“It’s a lot to put on Cat, too. Assuming the best from him and not from Cat isn’t neutral ground.”
“No. Yeah, I guess it’s not.” She made a frustrated noise, looking up at the sky, and she took a long sip from her tea. “I’m gonna have to sit with that.”
My first instinct was to snap again, tell her that she’d already had damn well enough time to look at it as an independent adult. But somehow, I didn’t want to, and after a pause, I said instead, “Well, no time’s too late to stand up for someone.”
“I just can’t believe Drew would do something like that,” she said quietly. “He’s always been so… good. Compassionate.I mean, he spends all his time running this place that barely makes him any profit, just so the community can have a place.”
“He does,” I said. “And I’m not saying it’s not a good thing or that he hasn’t done a lot of good. But that doesn’t mean he’s incapable of doing harm, either.”
“Yeah, no, I guess… I guess it doesn’t.” She finished her tea, and she screwed the lid back on the cup before she slid it into her bag. After an eternity of silence, she spoke quietly. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For telling me. You know, coming around and saying all that.”
“Oh.” I shifted with a sudden nervous sensation. I wasn’t used to people thanking me for dragging them and their friends through the mud. “I’m just doing it for Cat.”
“There’s nothing there, is there?” she said with a small laugh, giving me a careful, measured smile. “Between you and Cat.”
“She’s just my friend.” I didn’t want to know why she was asking. I was about to find out, anyway.
“It’s good she has you to stick up for her,” she said. “I guess… even if it’s not that simple, if she did something wrong too, it still wouldn’t be fair for her to shoulder all the blame. You’re a good friend,” she said, smiling sweetly at me. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Yeah…” I hunched my shoulders. “Thanks for, you know, hearing me out.”
“You can thank Alyssa,” she laughed. “If it hadn’t been for her, I’d have kept on thinking you wanted my head on a platter and never wanted to talk to me again.”
I looked at my phone again. Still nothing from Alyssa. I was never the type to send a girl a text and keep checking it compulsively. Alyssa was genuinely ruining me. “Yeah, well… she’s pretty special.”
“I’m glad she came to stay here,” she said. “She’s always talking about how she owes me and wants to do this or that for me, but honestly, just having her here is good for my sanity. I get so in my own head when I’m left to my own devices, shut up in my house with no one around. I know she’s mostly looking at jobs back in Boston, but I kinda wish she’d get something here and stick around.”
“I’m sure you’d find a way to pull her back in even after she’s gone.”
She winked. “Because I’m irresistible, you mean.”
“That’s not what I said, nor is it what I meant.”
She laughed, relaxing. “Should we head back?”
“I thought you’d never ask. My ass is killing me from sitting on a rock.”
“Not one for appreciating the sunset, huh?”
I laughed, standing up slowly. “You know me. I hate laughter, sunshine, and smiles.”
“Uh-huh. Woman of the darkness. Speaking of which,” she said, standing up with me, stretching her arms out over her head, “we should go stargazing sometime.”
Stargazing sounded nice, at least on the surface. I knew how to read between the lines, though. “That’d be fun,” I said. “We can invite Alyssa and Cat. Maybe Kaitlyn would want to come around too?”
“Oh, uh…” She laughed nervously, dropping her arms by her sides, and she plastered on a smile. “Yeah, maybe. We’ll figure it out. Ah, my feet are killing me,” she said, turning and starting on ahead of me, down the path back towards the house. “Being on my feet cooking and everything is going to be the death of me.”
“You’re the one who suggested a nature walk.”
“Are you criticizing me?Me?The one who’s always right?”
“I think somewhere I’ve managed to find the audacity to do just that.” I checked my phone, and my heart jumped at the sight of a notification, a response from Alyssa.
Awww I love them!! I can’t believe I’ve gotten you taking pictures of blue flowers too, I should apologize for ruining you
