Page 110 of Feels Like Home

“Hey, Barrett! What’s up?” I say by way of answering, scrunching my eyebrows at two moms standing next to their car, glancing at me every sooften.

Would I get in trouble if I flipped them the bird sitting in the school parkinglot?

“Uh, man. We gottroubles.”

“Shit. What’d Gavin donow?”

Gavin has been screwing up left and right lately. Well, no, that’s not true. He’s been screwing up since we hired him. Lazyshit.

“It wasn’tGavin.”

“Okay, then what?” I ask irritably. All the looks I’m getting starting to piss meoff.

“It’sHeather.”

I groan and throw my head back against the head rest and pull my beanie off my head, tossing it in the passengerseat.

I scrub my hand through my hair and down myface.

“What’s she doingnow?”

“Flapping her tongue. In a big way. It’s bad, Andy.Catastrophic.”

“What could she be flapping her tongue about? Divorce is done. Final. Has been formonths.”

“Christine.”

“No. We were never together until the divorce was finalized. Why the hell do you think I waited so long to get with her? Wasted months not being withher.”

“That’s not what I mean. She’s flapping her tongue about Christine,” he explains, then continues on after a beat of silence, “andTodd.”

I sit up straighter in my seat and lean over my steering wheel, looking to see if the boys are coming out of the buildingyet.

I don’t see them, so I figure I’ve got a few minutes to clear this shit up before they gethere.

“Spit it out, Barrett. What the hell are you talkingabout?”

“Man. You know I joke around a lot about hating secrets and loving to know everything and spreading it around, but I’m not really that way. I mean, I am with the fun shit, but this… dammit. I would never. This isn’t me gossiping. You need to talk to Christine.” I hear him blow out a breath. “Apparently Todd cheated on her. Did you knowthat?”

I sit for a few seconds wondering what I’m supposed to say to that. I don’t want to betray Christine by spilling her secret, but it sounds like he already knows. Still, I saynothing.

“I take it by your silence this isn’t new news to you. Did you also know that when he cheated it was… shit, man, it was withHeather?”

“What?”

I touch my chest to make sure it’s still beating because his words feel like it stopped myheart.

He continues on as if he hasn’t just rocked the ever loving shit out of the already rocking boat I was sitting in. “And she’s saying the only reason Christine is with you is revenge against her. Christine’s with her husband because she was withTodd.”

And just like that, my world falls out from beneath me all atonce.

Memories of Christine’s words describing her husband’s affair rush back to me but never once do I remember her mentioning anything about it being withHeather.

Is itpossible?

Did I misread her this entiretime?

Was she holding on to that much anger over Todd cheating that she’d actually get pregnant onpurpose?

---