Page 51 of Lovewell Lane

I sat, dumbfounded, in a row boat in the middle of a lake with Margo. ‘Kiss The Girl’ played from what I assumed was Sam’s portable speaker by the bank, and the umbrella Tessa gave us for emergencies was closed next to Margo.

“Are they trying to parent-trap us?” Margo said with a giggle.

“Seeing as we aren’t both parents, that seems unlikely.”

“Neighbor-trap? That doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

I sighed and hung my head in my hands. I wasn’t sure who I was annoyed at most, Tessa for thinking of it, Sam for encouraging it, or me for falling for it. I sat up straight to look at Margo. The sunrise shone on her and made her look like an angel descended from heaven and landed in a boat with me. Her dirty blonde hair was literally golden while her eyes shone bright with restrained laughter.

“Come on, it’s sweet.” Margo nudged her shoulder to mine. “Don’t get so worked up.”

“It’s ridiculous. I don’t know where she got this idea from,” I said under my breath as I scrubbed a hand over my face. I needed to shave.

Margo cocked her head at me like she was about to challenge my idea. “Is it really that ridiculous that we might like each other?”

My heart rate picked up at the accusation. I tried calculating the temperature of the water. If the air was around sixty, my life vest was all I needed, and I could make the swim.

Margo’s hand on my arm stopped me from jumping overboard. “Seriously, answer the question.”

“I can’t like you.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m a father, and I already have enough responsibilities. It isn’t worth it to try the whole relationship thing again. There are a million reasons why it wouldn’t work out.”

“That’s a cop-out, give me a real answer.”

I sat across from her and leaned in to look her in the eye. “You think my answer is a cop-out?”

“Yes,” she said petulantly, crossing her arms like a child. “You’re so emotionally constipated you can’t even tell me how you feel.”

“You thinkI’mthe one that struggles with trust issues? You are the most closed-off person I’ve ever met.”

“Me?” she leaned back and held a hand over her chest.

“Yes, you.”

“Derek, I love talking to people. I’m a fucking social butterfly. I promise that I’ve had more conversations with the people of this town in the last month than you’ve had with them your entire life.”

“Right, but you hide behind this mask of happiness and helpfulness. You know everything about everyone else, but nevershare anything about yourself. That is the opposite of being open. You’re hiding behind a mask, distracting everyone with your silly jokes and dramatic rants, but no one really knows you, do they?”

She was silent. So I continued, “You’re no better than I am. If anything, you’re worse. At least I admit to being an asshole that wants nothing to do with people.”

“Let’s just go back to shore,” she said.

“You’re not even going to argue with me?”

“No,” she answered. “You’re right. Let’s just go back.”

I leaned back and stared at her for a long beat. Was she really folding that easily? I expected a lot more bite from her. She refused to look at me and instead held eye contact with the tree line to our right.

I sighed and moved to sit on the bench across from her to pick up the oars.

On the way back to shore, Margo opened the umbrella for Tessa and plastered on a smile. We exited the boat without her so much as looking back at me. But somehow, she seemed perfectly normal to everyone else. Her acting was so good, even I had whiplash.

The little girls laughed and jumped around Margo happily as Sam played another song from The Little Mermaid. I didn’t catch any fish that day.

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