Page 127 of Party Favors

I walked out of her room and to my alcove. I wanted to go to bed and for this day to be over. I didn’t want to think about Max anymore.

“Are you mad at me?” she asked, misunderstanding my silence.

“I’m a little upset that we could have been playing princess dress-up with your tiaras this whole time, but no, I’m not mad. It was your secret to keep. I’m glad that you shared it with me, though. But I’m really tired and I want to go to sleep.”

“Okay,” she said. “I’m here if you need me.”

That made my tears well up again, so I just nodded. When I heard her bedroom door close, I collapsed onto my bed.

She was right about Max—he wouldn’t stay away forever. I couldn’t talk to him right now, though. I didn’t have it in me.

In one night I had lost the man I loved and the job I’d adored. I felt like I had nothing left here in New York.

I grabbed my laptop and did the only thing I could think of.

I booked a flight home.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

“How long are you going to stay in bed?” Meemaw asked as she lowered herself down onto a chair next to me. “I think we need to stage one of those intervention thingies.”

“I don’t need an intervention, Meemaw. I’m just sad.” My dog, Princess, was curled up in bed next to me. She’d been my constant companion since I’d returned home. As if she could sense how unhappy I was.

I tried to think of the last time I’d been sad before Max. It occurred to me that it was the day when my stepmother had posted that happy photo of my dad’s new family and when I found out Adrian was going to propose to Colette. But that same night I’d been able to joke, to laugh, to forget about him completely while spending time with Max.

But now? It was like all the color had gone out of the world and I would never smile or laugh again.

“It’s been a week, Everly,” Meemaw said.

Sometimes it felt like I’d been home for ten years. Or as if I’d never gone off to New York at all.

My mom came into the room and Meemaw turned toward her. “You know, the absence of a strong male father figure causes insecurity in women. I read the Google about it.”

“This isn’t because Dad sucks,” I said. “It’s because Max does.”

“Have you talked to Max at all?” my mother asked as she sat on the foot of my bed.

My plan had been to ignore him completely. Maybe even block him from my phone. But then I remembered how upset I’d been at him for shutting down and running off, telling him that wasn’t a way to deal with problems, and realized that I was doing exactly the same thing.

So I’d texted him after I’d arrived to let him know where I was and that I wasn’t ready to talk to him yet. He had immediately responded.

I’m here when you are ready to talk. I want to explain if you’ll let me.

He continued to text daily, just to let me know that he was thinking of me and missed me. He didn’t pressure me or ask me to respond. It wasn’t like he was ignoring what I said, more like he wanted to let me know that he was still there.

It was exactly what I would have wanted him to do, if he’d asked.

Because he knows you,a voice inside me whispered. I ignored it.

“I texted him,” I said. “I’m not ready to speak to him yet.”

“But you love him,” my mom responded, her voice soft.

“It’s only been a month,” I said. I had decided that it was far too short a time for me to be in love with someone. It wasn’t logical. “You don’t love somebody you’ve known for a month.”

My heart didn’t agree with me, though.

Meemaw frowned. “I knew your grandfather for two weeks and we got married the night before he was shipped out to Vietnam. We were happily married for thirty-eight years until he passed.”

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