Page 42 of Endless Southern Love

“No, Leslie, this is bad. He’s bad for me.”

“No, he’s not.”

“Yes, he is.”

“Only in your head is that man bad for you, Lemon. I was there when he groveled. When he begged you for another chance. As far as I know, unless you’re lying to me, this man has never lied to you. He’s never done anything to you. You live by this notion that because of his daughter, you can’t be happy with him. Yet, you purposely took a job in your hometown, knowing your parents don’t live there anymore to what—put yourself through the agony of seeing him every day?”

I hate Leslie right now because she’s right. Everything she says is fact. I’m the problem. Not Wade. He’d been nothing but honest with me after I broke his heart. When I finally came to my senses and called him, he said he wanted me back, but I needed to know the situation.

Still, to this day, those words haunt me.

“Lemon, I love you and I have for most of my life. This breakup has been hard. So fucking hard, and . . . I have something to tell you.”

“Are you with someone else?”

“No, not exactly. But . . . I did spend the night with someone and now she’s pregnant.”

I hung up on him after those words. Yet, he still called, leaving me message after message, telling me his truth, with his voice, and all I could do in response was text him.

TKTEXTPlease stop calling. Please don’t text me. I don’t want to see or hear from you again.

Wade: Okay, Lemon. Call me when you’re ready to talk.

I won’t be. Ever.

Wade: I’m so sorry, Lemon. I truly am.

And then I came back to our hometown, where all our memories are. Back to where I knew he’d be.

Why?

Because I’m a glutton for punishment, apparently.

Leslie sighs heavily, bringing me to the here and now. “Have you spoken to him today?”

I shake my head and walk into my bedroom to get dressed. “I’m sure I will today. Something is bound to be wrong with the garden or sprinkler system. Who knows what I’m walking into at school.”

“Literally, walking,” Leslie says with a snicker.

After rummaging through my closet, I find a flowy skirt to wear. I don’t mind walking, but doing so in one of my power suits isn’t easy. Although, I could just carry my suit with me and change at work.

“I don’t mind walking. It’s better for the environment. My health. Gives me more time to not think about the dumpster fire my life is. It’s odd, I can easily give advice, but lord knows I’m shitty at taking it.”

“Heed this,” Leslie says. “Give him a chance. Give love a chance. You might surprise yourself.”

I groan. “I don’t want to deal with baby mama drama.”

“Who says there are any? Maybe they co-parent really well. You’re just looking for another excuse because you’re running out of them.”

She’s probably right.

“You’re coming with me to work. I don’t want to walk alone.”

Leslie agrees then switches the subject and tells me about some drama going on at her job between two married people and how she needs a bucket of popcorn while she’s listening to them. Leslie is positive they’re having an affair, but she can’t be sure and doesn’t want to come out and ask them.

“Holy shit.”

“What?” Leslie asks. “Turn the camera round so I can see what you see.”

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