Page 70 of Just (Fake) Married
That was good neighborly stuff. Neighborly stuff none of the McGraw men did for them.
Leroy McGraw wouldn’t have lifted a hand to help the Calloway women, and neither would his sons. I wanted to go back in time and kick my own ass. And my father’s ass for letting us believe that they were people who deserved to be treated that way.
Did that change because I now knew his animosity toward them was most likely born from a broken heart?
I tried to imagine my father longing for a woman he’d loved, then betrayed, and never got over. Which ultimately turned into a type of resentment toward her.
Is that why he was always offering to buy their land? Did he just want to remove Monica from his proximity because it hurttoo badly? That version of Leroy McGraw was not the same man who had never been affectionate with my mother in front of us.
It didn’t matter. Because it didn’t excuse his behavior.
“Thanks, man,” I said. “Tell the guys I’ll post a signup sheet on the barn. And make sure they do it, too. I’m not going chasing after them.”
“You got it, Doc E,” he said, and actually smiled.
“Tag?” I asked, suddenly feeling this weird hit of nostalgia. “Do you and my brothers still go camping up at the north ridge?”
Tag smiled. “Only when Seth comes back to town.”
“He still bring the warm beer?” I asked, with a smile that I didn’t quite feel.
“It’s cold these days, and he buys it now, instead of stealing it from Curtis.”
I’d never once missed what I’d left behind when I went to college and didn’t look back. But now, oddly, I missed it a lot.
SIXTEEN
HARMONY
An unknown numberwas calling me. For the third time in like five minutes. I sat behind the register at the store, half an eye on the customers as my attention kept getting pulled away toward my phone.
I didn’t answer, but sent a text.
Me: Who is this?
Unknown number: Your husband. Pick up.
Me: Bliss, this isn’t funny.
Unknown number: It’s not Bliss.
Me: Prove it.
Unknown number: I gave you three orgasms in one night.
I nearly dropped the phone and immediately called the number back.
Ethan’s warm laughter sent chills up and down my spine. “You cannot just go around texting that kind of thing,” I said.
“I can and I will if it gets you to call me back so quickly.”
“What are you doing?” I asked Ethan.
“Well, I started on a quest to find your number.”
“Why did you need my number?”
“Because I was worried about you leaving this morning without coffee. You seemed a little more flustered than normal.”
