Susan did not blink.
“Temporary role,” she said. “Low budget. Emotionally demanding.”
Liam stared at her another second, then shook her hand.
“Okay.”
Susan sat back down.
Ten years ago, Monica told me I could not fix being me.
“You want to ask me anything?” she said.
He shrugged.
“Can you act like you like my dad?”
She smiled.
“I don’t think that part will be hard.”
Ten years ago, Monica told me I could not fix being me.
“He’s protective of you.”
Susan had just made it sound like being me was not something broken.
Susan watched him go.
“He’s protective of you.”
“He shouldn’t have to be.”
“But he is,” she said quietly.
The wedding was at a country club outside the city, the kind of place with white stone columns, trimmed hedges, and people who smiled at you while deciding your value in under five seconds.
“If you leave now, you’ll think about it for years.”
I almost turned the truck around in the parking lot.
Susan touched my arm.
“If you leave now, you’ll think about it for years.”
Liam leaned between the front seats.
“Let’s just get it over with.”
So we went in.
She was standing near the entrance with her fiancé. Then she saw Susan.
Monica saw us before we reached the main hall.
She was standing near the entrance with her fiancé and a few relatives, already in her dress, already wearing that polished smile she used whenever she wanted something. Then she saw Susan.
Her smile changed.
She walked over, kissed the air near Liam’s head without really touching him, and then looked straight at Susan.
“My God,” she said loudly. “Daniel, how did you manage to land someone that gorgeous? Do you still take her to McDonald’s for dates and drive her around in that old pickup truck of yours?”
Then Susan took my hand.
A few people nearby laughed.
I felt Liam go still beside me.
I should have answered. I should have said something. But I was back in that hallway ten years ago, holding a baby while Monica looked at me like I was dirt she had stepped in.
Then Susan took my hand.
She did it gently, but there was nothing uncertain about it.
And suddenly I knew Susan knew more than she had said.
“Actually,” she said, smiling at Monica, “I’ve always found reliability attractive.”
Monica’s mouth tightened.
Then Susan tilted her head.
“Still performing, Monica?”
Monica’s smile slipped for half a second.
And suddenly I knew Susan knew more than she had said.
PART2
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The golden retriever lying by the side of the highway wasn’t guarding a lost wallet. He was waiting beside the last thing his owner had left behind… 2
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THE EASTER SUNDAY THEY TRIED TO HIDE — UNTIL A FATHER WALKED INTO A MANSION AND EXPOSED THE MONSTERS INSIDE2
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