Page 27 of Love You Still
“Family dinner a little more stressful than expected?” Bristol giggles before grabbing both bottles of wine from my hands and striding past me into the kitchen. I barely resist the urge to laughas I watch her waddle into the kitchen, trying her best to move around while being eight months pregnant.
“That’s an understatement. Apparently, Vance came ready to fight for his girl. Mr. and Mrs. G weren’t much help either.” Leia rolls her eyes at me as she follows Bristol into the kitchen. “They also sent pie.”
“Oh! I love pie.” Bristol squeals, handing me a glass of wine, followed by Leia holding a plate with my mom’s pie on it.
“They’re just trying to butter you up so I don’t stay mad at them. Ugh, if they weren’t my parents, I’d never speak to them again,”
“Was it really that bad?”
“No. I just found out that they’ve been hiding a little more from me than I had originally thought.” I take a big gulp of wine, sending up a silent prayer that she won’t ask me any more questions about what happened.
I know I shouldn’t be angry with my mother for doing what I asked her to do, but a goodbye letter from Vance was important. I should’ve been given the chance to read it and make my own decision about what to do. Not to mention, if I had read that letter, I doubt we would have spent the last fourteen years not speaking to each other.
“And whose fault is that?” Leia quips as she grabs one bottle and fills her glass before taking a seat in one of the armchairs to my right.
“Okay, spill because I have a feeling I’m missing some very important details,” Bristol says before opening her laptop that is sitting on the coffee table and lowering herself onto the couch on the opposite side of me.
“The short version is that when Selina stopped talking to Vance, he hoped that things would work out, but when he couldn’t take it any longer, he wrote her a goodbye letter,” Leia begins, her eyes focused on me.
“Damn. That’s rough,” Bristol replies before shoving a large bite of pie into her mouth.
“Yes. But to make matters worse, he gave said goodbye letter to my mother, who neglected to mention even receiving it until tonight at dinner.” I sigh before downing the rest of my glass of wine and pouring another one.
“She didn’t give it to you because you expressly told her you didn’t want anything to do with Vance Kirkland, and we were all forbidden from even mentioning his name,” Leia huffs before following my example and finishing her glass of wine before pouring another one.
“And why was that?”
“Because I saw him getting very cozy with another woman the night Lydia died.”
“The fuck?”
“Yeah. And before Leia jumps in and tells me how stupid I was, I better explain.” I run my free hand down my face, trying to find an easy way to explain my stupidity to Bristol. “He was hugging someone, yes, but that was it. Nothing more. Just taking comfort from another human being, who happened to be female, after one of his best friends died.”
“Then I don’t understand why you cut him off.”
“Because she was stubborn and refused to ask the man a very simple question, choosing to jump to conclusions instead.”
“Oh…” Bristol’s eyes widen in understanding as she leans back in her chair, her hand resting on the top of her basketball-sized belly. “Well, I can understand being hurt, but if nothing happened, then why are you still angry at him?”
“I’m not angry,” I quip, not wanting to talk about this anymore.
I wasn’t lying when I said I wasn’t angry at Vance. It took me a while to understand that even if something happened between him and another woman, he had every right to do so. I left Vancewithout saying goodbye. He had no guarantee that I would come back or when. It was unfair of me to believe he would wait around for me to come home. It wasn’t until months later, probably around the same time that Vance wrote that letter, that I found out that what I saw was a figment of my imagination.
I had just gotten passed over for the leading role in the ballet we were doing that semester, and I was pissed. Instead of going back to my room and sulking like I always did, I went out to a bar near campus and started drinking. At some point during the night, I picked up my phone and started dialing numbers, the very first being Leia’s. Thankfully, she answered the phone, but I don’t remember the conversation we had. It wasn’t until the next morning when I got the detailed message with bullet points of our conversation that I realized my mistake.
“She’s scared of letting him in again and then leaving. She worried that history might repeat itself.”
I open my mouth to respond, but Bristol’s computer comes to life, ringing loudly. “Saved by a phone call. But don’t think for one minute that this conversation is over.” Bristol’s eyes narrow in my direction before accepting the call.
Audrey’s face fills the screen, but instead of the bright smile I’m used to seeing, her face is covered in tears. Black streaks of mascara run down her cheeks, probably from crying for hours, and her caramel-colored eyes are dull with sadness. Her curly hair is completely out of sight, tucked into a bright red bonnet that matches the shirt she’s wearing.
“Oh, honey,” Bristol coos, which brings on a fresh wave of tears from Audrey.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she sobs before covering her face with her hands.
“Just remember, we have places to hide a body,” Leia chimes in as she takes a seat on the floor in front of us, pushing the table back slightly so Audrey can see all three of us.
“I know, Leia, but I don’t think that’s the best idea. It would be hard to get a body from Texas to Tennessee and not get caught.”