Page 86 of Sycamore Circle

“Honey, you know as well as I do that relationships are really hard. Sometimes everything goes really well, and sometimes it doesn’t. That doesn’t mean that people don’t love each other anymore.”

“Yeah.”

“One thing I know for certain is that both Dad and I love you a lot. No matter what.”

“I love you too, Mom.” Standing up, she said, “I’m going to go watch TV.”

“Alright, honey.”

Only after Chloe went to her room did Joy give into her irritation. That was vintage Tony, without a doubt. He didn’t want her, but he didn’t think anyone else should have her either.

She strode to the living room and picked up her phone, determined to send Tony a text. Just to show him that he couldn’t get away with talking about her with their daughter.

She slid her thumb across the screen, realized she had two messages, and froze.

Feeling as if she was in slow motion, she clicked on the message icon. And saw one from Bo and one from an unknown number. Before she lost her nerve, she clicked on it.

Don’t run away. Don’t hide from me.

A cold sweat poured off of her as she read the words. Read them again. Her fingers hovered over the screen, ready to delete the offending message. Ready to pretend that she hadn’t received it, that she hadn’t noticed it.

But, just like a bad ink stain on a white shirt, the evidence wasn’t going to go away. She could attempt to bleach it out of her mind, but it would always be there. Faded, maybe not as strong in her mind, but always there.

Quickly, she clicked on Bo’s name and read his text.

Still feel badly about not being able to come over earlier. You doing all right?

As a matter of fact, no, she was not. But what was she going to tell him? That her ex-husband, who had told her that she wasn’t enough for him four years ago, was starting to act like maybe she was worth his time after all?

It wasn’t like she and Bo had a close relationship, anyway. Oh, there was some chemistry between them, but she wasn’t even sure if he really liked her or if his feelings had gotten confused with a need to protect her from a mystery stalker.

Finally texting him back, she typed:

I’m fine. You?

Yeah. Guessing you got Chloe home from dance? You haven’t seen anyone else lurking, have you?

A tiny chill ran through her. He’d remembered. And, even more than that, he’d taken the time to ask about her.

I haven’t seen anyone else. I bet I just imagined it anyway.

Still no messages, right?

I just got one, but it’s okay. I’ll call Kevin about it tomorrow.

Immediately, her phone rang. “Girl. What’s this about?”

“Hi to you too.”

“Don’t give me that. When did you get another message?”

“I just saw it. Chloe just got settled for the night so I checked my phone. I had two. One from you and one from him.” She frowned. “Or her. Or whoever it was.”

“What did it say?”

“I don’t remember exactly.” Of course that was a lie.

“What’s going on? Are you mad at me? I promise, I really had to go by the house. This guy who just got out is kind of a handful. He’s driving everyone crazy.”

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