Page 79 of When You Smile

“Danny, no. I can’t and don’t want to. I have my shift at the library and then forty-two papers to grade by ten a.m. tomorrow. My soul is tired. Do you hear me? And I don’t have it in me for one of our talks.”

“You’re gonna want to hear this.”

She exhaled, loud enough that he’d hear it. There was no getting out of this. “Hear what?”

“What if I told you I knew why?” His eyes were earnest and he didn’t seem his normal confident self.

She shrugged. “You know why what?”

“Why Taryn ended things with you.”

Her breath caught. It was the question she’d stayed up nights pondering, and he now dangled it on a hook like bait. While she wanted desperately not to care, to keep herself behind the emotional fortress she’d carefully constructed, everything in her rose to attention. “Okay. And why is that?”

“Can we sit?” He gestured with his head to the half wall nearby, and she led the way. “Here goes.” He slapped his knee and gave his head one shake. “My mother means well, but she can be a bull in a china shop when she gets her mind set on something.”

That part was true. Monica was a go-getter to an actual fault. She’d once snatched up her mom’s crush when they were younger, nearly ending their friendship. “What does Monica have to do with Taryn?”

“She was a little too interested in the status of your relationship when I had lunch with her recently. She pressed and pressed for details.” Charlie frowned at him, curious as to where this was all going.

Charlie nodded. “She wants you and me back together.”

“Too much.” He sighed. “After two martinis, I still couldn’t get it out of her.”

Charlie frowned, unsure where this was going.

“Then a couple days ago, I find Taryn waiting for me at the TKE house on the day of their weekly chapter meeting. She was nervous and sad, looking like a lost puppy dog. Anyway, she clued me in on a few things.”

“What did she say?” Her heart thudded, realizing she was about to get an answer or two.

“Mom confronted Taryn while you were gone and told her she’d use her influence to pull the Broadland Rhodes opportunity if Taryn didn’t back off.”

“No.” A pause. “Monica wouldn’t do that. Would she?”

Her stared at her ruefully. “It’s fucked up, but yeah. I’m afraid she would.” He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. “And did.”

“And you’re saying Taryn just said okay, sure and gave in?”

Danny shrugged as if it was beyond him as well.

“I don’t even know what to say right now.” Just when Charlie thought this whole thing couldn’t get any more shocking…Monica had shaken the tree, and Taryn had leapt right out of it. Was it really that easy to just walk away from her? Apparently so. She was reeling. Emotions fired in every which way like an out-of-control shootout at a saloon. She squeezed her hands to keep herself calm, but her thoughts took off at a tear.

“I get the feeling Taryn was a little outmatched.” Danny seemed intent on helping Charlie through this moment, which was appreciated but unnecessary. “You know how my mom can be. She takes over in a blaze.”

“She does. But this is over the line.” Charlie shook her head, going back through every moment with a new understanding. It was like watching a movie back after you were made aware of the twist. While the new information offered clarity, it didn’t make her feel even one shred better, more like a pawn moved around a board without a single say-so in the matter. Insulting. Degrading.

“I used to think my mom always meant well,” Danny said. “Even if her methods weren’t the best. She got to where she is in her career for a reason. But after this one, I’m not sure what to think.” He stood. “I’m really sorry, Char. I thought you should know.”

She nodded numbly. “Thank you,” she said, her words delayed as her thoughts took over.

“I’ll give you your space, but reach out if there’s anything I can do.”

“I will.”

Charlie sat right where she was, not caring that she might be late for work, not caring who saw her processing each of these very powerful feelings that took their turn with her one after the other until she felt dizzy and sick. In the end, anger won out, now champion of the day. She stood, checked her watch, and stalked her way across the quad, ready to put it to use. Someone had Spanish class in ten minutes, and she planned to be there.

* * *

There were moments in life when the details rose to the surface. When each of the five senses overachieved, making that particular point in time roar. Taryn experienced exactly that when she approached the foreign language building and found Charlie standing in front. The wind picked up, lifting Taryn’s hair and blowing it off her forehead. The faint smell of bacon from the dining hall next door wafted through the air. She could remember the exact moment she was close enough to Charlie for her features to snap into focus. Her blue eyes blazed, and a strand of hair was tucked behind her ear on the right side in an angelic contrast to her demeanor. There were students to her right laughing too loudly at something ridiculous. Charlie’s face, creased with anger, and the way she’d folded her arms across her chest would be burned into Taryn’s memory forever.

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