
“Because I figured you would have recognized me if you were,” I said.
“Recognized you from what?”
I pulled out my phone and opened the photo that had upended my life. In it, I stood in the middle of Lansdowne Street, hands raised and both middle fingers extended toward the man in front of me. Big block letters above my head said “ME,” while “THE PATRIARCHY” was written above the man’s head. I held my phone toward Taylor.
“Holy shit,” she said. “Miss Prim and Proper flipped off a guy in the middle of Boston?”
“Well, he called me a bitch for not being impressed when he hit on me, so he had it coming,” I told her.
“Asshole,” Taylor said.
“Anyway, shit happens, but someone snapped this picture and captioned it, and it went viral all over social media. They call me ‘girl against the patriarchy.’”
“Without your permission?” Taylor’s eyebrows rose, amusement fading from her expression.
“Exactly. I’m not sorry for flipping him off, but all of a sudden, I was a viral meme for something that should have been a private moment. And unfortunately, my employer decided I was a liability to the firm.”
“Oh shit. They fired you?”
I nodded, taking a large gulp of my wine.
“And your girlfriend? Did she break up with you because of the meme too?”
“You reallyarenosy,” I said as an uncomfortable warmth crept up my neck and hurt radiated through my chest. “Yes. She got frustrated with all the unwanted attention.”
“Phoebe, I’m sorry.” Taylor rested a hand on mine. Her fingertips were cold where they’d touched her glass, yet somehow, they still spread warmth through my veins.
“Thank you.”
“I could say something about running when things get tough, but I won’t.”
“I think you just did.” I tugged my hand free from Taylor’s. Damn, that hurt, and just when I was starting to think she and I could be friends again. “I was sixteen, Taylor, and so far in the closet, I didn’t even know where the door was. I’m sorry I ran, okay?”
“I wasn’t trying to push you out of the closet,” she said. “But we were best friends. We emailed a million times a day, and then you just cut me off, like you forgot I existed.”
“I didn’t forget.” My fingers clenched around the stem of my wineglass as unexpected tears pricked behind my eyes. “I never forgot.”
Taylor lifted her glass and drank. “Could have fooled me.”
6
Taylor
I loaded Blue and Minnie into the backseat of my SUV and set out for Margery’s cabin. Well, Phoebe’s cabin, at least for the time being. I was glad I’d get to hike here for a few more weeks, but that wasn’t the only reason I’d agreed to come back. If I bumped into Phoebe while I was here, I was going to look for any and all opportunities to show her that this cabin was a home, not a rental property.
Maybe it wasn’t too late. Maybe I could still change her mind. I loved this property in a way no renter ever could, and it wasn’t as if her family needed the rental income.
I made the ten-minute drive to Mountain Laurel Road, pulling into the driveway behind Phoebe’s purple Nissan. I swung my SUV to the side so I wasn’t blocking her in. In the backseat, Minnie barked excitedly, bouncing from one end of the seat to the other while Blue attempted to stay out of her way.
“Come on, you two.” I got out of the car and opened the back door for them. I clipped Blue’s leash to his collar while Minnie trotted across the driveway, nose against the ground. Then her head came up, and she bounded toward the backyard. Before I’d realized what was happening, I heard Phoebe’s startled exclamation. “Sorry,” I called as I rounded the back of the house. “I didn’t know you were outside.”