Page 40 of The Fire Walker
“Dee.”
“Zoe.”
“Where youat?”
“I’m driving cross country. I’m at the GrandCanyon.”
“Whatpart?”
“I dunno. Arizona? Utah? Arizona, Ithink.”
“Are youlost?”
“No,” I said, squinting against the sun. “I just don’t have a destinationyet.”
There was silence for a moment, and I wondered if I’d gotten away with it. Her not asking any more questions about my unstable state ofmind.
But I wasn’t thatlucky.
“What aren’t you telling me?” sheasked.
I sighed dramatically, shifting on the bonnet. “Can’t get nothing past you, hotlegs.”
“Shit, no,” she replied. “What did shedo?”
It annoyed the shit outta me how Zoe knew everything I thought before I did. “She…”
“You can tell me. Just you andme.”
“Everything she said, it just got worse. I…” I ran a hand over my face. “I felt it. It was real tome.”
“You fell for her?Like…”
“Don’t say it,Zo.”
“Okay, I won’t. What did she do,Dee?”
“We slept together, and she left me in the middle of the night never to be seenagain.”
“Shit.” I hoped realization was dawning because I didn’t have it in me to explainanymore.
“It’s done. It’s over,” Isaid.
“Thelabel?”
“I’m not going to get her fired, Zoe,” I said irritably. “It was as much my fault ashers.”
“Dee, it wasn’t your fault.Sheditchedyou. That was a shitty thing to do.Period.”
“Yeah, but I pushed her emotionally. I may as well have gotten down on my knees and declared my love forher.”
Zoe was quiet for a moment. “You loveher?”
“Fucking hell, Zoe.” I sighed sharply. “How could I love her?How?In the real world, there’s no such thing as love at first sight. Lust, yeah, but notlove.”
“But she got toyou?”
“Obviously.”
