Page 16 of Stay in Your Lane!

“Honey,” Dad said tentatively after the screen door slammed shut, “are you okay?”

Leanne burst into sobs.

Oh shit.

“Aw, baby.” Dad came over to wrap an arm around her shoulders. “Whatever it is, it’s not that bad, huh? Let’s—” His phone began to ring, and he sighed. “I’ve gotta take that.” He kissed the side of Leanne’s head, then gave me afix this shitlook and left the room.

All my earlier ire forgotten, I pulled a chair in close to Leanne’s and gave her a hug. She leaned into me, pressing her face to my shirt, and I was glad I’d chosen the black one today because it would hide the mascara stains so much better. Not that I couldn’t change, but my other black shirt was in the laundry and I honestly preferred the black shirts to the white ones because it was inevitable that I’d getsomesort of stain on it, so?—

Leanne made a whimpering sound and I refocused. “What’s wrong?” I rubber her shoulder with one hand. “What happened?”

“It’s Theo,” she said in a voice choked with tears.

Oh shit. “What happened to Theo?”

“Not to him—withhim.” She pulled back, biting her lower lip as she glanced up, but not quite at me. “Last night, he—he called me and he wanted to talk, and I told him it was late and I needed to sleep because I was behind on work, and IknewI’d forgotten those fucking snacks so I was going to wake up early to go andget them, and that’s when he said that—” She squeezed her eyes shut. “He said that he wanted to call off our engagement. He said I never prioritized him, and that if I wasn’t willing to pu-put him first then he couldn’t be wi-with me, and, and, and that he wasn’t even sure I reallylovedhim, and I—” Leanne dissolved into tears and I pulled her in close, my brain as close to empty with shock as it had ever been.

Like, dude.Dude.Leanne and Theo had been together since high school. They were a fixture in my life, a foregone conclusion. They were like Mom and Dad had been before Mom died, and even after, I still thought of them most in terms of a team instead of just Dad.

“I’m so sorry,” was all I could say. “I’m so sorry. That’s not fair.”

“Itisfair!” she wailed. “I spend so much time working, and I should have figured out something else months ago when business started to pick up but Ididn’t, and I took him for granted and now he’sleavingme! I’m the worst fiancéeever! I wouldn’t even let him set a date because I worried it would interfere with work, I—I—I?—”

There was a little noise by the door, and I turned to see Dad standing there, phone in one hand, looking guilty as hell. “Aw, sweetheart,” he said, then took over comforting duties as only a parent could. “Everett, could you handle things in the chapel for now?”

“You bet,” I said, taking the out. I’d set up dozens of these things before. Or—what was the term for more than a dozen but less than, like, fifty? A score? I’d set up scores of these things before. I could do it.

I made sure the chapel was in order, fluffed the flower arrangements a bit, and put out the tables for the snacks once Stuart brought them back. I even remembered to make the coffee, mostly because I still badly needed some myself, but thatwas a win! By the time I opened the doors to the mourners at ten till, everything was ready to go.

The church had brought their own officiant, so apart from making sure Mrs. Martin was prepared for viewing, all I had to do after that was sit in the back of the chapel and help out if needed. With nothing left to do, I reached for my phone, then frowned when I realized it was still up in my room. Dang it. Fine. I’d just…sit here and try not to veg out.

“Dear friends, we’re gathered together today to remember the life of Marjorie Amelia Martin. She was a dedicated servant of the Lord, who…”

I could be searching for stuff about Leighton right now if I’d remembered my phone. Shit.

“—seventeen years as church secretary, and?—”

Or at least looking up stuff about piranhas. That waswildthat they didn’t automatically swarm whenever something made of delicious meat entered their territory.

“—truly exemplified the virtues of honesty, modesty, and?—”

Except for Steve, who was apparently an asshole.

Man. I really wanted to meet Steve. Maybe if I was lucky I could get Kyle to invite me back to his place and introduce me. Or, you know, let me suck his dick. That would be good too. Both would be ideal.

Dude, slow down. You barely know each other.

Yeah, but we were already engaging in misdemeanors with each other, which implied a certain level of intimacy, didn’t it?

Leighton. Focus on Leighton. What’s the best angle there?

I was pretty sure it was going to be the lady and the kid. Maintaining a social media presence tended to take a backseat when people were dealing with a debilitating mental illness, which addiction definitely was. But if he was with it enough to have pictures of them—up on his wall, nonetheless—he’d probably mentioned themsomewhere. Or maybe they’dmentioned him? It was worth a shot. I didn’t want to stumble at the first task and let Kyle down, so…

Kyle. Oh my God, he was so cute. With his glasses, and his scruff, and his little piranha scars and the way he talked about his cats and how he drank his coffee—tiny sip, big sip, set the cup down, repeat—he was just…

“I said,we are ready for the viewing.”

I looked up to see forty elderly faces all staring back at me, while the minister held the mic close to his face so he could shout into it.

---