Page 119 of Why Cheese?
“Oh my god,” I cry out, tears bursting as I clasp my palms to my mouth.
Roq’s pursed lips soften as he looks at me, nods, and a slow smile rises.
“You’re alive!” I scream.
Cheddy turns away from the low-hanging lamp, lifts his hand, and waves. “Hi, Vi!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Romantic Romano
“YOU’RE REALLY HERE. Alive!” I’m a blubbering mess, my legs refusing to cooperate as I try to both walk around and over the counter.
The first one to take my hand is Cam, who guides me around the remaining furniture and into his arms. “Was that ever in question?” he asks with a laugh.
“Yes!” I reach over to Cheddy who scoops me up off my feet. “You were eaten.”
All four men blink at me in confusion.
“At least, I thought you were. See.” In a panic, I dump out my purse, spilling not only what little remains of my life but also the four bagged cheeses. “They had these on a board, and they’d been eating them, and you didn’t come back. I waited for fourteen days, and you didn’t come back.”
Roq shoves around the bags of cheese with a discerning snort. Cam picks up one that’s oozed into the seams and tosses it to Brie. “I believe that one’s you.”
Catching it, Brie turns the bag around, then his eyes bug out. “It’s green.”
“Precisely like you on that sea voyage. And who was me?” Cam asks.
I point to the other runny cheese that’s spread out like a hand. “Hmm… I seem to be rather grabby in this stage.”
“Wow.” Cheddy homes in on the bag holding the crumbs of cheddar. “I lost a lot of weight. Like all of it.”
“That’s what you get for skipping torso day, my friend.” Cam slaps him on the back, his smile not dimming for a second.
I want to join in and laugh like they are at my foolish leap in logic. But I can’t believe they’re here. What if I turn my head too fast and they vanish? Or I’ll wake up on the flight across the country and break my heart all over again.
Taking a slow breath, I look up at the last one. He hasn’t said a word, only stared at the final cheese. Roq’s eyes dart up. Without his glasses, the pale blue flecks in the steel field are an icy blast that pins me to the ground. “What happened?”
It’s Brie’s gasp, “Where is the store?” that damn near kills me.
“I didn’t mean to. The place was, there was, all the cheese. My mother—” I yelp and bite down on my knuckle to stop the tears.
All four of them glare. “What about her?” Roq asks.
“Such a peach, that one. A proper gem of a genteel lady,” Cam mutters with a sour face.
“She…she broke in. Or she made a copy of my key. I don’t know, I didn’t ask.” I can’t stop crying now, my ears ringing with every fault.
I should have stayed up. Guarded you. It’s because of me the store is gone. I’m why the cheese is lost. Why all of this is over.
I don’t know if I’m shouting my confessions aloud or not, only that I start to crumple to the ground.
“Violette,” they all cry out. Arms catch me. It’s Roq who lifts me up and places me on the counter.
Woozy, I try to sit up, but Roq holds my cheek. Cam cups my knee and Brie takes my hand. Last but never least, Cheddy brushes back my fallen hair and meets my eyes. “Start at the beginning,” he says. “I’ve always found that’s the best way to do this.”
I suck back in the tears and look at each of them. With a hard swallow, I nod and begin again. I skimp on nothing. How my mother found me asleep on their piles of clothing. That I hid them downstairs, thinking no one would know. Then she returned while I foolishly slept, found all of the cheese, and threw it in the garbage.
“All of it?” Roq interrupts after they’ve been silent for what could be hours.
