Page 11 of Against All Odds

“He left three messages the day I found out, as you know.” I made Ana listen to them and tell me the CliffsNotes. Once I knew what he said, I listened to it at 4:00 a.m. that night and cried myself to sleep. “Since then, he called once more, to tell me he got the papers and hopes I can be civil and mature.”

She snorts. “Oh, that’s rich.”

“Right? I swear, he’s not the same man I married. Like, where is the future accountant I married who couldn’t be bothered to make sure his shoes matched his outfit? I never thought he’d be the one to break my heart.”

Ana pulls her lips into a thin line. “Money and fame do crazy things to people. I’ve seen it so many times I’ve lost count. Look, take this time and just focus on yourself. You can’t fix Dylan. I’m not sure anything can. Do what makesyouhappy.”

“I don’t even know what that is.”

She smiles warmly. “That’s what this next year is for.”

“You’re right. Already, since being here, I feel lighter. I have always loved this town.”

“And the boy in it,” she says with a grin.

Yes, I loved the boy who lives next door. I didn’t know if he’d still be here and I didn’t want to bring it up to Miles when Iwas here for my interview, so I just asked him not to tell anyone about my possible return. Everett was destined for a great life. He’s smart and funny, and his baseball career was promising. We used to sit at the field, lying on the mound under the stars, and create a fictitious life of what team he’d play for and where we’d live.

I honestly assumed he would leave Ember Falls.

Seems it was only me who did that.

Ember Falls holds some of my favorite memories. When my parents would bring me here each summer, my grandma and I would bake cookies. I’d learn a craft and spend time with Everett, Hazel, and Miles.

It was fun.

It wasn’t another archaeological site where I was doing my schoolwork as my parents dug holes in some ruins. Not that I hated my childhood, because it was really cool to get to go where we did, but I had no friends.

I didn’t get to go to school or even be around other kids. It was only when I was here that I felt like I fit in.

A part of me just wants that again, because I never fit in with Dylan’s crowd.

I smile at Ana. “I hurt him.”

“You were kids. Surely he isn’t still harboring anger about it.”

I shrug. “Maybe, but I left and completely threw Everett away because I was so afraid of him realizing that I wasn’t good enough and being with me was too much work. That he’d be in the spotlight and I would be in the shadows because he was meant to shine.”

Just like my parents did.

“The irony is not lost on me.”

“Me either. I didn’t even call to end things, I just stopped calling.”

Ana releases a long breath through her nose. “Again, you were like seventeen, and he didn’t exactly come chasing after you either.”

“Maybe not, but it wasn’t him who made the promises. It was me. I said I’d come to where he was, and then I got into USC and I didn’t think twice.”

I didn’t even talk to him about it. I committed to my school and wrote him a letter, because I was that much of a chickenshit.

“Have you seen him?”

I nod.

She perks up. “Well, is he still hot or did he age like shit?”

My mind recalls the way he looked in the coffee shop. His dark-brown hair that was pushed back, deep-brown eyes, and the dimple on his left cheek that I used to love to kiss. His body is lean now, but still muscular from what I could tell, and he’s tall, so much taller than I remembered.

“Yeah, he’s still hot.”

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