Page 25 of Over the Verdant Hills
It was kind of complicated and really dumb now that she thought about it, but it had seemed to make sense at the time.
“So what was the problem?” Josiah finally prompted when she didn’t say anything.
“Remember when Yolanda died?” She hadn’t said her name for years, maybe not even for a decade.
“I don’t think anybody would forget that.”
“I know.”
“It was you and Grace out there with her.”
“I know.”
She didn’t want this. She had enough on her plate. But she’d started, so she kept going. “It was hard to be friends with Grace after that. Especially since it didn’t feel right without Yolanda with us.”
“I always wondered why not. I thought Grace and Lauren felt the same. I’m not sure why. Anyway. Go on.”
“So I just said that I liked Trevor. Even when I really didn’t.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Yeah. It was…mean, I guess. It was just my little way of torturing Grace. She really liked Trevor. And he was obviously head over heels for her. But they couldn’t be together because Grace wouldn’t date him because she thought I liked him.”
“That gave you a power trip.”
“I guess. But it also made it so that Grace couldn’t be completely happy. Or something like that. I guess I figured if I was suffering because of the tragedy, she should too.”
“And she wasn’t?”
“I think she probably was, looking back. She just hid it better than I did. And I didn’t understand that even though she didn’t look like she was suffering, she was. Maybe I didn’t look like I was either.”
“But they ended up dating for a while.”
“They did. And I was mad at Grace the entire time. I wouldn’t talkto her, wouldn’t sit with her, talked Lauren into going with me, and generally made her life miserable. I was such a brat.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry, but I kind of agree with you. I didn’t realize it was that bad.”
“Yeah. It was that bad. Eventually, Grace broke up with Trevor because she couldn’t stand not being my friend. But it was too late. We had almost graduated, and things were never the same between us. She left in a blaze of glory, determined that she was going to go conquer the world, and I guess I followed not long after, thinking the same thing.”
“It’s ironic that you’re both back here.”
“Oh, she’s back to stay?” Claire asked, surprised. She’d had in her head that Grace was just visiting.
“Yeah. She moved back early this spring. Maybe late winter. She…moved in with her mom, who appreciated the help, because I’m pretty sure she’s getting married.”
“My goodness. It’s been a long time since I talked to her mom, and she was always so good to us girls.” Just the thought alone brought back a ton of memories that she’d thought had been buried forever. They weren’t all bad. In fact, most of them were good.
“Yeah. She was a good woman.”
“You knew her?” Claire asked, surprised. Not that he knew her necessarily, because it was a small town—of course he knew her. But he wasn’t a great friend of Grace’s, as far as she knew. She felt an odd sensation inside of her. Uncomfortable and unwelcome. Was that jealousy? Man, she didn’t want to be a jealous kind of person.
“I knew her around town. She always had cookies and a smile. I can remember stuff like that. Not that my mom wasn’t the same. They were good friends, but after my mom got sick, they didn’t lose touch exactly, but Grace’s mom lost her husband about the same time, and they just weren’t able to get together and comfort each other and everything.”
“That’s too bad.”
It was funny how people lost touch. Sometimes deliberately, like Grace and her, and sometimes not because of any deliberation at all. She hadn’t come to see her in a long time, but it wasn’t because she didn’t love her grandma or want to see her.
“So are you going to get in touch with Grace?” Josiah asked.
