A hot summer breeze kicked up the smell of old books. She inhaled sharply, closed her eyes, took in another deep breath, and let the overhead sun warm her face. This place had always been so magical—an outdoor bookshop with endless rows of red-painted shelves. Sophie followed the vines that wrapped around the courtyard from one shelf to the next, wandering over to a section with softcovers in pastels.
Which is when she stopped in her tracks. There, standing next to a shelf and holding a copy of Whisked Away, was Ned. He noticed her and a steely expression crossed his face. Well, she’d been nervous to see him before, and now those nerves were absolutely confirmed. Ned hated her or something. He placed the book back on the shelf, rocked on his heels, and gestured toward an empty patio table. “Shall we?”
Sophie supposed they would, even though confrontation was something she actively avoided. Now that she was here, and just a few feet from Ned, there was no getting around talking to him.
They sat in the courtyard and the hard metal of the chair pressed into her back. Ned rested his chin on his fist. To Sophie, he still looked like the guy she’d dated in high school—skin tanned from working outside, leather bracelet, thick black hair, and high cheekbones—but he’d added a beard and a collared shirt.
“How are Isabella and April?” Sophie figured she might as well keep trying to dodge why they were really meeting, and Ned’s sweet moms were almost a bigger draw than Ned was, back in those days.
He took in a sharp breath and brushed a yellow flower petal from the table. “They keep talking about retiring and selling the ranch, but I’m not sure they ever will.”
“Will you tell them I said hi?” She could almost picture their kitchen table, where she’d sat for a meal so many times.
“Sure.” They locked eyes, but then Ned looked off as his thumbs twiddled on top of the table. She waited to see if he would talk first. Like, apologize for saying something untrue, for example.
But after several long and silent moments passed, Sophie sensed that Ned wasn’t going to bring up his comment—Weird, since you told me you loved me—so she decided to just put it out there. “Okay, so obviously, I saw your message.”
“Obviously.” He steepled his fingers and waited for her to continue.
“Right.” She fought off the urge to sigh. He’d always been a bit dramatic, and here he was stirring the pot again. “And, you know, I was a little shocked to see you say that because it never happened.”
“Yes, it did.” He quickly replied.
“Okay, when did I tell you that?” She started to feel like she was back in their high-school cafeteria, and they’d played a game of gossip telephone but he’d gotten the password wrong.
“Right before you broke up with me.”
She shook her head. She did not remember ever telling Ned that she loved him. “But when did I tell you the words I love you? Because that one definitely didn’t happen.”
Ned crossed his arms and leaned back into the chair. “I didn’t want to do this, but I have receipts. My moms kept my room intact, and the Valentine’s card you gave me was still in my desk drawer when I went to look for it.” Ned stood up and pulled a card out of his back pocket. He handed her the slip of pink construction paper with a red cutout heart, two googly eyes, and a mouth with fangs. A vampire Valentine, of course. When she opened the card, there was a message in her handwriting that read Happy V-Day! Lurve ya, Homeskillet!
This was definitely a Buffy-inspired card from her to Ned. And while the words were absolutely ridiculous, she couldn’t ignore the message. Why hadn’t she remembered this card at all until now? Seeing the card did jog some kind of vague memory of making it, and she let out a sigh as she held the evidence in her hands that she had told Ned she loved him—well, lurved him.
“Look, it’s not a big deal.” Ned took off his baseball cap and swiped a hand through his hair before tugging it back on. “But I saw your video, and I was just like, wow, look at Sophie conveniently forgetting things, as usual.”
There was a joking edge to his voice, but what was Ned going on about now? “I do not forget things. What are you talking about?”
“You forgot that card.” He nodded to the card in her hand and, well, touché. “And you also forgot to return my calls after you dumped me. I know I never told you I loved you back, but that was no reason to be rude.” Ned’s shoulders slumped, like he was reliving the memory all over again.
Sophie was about to respond but paused, because maybe there was a grain of truth to what Ned was saying. Yes, she’d broken up with him and used Buffy as an excuse. But maybe part of her had also ended their relationship because he’d rejected her... She hadn’t considered that before.
“I’m sorry if I was rude.” She shrugged, at a bit of a loss as to how to make things right. “But writing lurve ya, homeskillet in a card is not exactly the same thing as telling someone you love them.”
“I guess we can agree to disagree.” Ned briefly looked beyond her, like he was remembering something, then his attention came back to Sophie. “But you broke my fragile high-school heart and then avoided me like the plague. You hurt my feelings.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but weirdly saw pain still lingering at the edges of Ned’s expression. Their adolescent relationship had felt more like a friendship to her than anything truly romantic, but maybe Ned had felt differently, which wasn’t something she’d considered. “I’m so sorry,” she eventually said. “I didn’t know that.”
“Look. I’ve moved on. I’m happily married.” He held up his left hand and revealed a shiny gold band. “I just wish you hadn’t avoided talking to me back then. I thought we were friends.”
“We were friends,” she said.
“It didn’t really feel that way when you just kept ignoring me.” And there it was: Sophie had absolutely hurt Ned’s feelings. Their breakup had been so long ago, the thought he might still hold a grudge hadn’t even occurred to her.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she offered. Out of all the things Sophie had expected coming into this meeting with Ned, her being the villain wasn’t one of them.
“You don’t have to therapize me, or whatever they do out in Los Angeles,” he joked.
“I don’t therapize, I only accessorize.” Sophie held up her red laptop bag, which did match her red dress.
This made Ned laugh, which she was grateful to see. She’d forgotten what an incredibly wide and mischievous smile he had.
“I need to ask you a question.” Sophie leaned across the table. She wanted to steer them back to the experiment.
But then Ned’s phone began to loudly ring. “One sec.” He took the phone out from his pocket. “It’s my wife. She’s picking me up after this.”
Ned pushed himself up from the table and walked away as he answered. Sophie exhaled, a bit relieved that he was gone, even if only for a minute. She knew these meetings with her exes would be emotionally draining, but she hadn’t realized just how much unfinished business she might have to wade through. And she and Ned definitely had some.
Sophie grabbed her phone to distract her, and when she glanced at the screen, there was a text from Dash.
Dash: Car won’t start...
Well, that was a plot twist she hadn’t seen coming.
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