Page 66 of Falling Madly
“Why do you say it like that?”
I swallowed. “Because… I was a teenager and… anyway, the point of the sled contest is to crash so that your sled totally falls apart. I mean, of course you try not to, but nearly everyone does, and that’s why it’s so much fun for the audience.”
Bess looked like she had further questions, but Trevor saw my discomfort and jumped in. “We shouldn’t have any problems crashin’ and falling apart. Turns out the glue’s dried out and the cardboard is not thick enough for the screws.” He dropped the useless tube of glue and picked up a roll of duct tape. “Let’s hope this holds.”
“As long as the temperature stays below freezing,” I said. “One year, I remember the weather turned weirdly warm. It started drizzling and everyone’s sleds got soaked.”
“It should be fine,” Charlie said, looking out the window. “Why don’t you get started and I’ll go order us some dinner?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Trevor
We worked on our sled design for the rest of the day, taking frequent breaks for pizza, coffees, and drinks.
I was happy I’d stocked the cabin for emergencies. This didn’t exactly qualify as one, but it meant the cupboards were full of snacks and the fridge held a variety of drinks. Living in the middle of nowhere meant I needed to plan ahead and buy in bulk—something I wasn’t natural at but was gradually learning.
Teresa had clammed up when Bess inquired about her past, and hadn’t since volunteered anything else, which was only amping up my curiosity. What did she mean about Cozy Creek knowing her? What could she have possibly done to earn a reputation she had to worry about fourteen years later? A new crop of teenagers emerged every year to do new stupid shit. Surely whatever it was had been outdone many times since then.
After entertaining some wild guesses from public urination to robbing a liquor store, I concluded it was probably somethingthat felt big to her but wasn’t anything major. Our minds did such a great job of amplifying our own mistakes.
“Do you have a big tarp we could use for painting?” Bess asked me as I returned to our spare room workshop after cleaning up our dinner mess.
The sled was starting look a little more like an intentional shape than an abandoned box. We’d settled on a simple shape of a cartoon car, which did look rather drab in its original cardboard color.
“Charlie said he saw some paint in your shed we could use,” Bess continued, “and if we open the windows in the spare room, maybe we could paint there.” She glanced at Teresa. “Oh, no! But then you can’t sleep here. It’ll get too cold and the fumes…”
She grinned. “It’s okay. I’ll be too high on fumes to notice I’m cold.”
“Wait, what paint are you talking about?” I asked. “I thought we agreed the white doesn’t stand out against snow.”
I’d told them I only had some off-white base coat, which had been rejected by all.
There was a telling silence as Bess glanced at Charlie. “We found a can of purple paint at the back. It’s unopened, so maybe you were saving it for something, but it would look amazing!”
She fetched the can from the pile of supplies by the door, and Teresa grabbed it off her. “Tyrian!”
“It’s gorgeous!” Bess agreed.
“This would go really well in your bedroom,” Teresa mused, lifting the can, turning the color swatch against the light.
I held my breath, waiting for her to connect the dots.
“Wait.” She turned to me. “Did you…?” She peered at me, head tilted, and I nodded.
It’s your favorite color.
“Did he what?” Bess asked.
Teresa blushed a little, shaking her head. “Nothing.” She lifted her eyes to me. “You bought this for your house. We shouldn’t waste it on some cardboard.”
“Let’s!” I said quickly. “I can buy more if I need it. And if the spare room is too cold or full of fumes, we can both sleep in the living room.”
Her gaze flicked to the couch, and she bit her lip. “Sure. It’s not a problem.”
Bess and Charlie exchanged another look, this one far more knowing.
Teresa’s head whipped from side to side as she took in the situation. I saw the moment something snapped, then words spilled out of her mouth. “Stop it! We all know what’s going on, right? Do we have to keep pretending?”
