Page 124 of Play Book

“I can do it,” I tell her.

“You’ve looked so sad all day. I know it was a disappointment that Canyon missed your retirement party.”

“It’s always something,” I say, pulling something putrid out of the fridge and tossing it in the trash.

“Jesus, what the fuck?” Chey pulls out something else that’s a little scary and tosses it as well.

“Let’s just empty everything,” I say. “There’s nothing salvageable.”

“Agreed.”

We work in silence for a few minutes and then she looks at me. “What’s going on? This isn’t like you. Are you mad at him?”

“No. I’m just…” I pause, leaning against the counter. “He’s not the only one who’s got stuff going on, and frankly, I could use a little support too.”

“Something’s going on?” She looks confused. “Like what?”

They all know about the vandalism at the store, but I didn’t tell anyone but Stevie the details of the ongoing issues. So I tell her about the current situation with what I’m now calling a stalker, and how things have now escalated from vandalism to an actual death threat.

“Jesus, Saylor! Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I haven’t really told anyone,” I admit. “I just keep hoping it’s going to go away or that he’ll get bored or whatever.”

“Does Canyon know?”

“He knows some of it, but I haven’t wanted to distract him since he has enough of his own shit going on.”

“That’s not how relationships are supposed to work.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Why are you letting him off so easy? Force him to make a decision.”

“I can’t,” I say quietly. “He has to prioritize his niece. She needs him.”

“That’s a cop out.”

“It’s not. She’s a little kid. I’m an adult. I can handle my own shit. She can’t.”

“True, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be there for you too.”

“She doesn’t like me. She’s made it clear she doesn’t want me around, so it’s not that cut and dried.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’m going to see what happens.”

“I thought things were going well?”

“They are… but there was this look in his eyes when he left this morning. Like, he was saying goodbye. I can’t explain it.”

“I think you need to talk to him instead of stressing yourself out and thinking all these negative thoughts.”

“He promised he would call, but I haven’t heard from him.”

“He’s new at this.” She searches my face. “Didn’t you say you’re his first serious adult relationship? He’s probably not used to checking in.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t know if this is in the cards for us. I thought maybe we could make it work, but how do you do that when you never see each other?”

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