He climbed out of the pool, his white T-shirt translucent, his jeans sopping wet, his sneakers squishing with each step. “I’ll go in and make the call. But we’ll take the Charger. It might be twenty-five years older, but it’s more dependable.”
“Thanks, baby,” I said, smiling, as he walked away. Once he was out of earshot, I turned to Abby, all emotion gone from my face. “You’re an asshole.”
Abby cackled.
Travis looked from Abby to me and back again. “What? What’s so funny?”
Abby shook her head. “I’ll tell you later.”
“No, you won’t!” I said, kicking water at her.
With his hand, Travis squeegeed droplets of water off his face, and then he kissed Abby’s temple. She left him, swimming to the side of the pool and climbing up the ladder. She took her towel off the lounger and dried off. Travis watched her like it was the first time he’d ever set eyes on her.
“I’m surprised you’re not pregnant yet,” I said.
Abby froze.
Travis frowned. “C’mon, Mare! Don’t say the P word. You’ll freak her out!”
“Why? Has it been on the table?” I asked my friend.
“A few times,” Abby said, looking pointedly at Travis. “He thinks I’m going to stop my birth control the moment we graduate.”
My eyebrows pushed up. “Are you?”
“No,” she said quickly. “Not until we buy a house.”
Travis’s expression intensified. “We have an extra bedroom.”
“Thanks, Mare,” Abby grumbled, bending over to rub the towel over her legs.
“Sorry,” I said. “I’m going in. We have a road trip to plan.”
“Hey. If you go, be careful. Shep’s right. The weather is supposed to be bad. Maybe you should wait until the storm season is over.”
“If we don’t go now, we’ll get busy. Once classes start, it will be too late. We’ll have to wait until a break.” I looked to the ground. “The way he’s been acting, I don’t know if he’ll be patient much longer.”
“He’ll wait forever, Mare,” Abby said.
“Too late for what?” Travis asked, climbing out of the pool. “What’s he waiting on?”
“Nothing.” I shot Abby a warning glare before gathering my things and pushing out of the gate. I closed it behind me, keeping my hand on the hot metal. “Keep your mouth shut. You might be his wife, but you were my friend first.”
“Okay, okay,” Abby said, cowering under my stare.
Shepley
“Thanks, Janice. I appreciate it.” I tapped the red button and set the phone on the bed.
Janice had loved me since the moment I stepped into her office for the interview. What had started out as a gopher job had turned into administrative work, and then I’d somehow ended up in the wealth management department. Janice was hoping I’d stay on after I graduated college, promising me promotions and opportunities galore, but my heart wasn’t in it.
I stared at the almost empty drawer of my nightstand. That’s where my heart is.
Once the display light on my cell phone disappeared, the darkness of the room surrounded me. The summer evening sun snuck in through the sides of the curtains, creating faint shadows on the walls.
We’d lived here for less than a year, and already, the walls were crowded with frames holding our memories. It hadn’t been hard to mesh our belongings because the last two years had been us and our and we. Now, I wasn’t sure if it was a symbol of our lives together or if it was a memorial of the couple we used to be.
I’d regretted proposing since the moment America said no. We had become different after that.