Page 34 of The Ex Effect
“Hey,” Morgan said on the other line. “I just got off the phone with Olivia. A little change of plans for tomorrow.”
Knowing Morgan,little change of planscould mean just about anything. I lay back in the truck bed and closed my eyes. “For the love of everything holy, please tell me we’re not going back to the barn. You said a day off. No, wait, youpromiseda day off. You told me you had to get liquor-permitappeals and court stuff and other paperwork things that I one hundred percent didn’t pay attention to. I need a break from moving rat-poop-infested junk. Please. You arekillingme.” I added an extra-heavy whine to my words for good measure. “In fact, I think I’m already dead. I’m the ghost of Frankie and not a real person. Does it feel breezy? That’s my spirit haunting you.”
“You are the most dramatic human alive, and that’s saying a lot since I grew up with Sam,” Morgan said with a smile in her tone. “Take a breath. We don’t have to go back to the barn until Monday.”
Thank God.“Oh, okay, cool. Then what’s the plan? You up for a quick skydive?” A playful smile tugged at my lips.
“Not this week. Maybe next,” Morgan said without dropping a beat. “Long story short, Tommy and Olivia had hired a choreographer to teach them a wedding waltz. They were supposed to meet him tomorrow, but that person backed out. Flu something or other. Doesn’t really matter. Bottom line, we’re going to meet them on campus at noon.”
I propped my elbow up on the truck bed and switched the phone to my other hand. “I fail to see why we would need to meet them at all since the person backed out.”
“BecauseI’m going to show them how to do the dance. We thought it might be nice for you to capture some of the practice photos,” Morgan said. “I gotta run. But be there tomorrow, noon, on campus near the Old Main Park.”
I was about to respond when Morgan cleared her throat.
“Sorry,” Morgan sighed. “What I meant to say was, it would be great if you could meet us tomorrow on campus to capture the memories. But also, you’re under no obligation. But if youwantedto, we’ll be there at noon. Will that work for you?”
Well, if there wasn’t something damn near endearing listening to Morgan trying to act like an empathetic human. Having someone else in her space, working alongside her when she’d been working solo, would take a bit of getting used to.Except for the initial rough patch, Morgan had handled the change better than most.
I took one last look at the bridge and hopped off the truck bed to head home. “No place I’d rather be.”
And I actually meant that. Ever since the call I made last week, being alone with my thoughts, questioning if I made the right decision, thinking of my past in New York, was the very last thing I needed.
The only question I had now was if I was obliged to tell Morgan the truth.
FOURTEEN
MORGAN
Every part of my body ached with fatigue. I rolled out of bed burrito-style because my ab muscles hurt too bad to sit upright and sniffed the lingering peppermint in the air from the muscle-relaxing lotion I applied last night. T-minus seventy-six days until the wedding and Ineededthis day off from manual labor.
But Frankie and I had kicked butt and taken names. Frankie was an absolute workhorse and had shown up five minutes early every day since our blowup the other week. It was clear she was pushing herself to the limit, also. When she started limping yesterday and finally told me that she’d torn her ACL a few years back and it sometimes flared up, I ordered her to sit in a chair with her leg propped up, applied ice, then cut the evening short so we could go home.
These last ten days, with the help of Sam and the crew, we’d almost completely emptied the barn. A few piles lingered that needed to be moved into the large machine shed as well as the two full extra-large dumpsters. But I could see past that. Somewhere between the cracked windows and janky doors and special smells, I knew we’d transform it into something beautiful.
Beautiful…but potentially very, very hot. The barn had electricity but no air-conditioning, and in Minnesota, that was a risk. Olivia’s parents were generous, but no way would they spring for air-conditioning installation. So, we’d open windows, fill the space with fans, and have one portable air conditioner at the bride and groom’s table while praying it didn’t top a hundred degrees with massive humidity.
In the shower, I leaned my head against the wall. I hurt, I was tired, but I was still making it. And one amazing thing had happened yesterday—I booked a New Year’s Eve party, which was normally not my thing as I typically did weddings only. But the caller seemed frantic and paid a deposit, and at this point I couldn’t be choosy.
The hot water beat against my shoulders. I tried so hard to let my mind go blank, and yet it reverted to Frankie. It felt like a barrier had broken between us, which was great for a working partnership. But these feelings were not going away. They were dangerous, stupid, damn near self-flagellating at this point since I knew Frankie was going to return to New York. Last time, she’d blindsided me. This time, I recognized the inevitable heartache if I gave in, even for a moment. Thankfully, Frankie didn’t seem interested in anything but rebuilding a friendship.
God, those muscles, though. What did she have to do to get arms like that? The ones with the dip at the bicep where you could see the actual shoulder curve and a shadow? Yesterday in the sun, when Frankie whipped off her shirt to just a tank to haul piles of wood, I almost choked.
I dug a thumb into my neck and rubbed, but dipped my hand lower to my center. Right after I started circling myself, I stopped. I wasnotgoing to start the day by jacking off to a vision of my ex, no matter how much I craved relief.
After the shower, I slipped on a sundress and put on my face. Damn, it felt good, for the first time in a while, to not look scrappy. I bolted out of the house, grabbed coffee atConnie’s place, popped into Zoey’s to double-check about the cake tasting next Tuesday, and made it to the courthouse for the daily liquor license appeal by ten. By eleven, an hour early, I pulled up to my alma mater, University of Minnesota Duluth.
Over the years, I’d visited campus to see a speaker, attend a concert, or watch a play. But a good five years had passed since I’d stepped foot here, and it all felt the same and yet totally different.
Back then, my freshman year looked nothing as I imagined. Frankie had crushed me to the deepest part of my soul when she left me and broke the promise of attending UMD with me. Fueled by the heartache, I focused all my energy on studies. When classmates were doing keg stands and beer pong, I was in the library reading about the Civil War. When they went to football games, I was at home debating which extra course credits I should take to graduate early.
The campus still held the magic I felt back then, the promise of financial independence, a future in business, an independent life. Stepping onto the grounds, surrounded by the gold-and-maroon emblem flying on the flags, I still felt that touch of school spirit, the drive to succeed. My chin lifted as the sun beat against my bare shoulders, and I strolled around until it was time to meet Olivia and Tommy.
At the Old Main Park, I flipped through emails.Boring, boring, boring… Oh, thank God!The electrician confirmed he could come to the barn on Friday to do a preliminary check on what might need to be upgraded to get a day event permit. I exhaled. This just bought us a little bit of time. I scrolled through a few more, when footsteps approached.
“Damn. You clean up nice.” Frankie set her helmet and backpack on the bench and flopped down on the bench next to me. “You’ve been wearing a bandanna for so many days I forgot you were blonde underneath there.”
I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t even hear your death trap pull up. Where did you park?”
