Page 44 of Reckless Liar

“I am so good! I got a ton of shopping done. It’s so nice to get away and shop, have a little me time, don’t you agree?”

“Yeah, sure,” I agreed halfheartedly, sending a perturbed glance across the counter at the barista. Why was my drink taking so long?

“You know I’m so glad I ran into you. I wanted to ask you something,” she said, ripping the top off four Splendas at once and pouring them into her drink. Behind me they called out my drink. I grabbed it off the counter, heading to the bar to dump in some cinnamon and sugar. Sherie watched me as I fixed my coffee as quickly as I could.

She motioned to the pastel packets of sweeteners on the bar. “You really should consider a substitute to sugar. Like I said last time, it really is a drug epidemic. Big sugar is going to kill a whole generation if we aren’t careful.”

I set the sugar canister down to look her in the eyes, my words as carefully as I could muster. “I think actual drugs are a lot worse than a little sugar.”

“Oh, no. You have no idea. I was just certified as a personal trainer and...”

I interrupted her. “I’m a nurse, and my boyfriend, Xander’s best friend, died from a drug overdose a year and a half ago, so I’m telling you that real drugs—actual drugs—are a much bigger threat than sugar.”

Sherie had the decency to look abashed.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Alex never said...”

“It’s not really first date conversation, is it?” I put the lid on my coffee and turned to walk away. “I need to get going. I have to drop off something on Queenie Hill, so I should be...”

“For Alex?” she interrupted. I frowned at her as she surged on. “That’s where his father lives right? He mentioned that. I can’t imagine it, can you? Ugh. That place is such a dump. I hate even going over to that side of town after dark. Too many shady people.”

“That’s where he grew up, you know that right?” I asked, perturbed.

She scoffed, “But he doesn’t live there anymore. You know what I mean. Alex said your father’s a doctor.”

Instead of responding, I stared her down. While that area had never been my favorite, and my mom didn’t like me going there after dark when I was growing up, I felt a certain sense of fealty to defend the neighborhood that raised both Max and Xander.

“I really do need to go, Sherie. Good to see you.” I lied. I turned to walk away but she caught up to me as I made my way out the double doors.

“I’m leaving too. I’ll walk with you, I had something to ask you.”

I sighed as it didn’t look like this girl was going to take a hint. We walked to the parking lot, her chattering beside me all the way.

Later, after dropping off the new shirts I bought for Eloise, I found myself sitting back in my car, my hands shaking. My conversation with Sherie was bothering me more than I expected it to. Besides her snotty attitude about Queenie Hill, I was annoyed that she knew that Xander was from that area, that she would know something about Xander.

As I was about to turn my car on, I saw Xander come around his father’s house, a stack of lumber under his arm and a hammer in the other hand. I remembered he said he needed to fix his dad’s fence after the dog chewed a hole in the wood and kept running off. I watched him working, his long-sleeved shirt straining against his shoulders as he set the wood down on the ground. His faded yellow beanie pulled down over his head. The weather was too cold to be doing this kind of manual labor, but I knew that wouldn’t stop Xander from helping.

I pictured Sherie stopping by, coming up and talking to him, touching his arm the way she did at our apartment. Flirting in that effervescent way of hers. I didn’t want her there. I didn’t want her anywhere near Xander. I didn’t want her to know anything about him. She could be the nicest girl in the world, and I still wouldn’t want her to know him. I had a sense of dominion over him, that I knew I had no business of feeling. He’d told me that earlier. I had no rights over him, who he dated or who he talked to.

Before I could stop myself, I climbed out of the car and crossed the street to stand next to him. I thought I saw a flicker of joy cross his face as I approached but it could have been wishful thinking.

“So, I ran into Sherie at the mall today,” I said without preamble.

He set the hammer down and picked up a new nail from beside him. “Is that so?”

“Yeah, she asked about you.”

He glanced at me, the nails in his teeth. “What did you say?” he asked, his words garbled.

“I said, you’re doing fine.” I paused, leaning down and picking up a nail he dropped in the grass. I tried to keep my voice flat. “She asked me if I thought you were going to call her again.” He looked back at the fence, lining up the nail to hold the board. “I told her I didn’t know.”

He drove the hammer down, sinking the nail into the wood. He turned to face me, setting the hammer down on the bench next to him.

“Are you saying I should call her?”

“No, of course not,” I blurted. “That’s to say, if you really wanted to call her you should. I mean, like I said before, I don’t think you two are right for each other.”

He crossed his arms against his chest, appraising me. “If you don’t want me to call her, I won’t.”

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