Page 20 of Deadly Conflicts

6

Six

“So… James almost punched your ex-boyfriend and I’m dying to hear the real back story on it.”

Ally glanced up from her green tea, the afternoon sun high in the sky as Mandy and Ally took refuge under an umbrella, and widened her eyes. “What?”

The women sat close to one of the drink kiosks, nursing green tea as the men worked about fifty feet away. Since the job came out of nowhere – and they had nothing better to do – Mandy and Ally opted to hang out at the festival all day. It was a mixed bag. They could spend a stolen few minutes with James and Jake when the opportunity arose, but they also had to watch women fawn over and throw themselves at the men on more than one occasion as well.

“James saw Vince?” Ally didn’t appear thrilled with the revelation. “How did that go?”

“Well, James kept his hands to himself – but just barely,” Mandy replied. “There was something extremely unpleasant about the interaction.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Ally said, playing with the ring of condensation her cup left on the tabletop. “Did you ask James about it?”

Mandy nodded. “He said that you chose Vince over him and he always knew that Vince was a loser. He didn’t really want to talk about it, though.”

“I did choose Vince over him,” Ally admitted, rolling her neck until it cracked and staring up at the umbrella canopy. “I thought I really cared about Vince, but it was one of those relationships that didn’t last very long. It burned bright but fast.”

“I worried that would happen with your brother,” Mandy said. “I thought he would walk away within a few weeks. Then it stretched out to a few months and I was convinced he would take off. I don’t know when I realized it was forever but … somehow the pain in my chest lessened over time. I stopped worrying he would leave and embraced the fact that he would stay.”

“I think you worried James would leave because you loved him,” Ally said. “I never worried Vince would leave because I was young and delusional. There’s a difference.”

“Did you love him?”

Ally was surprised by the question but immediately started shaking her head. “No. I thought I could’ve loved him at one point, but … no. I didn’t know what real love was until I met Jake. What I felt for Vince was … like puppy love more than anything else. It wasn’t real. It was a façade.”

“It was real to James,” Mandy said. “He won’t admit it, but you choosing Vince still irritates him.”

Ally wrinkled her nose. “What did he say? We’ve never really talked about what happened.”

“What did happen?”

“We got into a huge fight and I told him I never wanted to see him again,” Ally answered honestly. “Then Vince and I had two more weeks together before he split. I ran crying to James five minutes after I realized what happened.”

Mandy smirked at the admission. “Did he make you beg for forgiveness?”

“No. He just hugged me and bought me Olive Garden.”

The response made Mandy smile even broader. “He’s a good man,” she said. “I can’t believe I ever thought he would leave me.”

“He did leave you,” Ally pointed out, referring to the night James and Mandy got together for the first time – and he proceeded to sneak out in the middle of the night rather than face her the next morning. “He thought he was that guy and then it turned out he was a different guy. That’s okay. He realized his mistake and came back.”

“How do you think your life would’ve been different if Vince realized his mistake and came back?” Mandy asked, genuinely curious.

Ally shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said finally, tilting her head to the side. “I wouldn’t want it to be different from what it is now but … I just don’t know.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter,” Mandy said. “We have the lives we want. That’s the most important thing.”

“It is the most important thing,” Ally agreed. “Let’s finish our tea and shop. Then we can surprise the guys with lunch later. I think everyone is coming down for the fireworks tonight.”

“That sounds like a plan.”

WHEN SOMEONE came up behind James and hugged him from behind, he was surprised. He hurriedly took a step forward because he would recognize Mandy’s hands – her very embrace – anywhere. The woman hugging him was clearly not his wife. It took him a moment to realize it was his sister.

“What in the hell are you doing?”

Ally knit her eyebrows together, annoyed. “And a happy Saturday to you, too.”