Page 124 of The Fine Art of Faking It
Please accept this confession in the good faith it was intended. We hope this absolves Mr. Gates of any wrongdoing. He was not in on our stink bombing plan.
We would also like to point out that if Blue Moon homeowners were required to install commercial sprinkler systems in their homes as the very intelligent and community-oriented Mr. Oakleigh recommended last year, the fire would have been immediately extinguished. Perhaps we should revisit this noble motion at the next town meeting?
Warmest Regards
A Pack of Regretful, Wayward Teenagers Who Have Learned Our Lesson
50
She was a gigantic idiot. She’d orchestrated her own unhappiness and refused a relationship with a man that she had L-word feelings for. Just to be right.
Eden paced the five steps in front of the volunteer meal booth over and over again. She looked at her watch. “Oh, God. I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Did you eat as many funnel cakes as Layla?” Sammy, dressed in a bright red parka with a navy scarf wound around half her face, asked cheerfully.
“No. Much stupider. I pushed Davis away because I was convinced that I wanted revenge, not love. I made him break up with me because I didn’t want to be with him, only to realize I’m in love with him and ruined everything.”
“Well for shit’s sake! It’s about time you figured it out.” Sammy slapped her on the shoulder.
“You knew?”
“Uh. Duh. Come on, E. One look at your heart eyes when you were together and then one look at your sad puppy face when you screwed it all up. Ofcourseyou’re in love with him.”
“I am the biggest, dumbest, jerkiest ass on the planet!”
“You’re just stubborn. You’ve wanted to get back at him for so long, you couldn’t see anything else but that. Not even the fact that he went out of his way to tell all of Blue Moon that they were wrong about you. Basically, you’re making this all about five or ten minutes that happened fifteen years ago. And deep down, I think you know revenge won’t make you happy.”
“Why is everything you’re saying right?” Eden wailed. She shoved her gloved hands into her hair, accidentally raking her hat from her head. “I set this whole thing up to blow up the Beautification Committee and prove to the whole town that Davis isn’t this wonderful amazing guy. Only heis,and he wanted to give us a real try, and the stupid Beautification Committeewasright about us… until I ruined it. They gave up on me. They gave up on me, Sammy. That’s how much of a mess I am.”
“Awh, babe.” Sammy came in for a hug. “You’re not a mess. You’re human.”
“I thought I was going to fix everything. Prove thatIwasn’t the bad guy. That Davis was. And then I could win the Business of the Year award, and my life as a contributing adult to Blue Moon could really start.”
“You are a contributing adult. And people know that. I think you’re the only one in town who still holds high school against you.”
“Davis’s parents hate me,” Eden said, hating how whiny and weak she sounded. “He’d never be able to stand up to them over this. And I couldn’t ask him to do it. I couldn’t ask him to choose me over them. Not when I’m… such a mess of an adult. I’m no better now than when I was a teenager.”
Sammy took her by the shoulders and gave her a good shake. “Eden Moody, you are going to get that stupid, shitty idea out of your head. Stop judging yourself on one mistake.”
“I held a grudge for fifteen years!”
“One long mistake” Sammy corrected. “You are a smart, beautiful, kind-hearted, successful woman, and Davis Gates would be lucky to have you.”
“But I don’t know if he’d choose me,” Eden said.
“You have to give him the chance. A real chance, not one of these fake bullshit chances with a pretend relationship and a revenge plot.”
“How? How do I do it?”
Sammy shrugged. “I don’t know.” Then suddenly her eyes lit up. “Why not ask the Beautification Committee? They’re sneaky smart.”
“The Beautification Committee? That’s ridicu—brilliant!”
Eden yanked her phone out of her pocket with so much enthusiasm it fell in the snow between them.
“Slow your roll, crazy town,” Sammy said, plucking the phone off the ground.
“This is a disaster. This should have been an amazing day that everyone felt good about, and I had to ruin it,” Eden muttered as she dialed. “Hello? Ellery? This is Eden. I made a huge mistake, and I need you to help me fix it. I love Davis.”
