Page 32 of Pity Parade

With her hands on her hips, Trina asks, “What is your problem?” Then she addresses Nick. “Heath and I went on one date in Chicago, but it was for charity.” She doesn’t bother to explain that she bought me for an exorbitant amount. Instead, she says, “Supper at the club was with a group, and coffee this morning was totally by chance.”

Poor Nick looks super uncomfortable. “I don’t want to get in the middle of anything.”

“There’s nothing to get in the middle of,” Trina tells him.

“What about your friend who’s coming to visit?” I ask.

“Daniel? What about him?” Trina wants to know.

“You can hardly go out with Nick while Daniel is here.”

Nick clears his throat and takes a step backwards. “You know what? It was nice meeting you both.” Another giant step. “I hope you have a great summer.” Then he flips around and practically sprints toward his car.

If I were intelligent, I’d do the same thing, but I can’t currently be accused of excess smarts. Trina reaches out and pinches my arm sharply, “You are a menace.” I don’t bother to disagree with her. I know she speaks the truth. She tells me, “I want you to leave me alone, Heath. You’ve made it perfectly clear you don’t want to date me. And believe me, I want nothing to do with you.”

I cringe to think how mad she’d be if she knew what I told Trent. I try to defend my behavior by saying, “I’m just being a friend. A friend would make sure you didn’t jump into anything too quickly.”

“You’re not being a friend,” she says heatedly. “Friends don’t get in the way of their friends’ happiness. They don’t act like spoiled, entitled babies.”

“That’s mean.”

She rolls her eyes. “It’s the truth.”

She is one hundred percent accurate in her assessment of my behavior. Having no defense, I tell her, “I hope you have a nice visit with Daniel.”

“Stay away from him, Heath. I mean it.”

“I’ll do my best. But like I’ve previously mentioned, I can’t be responsible if he knocks on my door.”

“He will not knock on your door,” she says. “Primarily, because I’m going to tell him that you’re a psycho with a criminal record.”

My mouth opens and closes like a mute Big Mouth Billy Bass. When no intelligent words are forthcoming, I manage to utter, “Have a nice night, Trina.” Then I turn and walk away.

I know I’ve acted like a child tonight. I’ve treated this lovely woman like she’s a piece of property, all the while doing my best to ruin her evening. I have no excuse for that.

That’s when I hear a tiny voice inside my head say, “You want to date her.”

At the minimum, I’d love to spend a lot of time with her and get to know her better, but I don’t want to date her in any official capacity.

“You’re afraid,” the voice says.

Hell, yes, I’m afraid.

“It’s time to open your heart, Heath.” That’s when I realize who’s talking to me. I shake my head violently in response, but it continues. “You need love in your life, and while I’ll love you forever, I’m no longer there to love you in person.”

Jess hasn’t spoken to me once in ten years. And yet, knowing my wife like I do, I can’t be completely sure she isn’t watching out for me.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

TRINA

On my drive home from Missy and Jamie’s, I fantasize about all the horrible things I want to do to Heath—starting with slashing his tires so he can’t go anywhere. A town this small can’t have an Uber, can they?

I don’t know what happened to Trent, the landscape architect, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Heath had something to do with his leaving early.

By the time I get to my apartment, I’m more worked up than I was when I left the party tonight. Why is Heath doing this to me? What’s in it for him to make my life miserable?

After changing into my pajamas, I crawl into bed and open my laptop. My intention is to do some more research on Daniel. Instead, I find myself typing Heath’s name into the search engine. Thousands of different articles pop up, and while I want to read some of them, I have an urge to see who he’s going around town with. That’s why I hit the image button first.

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