Page 59 of Will Bark for Pizza
We never met until a few days ago, and his surprise seemed as genuine as mine. But I heard about him so much over the years that it felt as though I knew him. He probably heard about me. Saw pictures. But he pretended not to know me. Or was that real? Maybe the red hair threw him.
Gah, I hated how confused I was. I didn’t know if it was because of the bookstore secret or because I was dredging up all this shit about Travis. Probably a combination of both.
“You okay?” Aspen asked.
“There’s a lot I haven’t told anyone,” I admitted.
“You can tell us if and when you’re ready,” she added.
“Oh, I’m ready,” I answered immediately. I held on toTravis’ secrets for too long, thinking I was protecting him when really I was enabling his shitty behavior. I understood now I’d been abused into silence. I owed him nothing. So, I told them everything.
I told them how he wasn’t merely an alcoholic. How he gambled away thousands of dollars, chasing some high I didn’t understand. How he convinced me the FBI was tapping his house so we could never have a fully honest conversation. How he always made my birthday all about him. How he ruined one Christmas by packing all my belongings—including fully un-decorating the seven-foot Christmas tree I bought—and left everything in the hallway of my apartment, all because I spent the day in Lincoln with my grandparents who were in state visiting.
“Why did you never tell us?” Aspen asked gently.
“It all sounds crazy. I thoughtIwould sound crazy. That no one would believe me.”
“He convinced you not to go to my wedding?” Aspen asked. “Because he planned aromanticgetaway?”
“There was no trip.” If I’d skipped the wedding, Travis would have made up some excuse about the hotel reservation getting canceled—through no fault of his own. I knew that now. “But I was so afraid of the consequences of not doing what he wanted that I wasn’t planning to come.”
“To be fair,” Alyssa said to Aspen, “I basically kidnapped her against her will.”
“The night of your wedding, Travis got super drunk and texted me a picture of a receipt from Berkenheimer’s.”
Aspen threw a hand over her mouth. “He didn’t.”
“He wanted to punish me for going to your wedding.So he sent a picture of the receipt for an engagement ring he returned.”
“Can we go hunt down this asshole right now? I’ll bring the shovels.”
“I’d been drinking too much,” I admitted. “Because before that picture, he was blowing up my phone saying the worst things to make me feel bad about leaving him home alone. When that picture came through, I just . . . lost it. My ability to hold everything inside just disappeared.”
“And you thought the best way to let it all out was to give a toast to the bride and groom that turned into a family roasting?” Alyssa asked, her question kinder than I deserved.
I met her gaze across the water between our circled boards, and we burst into laughter.
“You know, noteverythingyou said was terrible,” Aspen admitted.
“And some of it was pretty fucking funny,” Alyssa agreed. “Like how Luke always has a stick up his ass, even when he’s happy.”
“I’m sorry for making a scene,” I said to Aspen. Then I looked at Alyssa. “I’m sorry you had to fly to Omaha and kidnap me, but I’m really glad you did. If you hadn’t?—”
“Okay, okay,” Alyssa said, holding up her hands. Both dogs looked at her, as though she might have treats. “That’s enough. You’re forgiven, but only if we can move the fuck on. And if you promise the only time you will ever see Travis again is if we’re burying his body somewhere deep in the forest where no one will ever think to look.”
God, I didn’t deserve friends like this.
“Deal.”
“I’m hungry,” Aspen announced. “Let’s go grab a burger at Kat’s.”
“Um, pretty sure I’m banned,” I said.
“I called in a favor,” Aspen said of her aunt. “But you owe me one.”
I owed her a lot more than a simple favor. I owed them both. “Dinner’s on me.”
“If you want us to argue, we’re not going to,” Alyssa said.
