Page 82 of Forever Gone

The room became quieter than the lowered television required.

Kelly rested both forearms on the counter. “Selena, I can only say sorry. I don’t know what else you want me to…”

“It’s fine.”

Selena picked up the whiskey.

The cup felt thin between her fingers. She had not intended to drink. She also did not want another apology in front of Eric, with a rubber creature crawling across the television behind him and the motel register between them.

“We’re all big girls now,” Selena said.

Eric raised one hand. “I’m not a girl.”

“Present company excluded.”

She drank.

The whiskey carried heat down her throat and settled warmly beneath her ribs. Better than the cheap bourbon she expected from a motel office. Familiar, too.

“Still the good stuff, Eric.”

“Always.”

He poured her another without asking.

Selena should have stopped him. Instead, she held the cup as Eric returned his attention to the film.

On-screen, the shovel struck a coffin lid.

Eric said, “Do you remember Mr. Collander?”

Kelly laughed. “Mr. Cauliflower? Sure.”

Selena rested one hip against the counter. “Yeah. Didn’t he teach geography?”

“That was him.” Eric muted the television as the coffin opened. “Well, I have it on good authority that he is now Mrs. Cauliflower.”

Kelly blinked. “No way.”

“Yep. Happily married out in Idaho.”

Selena turned the cup slowly between her fingers. “Is this another rumor you’re starting?”

“Scout’s honor. A pal of mine saw her at a restaurant. Took him a minute to recognize her.”

Kelly shook her head. “You know people everywhere, don’t you?”

“People remember me.”

“Not always for the best reasons,” Selena said.

Eric ignored that. “Apparently she’s doing well.”

"Good," Selena said. "It's the twenty-first century as long as she's happy. We all have to be comfortable in our own skin."

“Amen to that,” Eric replied.

Selena lifted the second drink.