Knotted Roots

Chapter TWENTY-SIX



The sweltering heat was cut off as soon as I shut the door to Katy’s car. Her air conditioning was working overtime, desperately trying to fight the stifling summer heat. I looked over at her and suddenly felt underdressed. She was dressed in a white sheath with a lace overlay, with tiny pearls on the trim. It was a stunning dress, but it seemed to be a little bit much for a night at the movies.

“Wow. Katy, you look great!” I looked down at my jeans and tank top, and for the first time in my life I felt uncomfortable in what I was wearing. “Did I miss the memo for the dress code?”

She giggled and pulled out of the yard. “There’s been a change of plans. No one wanted to go to the movies. We’re meeting them at the beach.”

I stared at her, hoping and praying that she was joking. “The beach? As in Myrtle Beach? That’s an hour away!”

“Yep. That’s the one,” she replied, pursing her lips as she looked in the rearview mirror. “Don’t worry, okay? It’s gonna be fine.”

Shaking my head, I stared out the window. “He’s going to be there, isn’t he?” I turned to look at her, her eyes avoiding me at all costs. “Katy! No. Please! Take me home. I need to go home.” I wasn’t ready to see Chase again. I had already run away from him too many times. I knew that he would never forgive me for doing it again, especially after he poured his heart out to me.

“I don’t know if he’ll be there. So what if he is?” She glanced at me, her eyes drooping when she saw the sheer panic on my face. “You ran. Didn’t you? Dammit Roxie! How many times are you going to screw it up?”

“Way to make me feel better.”

“I’m not here to make you feel better. I’m here as your friend. Stop screwing shit up with him. Haven’t you two been through enough drama this summer? It’s like a bad episode of Dawson’s Creek.”

I laughed at her comparison. She was right. We had been back and forth so many times that it was starting to feel like an overrated teen show. I knew that I had to figure out what I felt for him, but I couldn’t do that with him there. It’s impossible to get your head on straight when you’re being pulled in a thousand directions at one time.

“Look...I really care about him. I do. But when he dropped the L bomb-”

“Whoa! He said he loves you?!” The car jerked as her voice rose higher. “Well no freaking wonder you ran away! I’m going to knock him out when I see him. Geez...”

My hand was on my chest as my heart fluttered rapidly. “It’s not that he said it...it’s that he feels that way. It scares me, ya know? It just feels too fast.”

The words were barely out of my mouth when she jerked the car over to the side of the road. She cut the car off and then positioned her body so that she was facing me. Her face was serious, a look that was very rare on her face.

“I get it. You’re scared. You wonder how he could feel like that about you so quickly. Here’s the hard reality Roxie. He was done the first moment he met you. I still remember that day, after he met ya in the diner?” I nodded along, not quite sure where she had gotten that idea. “The next day all he could do was talk about how beautiful you were. You made an impression on him. He knew that day that he was in love.”

I shook my head in protest. “You can’t love someone that quickly. It’s not rational.”

“Who told you that love was rational?” She giggled at me as she ran a hand over her dress. “I have been in love with the same guy since I was five years old. I have tried for years to get him to see me as something more than a friend, but it wasn’t meant to be. And now I know why.”

I saw the tears glistening in her eyes. I grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Chase?” She nodded as the first tear rolled down her pink cheek. “All this time...why didn’t you tell him how you felt?”

“Because it wouldn’t have mattered. He isn’t my future. He’s yours. I knew it the first day he spoke about you. So, maybe you can’t imagine how he can be in love with you so quickly, but he is. He’s lost right now, clinging to the hope that maybe you’ll change your mind and love him back.”

My chest hurt like hell at that moment. It felt like there were a thousand tiny needles probing my heart, all of them trying to find a weak spot at the same time. The feeling was uncomfortable to say the least and my mind struggled to catch up to what my heart was telling me.

When it hit me, it took all of my strength not to crumble right there beside Katy. “I love him, don’t I?” My voice was barely more than a whisper, but I was sure she heard me. She nodded and gave me a pained smile. “What do I do now? I don’t know what to say to him. I’ve screwed up so much...”

“Love is all about the screw ups. It’s what makes it so sweet when things finally fall into place. Tell him the truth. Be sappy, be weepy...hell, body slam against a wall with a deep, earth shattering kiss. I don’t care how you do it. Just tell him. He deserves to know.”

With that final word Katy cranked up the car and pull back onto the road. The pained look on her face was still there, but the new sense of satisfaction was simmering just below the surface. She had gotten through to me when no one else could. I doubted things would be that easy when I was face to face with Chase again, but I now knew what I had to do. I had to tell him I loved him. Before it was too late.