Page 75 of Just For Her

So what was so different about this? Was it because Tove was a woman, and that made Kayla feel guiltier?

I didn’t care about any of those guys…Sure, she might have liked them as people, maybe even as friends, but the transactional nature of their romances was always at the forefront of their minds. That included the men who didn’t like to talk about it for the sake of the fantasy – that this much younger woman who would have otherwise never dated them lusted after their bodies or desired to spend every waking moment with them. With Tove, it had been different, and Kayla didn’t think it was her pity toward a fellow woman that made her feel like that.

She liked Tove. She was an excellent lover who had shown Kayla a side of herself she never knew existed. She was frank, honest, and had a wicked sense of humor that always caught Kayla off-guard. Marrying her and being Mrs. Fredriksson wasn’t only a matter of futureproofing her life. It felt natural.

All Kayla had done was taken an opportunity presented to her on a silver platter.

I love her.

That kicked her in the ass. It also boxed her ears while it was at it.

I love Tove… and I’ve broken her heart. I’ve ruined everything by not being honest.

The tears came then. Yet with Huey and Chrissy so close in the adjacent bedroom and these paper-thin walls threatening to shred the last of Kayla’s pride, she hid her crying in the couch cushion until she was too tired to do anything but sleep on what was supposed to have been her first and only wedding night.

“Everything’s gonna be okay.” When in doubt, that was what Chrissy leaned on. “I know this ain’t easy, Kay, but you’ll bounce back. You’ll find someone else soon. You’ll see.”

Her words were nearly drowned out by the Sunday brunch clattering around them. Huey used that sunny morning to shop at his favorite hobby store while Chrissy took Kayla out for a brunchtime pep talk. As soon as they were done, they were driving back to Bend together, although Kayla had half a mind to quit her job at the brewery and move back in with her brother’s family.At least I know this place.Portland and its southern suburbs offered a familiarity that Kayla desperately needed right now. Except she couldn’t saddle Chrissy with her things. Nor could she easily walk away from a sweet waitressing gig that paid more in tips than anywhere in Sherwood, Tualatin, or Tigard. Kayla needed the money more than ever. Even if she left Bend at the end of the summer… oh, well. At least now she knew why Tove hadn’t suggested her girlfriend quit her job and become a dutiful trophy wife. Kayla still needed the money.

“I never thought that she might not be… as rich as the others.” Chrissy abhorred the silence that Kayla continued to bring to the table. Yet the more she talked, the more painful it was to listen. “You hear the name ‘Fredriksson,’ and you think… wow, that’s a family wealthy enough to have a whole town named after them. You can’t throw a rock in Bend without hitting Fredriksson cash. And she had her own office downtown, as well as…” Chrissy stopped. “Sorry. I know I’m not helping.”

Kayla lifted her sunglasses once she was done staring out the big window next to her. Coffee cooled between her hands. The plate of “American Breakfast” she ordered, complete with organic eggs, locally sourced bacon, and “veggies grown on premises” remained untouched. At this rate, she’d get it bagged to go and eat it when hunger struck her somewhere between Government Camp and Madras.I should eat it here, though. I don’t want to get grease and crumbs all over Huey’s car…

“I appreciate you trying to help, even if it doesn’t work.” Kayla rubbed her nose so hard that her glasses plopped back down against her face. She didn’t flip them up. “You’re a good friend, Chris. You’ve done so much for me. Housed me, fed me…” She sniffed. Turned out it wasn’t allergies making her nose upset. It was those damned tears that threatened to come again. “Gave me advice. Came to my wedding. Dealt with me right now.”

Chrissy patted her friend’s wrist, which tightened around the coffee cup. “What do you think you want to do? She’s not responding to anything, is she?”

“No. She’s blocked me on everything we used. Text, ChatSnap…”

“She used ChatSnap?”

“Had to send my nudes somewhere.”

Chrissy let out an unexpected laugh.

“As for what I should do… damn, I don’t know. Just the other day her aunt offered me a hundred grand to run away and leave Tove alone.”

“Really? The woman in charge of everything?”

“Yeah. I was so offended I… well, that was when I suggested to Tove that we elope. I wanted to lock it down before the aunt became a bigger thorn than I bargained for.”

Chrissy donned her thinking cap while the waitress came by with coffee refills. “Do you think she knows yet? About any of this?”

Kayla shook her head. “I doubt Tove would tell her about the elopement. Obviously, she’ll know sooner rather than later if we’re really broken up…”

“Do you think she’d still give you that money?”

The cup of coffee was near Kayla’s parched lips when she heard that. “Huh?” She put the cup back down without drinking.

“Call her up and tell her you’ll take the deal. I mean, might as well get paid for your broken heart. Few sugar babies ever get to say that.”

“I wasn’t being a sugar baby. I was a fraud.”

“Come on, Kay, don’t beat yourself up like that. You did what you thought you had to.”

“What? Lie to a nice lady who hadn’t been in a relationship for twenty years? Because I thought she had money?”

“You followed your gut. I did the same thing with Huey. I knew I was never going to meet a man I got along better with, so I too locked him down as soon as I could. I have no regrets. I’d do it again.”

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