Page 72 of Hazel and Elijah Find Out: First They F*cked Around

His choice of word struck the cavernous hollow where my heart was supposed to be. It poked through the paper-thin excuses I’d configured. As if I was a house built of cards, and that word was a puff of air, I crumbled.

My spine curled, and I hugged my middle. Remi moved closer, putting himself within reach, but he didn’t touch me until I clung to him. His big arms held me in a hug.

Slowly, he rocked back and forth, murmuring, “I know. I know.”

It took a few moments before I caught my breath enough to whisper, “It shouldn’t hurt this bad.”

“Why not?”

“It was just a couple of weeks…”

He made a tsking sound. “You know it was more than that. It was a future you wanted, and a man you loved.”

“I feel dumb.”

“Don’t judge yourself for caring. It’s okay to be sad.”

I couldn’t respond. All I had energy for was to cling to Remi’s middle and cry muddy tears into his blue scrub shirt.

Chapter 22

Hazel

Ihadn’tbeenableto bring myself to open the clinic’s social media accounts since the auction. Hiding underground—literally—had been more appealing. But after a day of sleeping, per Brooks’ stipulation, I felt a little better. My thoughts were clearer. My emotions were still what they were. Today was as good as any to peek through my fingers at the alerts on our profiles.

My cheeks puffed out on an exhale as I considered where to start.

After a brief deliberation, I went to the community page. If it was a garbage fire, I could always go back to the basement. I sat up straighter as I read comment after comment.

Raise of hands, who wishes there was a bachelor auction every weekend?Sterling posted almost three weeks ago, with an emoji guy holding his hand up.

Who knew Hazel could throw a party?! Also, who knew Brooks was hot?! I lost my GD mind!Lindsey Goodman commented underneath. I hadn’t actually planned any of it, but it still gave me a little thrill to see my name and party in the same sentence.

OMG! Tell me the bachelor auction will be yearly! I haven’t had that much fun in sooooo long! I needed it!Chelsea Thelen commented beneath.

Leaning back in my chair, I let that idea sink in. If there was interest in it being a regular event, then there wasn’t any reason for it not to be. We’d survived the negative attention once, and it more than paid for the donation. It would lift some pressure off me. The relief just the idea gave me was enough to type out.Start the countdown to next year! The bachelor auction lives! Details to come.

A “thumbs up” popped under the comment right away.

There was negative attention too, but the excitement and support greatly outweighed the naysayers. Or maybe I was just turning my eyes to the good. Maybe I didn’t have to be perfect, to never give them anything bad to say, to always be what they expected me to be. If the busybodies were a part of the town and its energy, then so were my tribe—the people trying to bring kindness to their neighbors; we were here, too.

I was feeling pretty good—breathing more easily—when I caught Ginny’s comment,Bless that Elijah March. My computer hasn’t worked this well since I bought it! He even got all those porn pop-ups to stop! To each their own, but some of those were concerning. Informative, but concerning.

My initial impulse was to text him, ask him what dark corners he’d uncovered, but that wasn’t something I could do anymore. He might be nice and respond, but I wasn’t ready.

Elijah March.TheElijah March. The boy who broke my heart every day of our youth by not noticing my existence. The man whose heart was too broken not to break mine.

He was responsible for his own actions, but I still dished a heaping load of it onto Doc March.

“That bastard,” I mumbled to my computer screen.

My social media pennies had been spent, and I braced myself to switch to our banking website. It took one glance for me to freeze in my office chair. The computer screen wouldn’t change, no matter how many times I blinked. Unplugging my laptop, I left it open as I carried it from my office in the back of the clinic to the front.

Hopefully, everyone wasn’t regretting helping me out.

And hopefully, Nora would understand the balance in the bank account.

Brooks and Remi were still working their last appointments of the day. From the sounds as I walked past Remi’s examination room, Mrs. Peters’ giant fluffy cat was not happy.

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