Page 97 of Fairy Tale Lies
He was wrong. Again.
“If you’ve made a mistake, call her.” Apparently, Will was going to have his say. All of it.
“I didn’t make a mistake.”
That was the crux. He was half dead without Greta, yet he made the right decision in leaving her. They were doomed from the start. Better to break it off before they’d become even more entwined.
“Are you sure?” Will insisted.
Jacob slammed a hand on the arm of the couch, his simmering annoyance boiling into a full-blown rage. “Fucking A! Yes!” He had enough of his brother’s interference. Talking wouldn’t change things. “She believes I’m beneath her. I’m not going to be with someone who doesn’t respect me.”
Will quirked an eyebrow, indicating he wasn’t impressed with the outburst. Hell, since New Year’s he was probably used to it. “Why are you certain Greta thinks either of those things?”
Wrestling his anger back into submission, Jacob sighed, leaning his head against the back of the couch. “Come on, Will. What are you, my therapist now? You weren’t there those many times she let her family, and others, insult me.”
“Okay, fine. Others have disrespected you. Has Greta? Did she ever talk down to you? Acted superior?”
Jacob shifted. A twinge of discomfort snaked around him. “No.”
“That’s what I thought. Had it ever occurred to you, lack of respect has nothing to do with it? You said it yourself. Her mother’s a tyrant and her father’s headstrong. She dated and stayed with you, regardless of their disapproval, knowing it would cause problems. That wasn’t enough? You, what, want her to out-and-out battle with her family? Maybe it’s not who she is.” Will smiled crookedly. “We can’t all be loud-mouth assholes like you.”
Jacob pulled at his ear, his restlessness growing. “Hell, maybe you’re right. But what you’re saying proves my point.” He faced Will full-on, crooking one leg on the couch. “We are who we are. People don’t change. Maybe she’s able to live under their rule and derision. I can’t.”
“You’re right. It’s a mistake to believe we can change people. Where you’re wrong, is I don’t think she’s willing to live under her parents’ thumb. She just goes about it differently. You confront life head-on, ready for a fight. Maybe she wanted to—”
“Ignore it.” Jacob cut in, slicing his hand through the air, slashing Will’s argument in half.
“That was both of you,” Will said pointedly. “Anyway, I was going to say take a less hostile route. It’s not like she ever shied away from you when confronted with their disapproval or ridicule.”
Jacob stared at the TV, wishing his brother would drop it. Will might have a point, but two, close to three months had passed. He hadn’t contacted her, nor had she him. Now the chasm of regret, bitterness, and failure was too big to cross.
“You’re going to do nothing? Just sit here?” For the first time, Will sounded annoyed.
Jacob studied his brother. “Why do you care?”
“I care because I want you to be happy. And you were with her. Now you’re miserable. Don’t piss it away because you’re a stubborn ass.”
Jacob was sort of touched at Will’s concern. A bigger part of him wanted to strangle his brother. “I’m not being stubborn. Reality is reality. Greta and I aren’t a good match. Look at us together. I’m not polished. I don’t fit into her grandiose lifestyle.”
“Oh, please. Outward appearances?” The scorn in Will’s voice was almost funny. “What matters is how it feels. Did you believe, because you found the love of your life, everything would be problem free?”
“Whoa, love of my life? Slow down there, Romeo…”
“Shut the hell up, dickweed.” Will laughed. “You loved her, right?”
Jacob nodded.
“Do you still love her?”
He nodded again. “Given time, it’ll fade.”
He hoped.
Granted, weeks had become months, and each tick of the clock slammed into his heart like a steel-toed boot.
It’s just taking more time than expected.
All he had to do was survive the dreary, never-ending hours.
