"Hey, you got what you wanted, didn't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"I sponsored your festivals, didn't I?"
"Oh come on," I said. "I wanted you to sponsor one festival, but you couldn’t even do it."
"The hell I didn't."
"Okay, fine you did it, but not for the good of the community. No. You did it because you wanted to offset the publicity of that godawful book, which I did read by the way."
"And?"
By now, I felt utterly drained. "I don't know."
"You don't know what?"
"I don’t know anything."
"Got that right," he said. "And we're done talking."
"Great. Because I don't have anything more to say to you, anyway."
"Good. Because you've said enough already." He looked toward his window and said, "Now stop the car. I'm getting out."
Seriously?
I looked around. We were on a long, lonely stretch of road surrounded by farm fields and not much else. But hey, if that's what he wanted.
I slowed the car and pulled off to the shoulder. My car had barely come to a stop when he pushed open the passenger side door. He was out so fast I never had the chance to say goodbye, as if I would anyway.
If Chase were anyone else, I might have worried about him getting home safely. But he had a cell phone, plenty of money, and countless lackeys he could call for help.
And besides, this was his idea, not mine.
After he slammed the passenger side door, I floored it and didn't look back, not even in the rear-view mirror.
And then, I went home to cry.
I knew I couldn’t cry for long, because I still had work to do. But that didn't mean I couldn't take at least some time to wallow in my misery before returning to the festival, where I'd have to put on a happy face no matter what.
And I would, I decided, even if killed me.
Chapter 74
Chase
From the driver's seat of his black pickup, Brody asked, "So, how's it goin'?"
"Shitty," I said. "Thanks for asking."
Brody knew damn well how things were going, because a half-hour ago, I'd called him for a ride.
Since then, I'd spent the last thirty minutes walking along the roadside while Mina's accusations haunted my steps like a crazed hitchhiker.
From the passenger's seat, I said, "Lemme ask you something."
"Yeah?"
"I've apologized, right?"
"For what?"
"I dunno. For whatever."
He shrugged. "Not that I recall."
I frowned. "Yeah, but if I did something wrong, I'd own up to it, right?"
He gave me a long sideways look, but said nothing.
"I would," I insisted.
"Don't tell me," he said. "Tell Mina."
"Tell her what?" I scoffed. "That I'm sorry? Forget it. I already told her that I loved her, and you know what she said?"
"What?"
"Nice try."
Brody was silent for a long moment. "So let me get this straight. You said, 'I love you.' And she said, 'Nice try?'"
"Yeah, except I didn't say it the way you did."
"So how did you say it?"
"I told her friend that Mina was the girl I loved."
"So you told someone else that you loved her?"
"Yeah, but Mina was right there to hear it." I reached up to rub the back of my neck before mumbling, "And actually, the chick's more like her enemy, but you know what I mean."
"So you didn't really say it?"
"Not directly, but Mina got the idea."
Brody gave a low scoff but said nothing.
"What?" I said.
With a slow shake of his head, he asked, "Aren't you supposed to be good with people?"
I knew what he meant. I was the kind of guy who always knew what to say, except not so much these days. "I am good with people," I said. "Just not with Mina, apparently."
"Yeah. And you wanna know why?"
"Why?"
"Because she sees through your bullshit."
Great. So now he was hassling me, too? I asked, "And how would you know?"
"I'm just calling it as I see it." He gave me another sideways look. "And in case you don't know, confessing your love to a third-party doesn't count."
"Yeah, well, I never did it before, so…" I didn't bother finishing the sentence. But I wasn't exaggerating. As far as confessing my love, it's not like I'd had a lot of experience.
Hell, I'd had zero experience. And apparently, it showed.
Pushing that issue aside, I went on to tell Brody how Mina had overheard that joke I'd made at the Buckville Fairgrounds – the one about dumping her when the campaign was over.
When I finished, Brody said, "Oh, yeah? How'd that go?"
"You know how it went," I said. "She dumped me first."
With a low chuckle, he said, "And you still can't believe it, can you?"
No. I couldn't, actually.
In my whole life, I'd never had any girl walk away from me. It was a new experience, and one I wasn't enjoying.
I told Brody, "I don't know what I believe."
"Yeah you do," he said. "You're just having a hard time facing it, that's all."
"Oh, yeah? And how would you know?"
"Because I've been there."
Sure, he had. I leaned back in the seat and said. "By the way, you or Mason need to handle the festival stuff tonight. I'm done."
Brody laughed. "God, what a pussy."
I felt like slugging him. "Are you fucking serious?"
He made a show of looking around. "You see anyone else in the truck?"
"I'm no pussy," I said. "I’m just tired of the bullshit."
Brody gave a slow nod. "I'll give it a day, maybe two."
"For what?"
"For you to pull your head out of your ass and see things the way they really are."
He was wrong.
It didn't take me a day. It took me less than five hours before I was willing to face the truth. I'd messed up, bigtime.
I'd been arrogant, stupid, and blind, even more so when I considered what I'd lost.
Mina.
Chapter 75
Mina
After leaving Chase along the roadside, I drove straight to my parents' house and spent nearly an hour wallowing in misery.
On the upside, with my whole family at the festival, I had plenty of privacy to vent my frustrations into my pillow before cleaning myself up and leaving once again for the fairgrounds.
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