Page 82 of The Accidental Text

He chuckled. “You’re attractive, and you’re kind of funny.”That got him another whack. “And you … how do I say this? You—”

“Have a pathetic dating life,” I interjected.

“Your words, not mine,” he said. “It … confuses me.”

“You and me both,” I said. I looked out the window, watching the sagebrush and the cacti zoom by. “Maybe there is something wrong with me.” This came out quietly and mostly for my own ears.

“I don’t think so,” he said.

I looked over at him. “See, and you’re the person who should be able to tell me what’s wrong with me. You read those texts—you saw some of my innermost thoughts.”

“I forgot them.”

“Lies.”

We sat in silence for a bit, just the low volume of a rock station making background noise.

“I guess that’s why I’m confused,” Chase finally said. “I read things that you never meant to be read. Your innermost thoughts, or whatever. And—” He stopped and took a breath. “It just … doesn’t add up.”

I felt the tips of my ears warm at his words. “You’re now eighty-five percent forgiven.”

Now, sitting here on Chase’s couch, feeling drowsy from the day’s events as I snuggle with my new best friend, Oscar, I feel … peaceful. I can’t remember when I’ve felt like this. Not in the past five months, that’s for sure. And definitely not for the six months before that. I don’t know if it’s all the fun we’ve been having or the fact that I just really like Chase. He makes me laugh. And I feel like … me around him.

I feel like me.

Chapter 23

Maggie:I will give you all my worldly possessions if you come to my parents’ house and save me from this.

Isend this text to Chase, my phone partially hidden under the large dining room table where Devon, Chelsea and her family, and I are having dinner with my dad … and June.

There are pictures of my mom and our family hanging all over the walls of this room. Her touch is everywhere, from the drapes, to the large contemporary shelving on the south side of the room, to the floors, which were updated a couple of years ago. This room is all her. This house is all her.

My dad is sitting in his normal seat at the head of the table, and on his right sits June. Their adjoined hands resting on the top of the table.

“June and I are dating,” my dad says, grinning at all of us. He looks over at June and they give each other a smile. It’s one of those intimate ones, full of meaning.

He didn’t just start with that. There was a lot of pomp and circumstance leading up to this announcement. First the invitation, which we all got late last night via text. It’s not rare for us to all have Sunday dinner as a family, but we haven’t done it in a while. It didn’t seem like a big deal until the second text came in.

Dad:I’d like to talk to you all about something.

That’s when we switched over to our sibling WhatsApp group.

Chelsea:What do you think Dad’s going to tell us?

Maggie:My gut is on June.

Devon:Gross.

Turns out my gut was right. Stupid gut.

Chelsea got there first, and then Devon and I somehow showed up at the same time not long after her. Chelsea nodded her head toward the kitchen when Devon and I entered the house, and we walked over to find June there, helping my dad with the finishing touches on dinner. He made roasted chicken and potatoes, one of our favorite family dinners growing up. My dad and June smiled at each other and laughed as they worked together.

It was different than the two of them sitting in a dim room listening to music and drinking wine. Under normal circumstances, I might have thought this whole kitchen routine was cute; instead it felt foreign and odd.

I think I’m the least taken aback, because of what I caught the other night. But I never shared it with Chelsea and Devon—it somehow didn’t feel right to. I was still processing it myself. In hindsight, I probably should have told them—maybe this would have felt less awkward.

When we entered the dining room, the table was set nicer than it usually is. June’s doing, I’d guess. My dad was never one to set the table formally. We were using Mom’s fine china and silver that we’d usually only bring out at Christmas. Myheart did a little wrenching thing when I saw it. I took some steadying breaths.

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