Page 93 of Gifted & Talented

“I just want to be happy,” he agreed.

Then Monster wandered over to us and solemnly handed Arthur the stick he’d found.

“For me?” he said, with genuine surprise, as if it was too rich a prize for him, unearned.

“Degoydegoydegoy,” said Monster. “Tcheeeyyyyyaaa!”

“Oh, for sure, dude.” Arthur smiled faintly, touching Monster’s cheek before Monster ran away again, this time crouching down to look for rocks.

“What’s his name?” Arthur asked me in a quiet voice.

“Tripp,” I said, just as quietly.

“Really?”

“Absolutely not, asshole.” I rose to my feet, holding a hand out for his. “Come on,” I said. “Let’s finish this hike and do some spells.”

47

Meredith met Jamie at the old mill, near the children playing on the swings. She was staring out at the creek when he sidled up to her, handing her a cup of coffee without a word.

“I think I might be marrying someone who isn’t you,” she said, accepting it.

“Mm. How does it feel?” Jamie asked, sipping his coffee.

Meredith considered it. “Safe,” she said. “But also, kind of like I want to swallow hot poison and die.”

“Yeah,” Jamie agreed, half smiling at nothing. “Been there.”

Meredith turned to face him then, shaking her head. “You can’t honestly tell me you’ve spent the last decade pining for me. Right?”

“I haven’t,” he confirmed with a shrug. “There were long spells of time when I didn’t think of you at all, or when I thought of you and it didn’t hurt. I can go months without thinking of you, actually. I went a whole year once.”

“Was it like that when you thought you might get married?”

“Yeah, well, that was easier because whenever I thought about you, it was in a ‘thank god she’s dead now’ kind of way.”

“I’m not dead,” Meredith pointed out.

“You were dead to me after that last time, which was close enough.” He shook his head and took another sip. “God, you were such a dick.”

“Were?”

“Are,” he corrected himself. “But I was younger then. I thought I had the time to meet and fall in love with lots of other people.”

She considered her cup before taking a sip. “You still have lots of time.”

“Oh, I know,” he agreed. “I plan to fall in love within the next six months.”

“You sound very optimistic.”

“People are mostly very easy to love,” he said. “I don’t find it difficult.”

“Even me?” She wondered if she even wanted to hear that answer.

“Oh, Meredith, it is so fucking easy to love you. The hard stuff with you is the being loved part.” He gestured to the path that led into the trees, over to the waterfalls for which Cascade was named. “Shall we?”

She nodded and started to walk, taking sips of her coffee. It wasn’t sweet this time, but it was piping hot, almost scalding. She appreciated it, pulling her jacket in tighter around her.

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