“Done.”
“I’ve never met anyone like you,” Mason let slip.
“What is wrong with you? You can’t break up with me and then say some shit like that.”
“Sorry, let me try again. You’re a feckless hag and I hope your luggage gets lost on the way home.”
“Much better. Bring it in, champ.”
Xeni gathered him close like he wasn’t twice her size and he made sure to soak in the moment. He knew it would be the last time he touched her.
“I’m not gonna kiss you,” she said when she stepped back.
“Good thinking.”
“Bye, Mason.”
“Goodbye, Xeni.”
He watched her as she climbed into her car and waited until she pulled down the rock paved parking lot and back out onto the main road. Just before she turned, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He looked at the preview of the text staring back on the screen.
Your father is wrong. You are amazing.
And I’ve been proud to call you mine.
Mason almost went diving for the proper gif response, the perfect image to relate the depths of his heartbroken despair. Instead, he slipped his phone into his pocket and went inside to change. If he responded to her text, he knew he’d never stop responding to her texts again.
* * *
Xeni took one last look at her rings, then let out a deep breath and rang Keira’s doorbell. It was time for their weekly viewing ofA Match Made In Paradise: Australia. She taken both rings off that morning before she went to school to meet her students. She was jet lagged and beyond dehydrated, but the little ones had been a welcome distraction. It was hard to think about her shattered heart while chasing after a bunch of six year olds.
The door swung open and Keira’s husband, Daniel, with his ridiculously hot face, welcomed her inside.
“Odd question, but how was it?” he asked as she followed him to the kitchen.
“Weird.”
“Weird?”
“I’ll give you the whole story when everyone gets—” Shae, Keira and Erica were already screaming and rushing at her before she could finish her sentence. She could spot Sloan hanging back on a kitchen stool as she tried to survive the onslaught of hugs. She’d already seen Meegan at school, who was currently busy trying one of Shae’s cupcakes.
“Welcome back!” Keira said.
“Ugh, I missed you,” Shae said, squeezing her tight.
“I brought you apple butter.” Xeni reached into her tote and pulled out the jar she’d brought from the farm.
“She brought me jam. I had some when I got home, right out of the jar. It was a-maze,” Meegan said, pretending to drool.
“Uh, excuse me,” Shae grabbed her hand and turned it over, examining her rings. “What’s all this?”
“Oh, pretty! Was it your aunt’s?” Keira asked.
“Uh, no.”
“I repeat, excuse me,” Shae said.
“I have a lot to tell you guys.”
