Page 101 of Pity Pact
“You what?!” She puts the pizza down.
“I don’t know what came over me,” I tell her. “I just felt the need to protect Tim. Tim the horrible. Tim the liar …”
“Are you sure he’s not really interested in you?”
“How can you even ask me that?” I demand. “You dated him. Youknowhe isn’t capable of commitment.”
“I know he wasn’t when I dated him.” Missy kicks up her stocking-clad feet onto the coffee table. “But I thought he’d changed.”
Shaking my head, I tell her, “Doesn’t look like it. At least not according to what Cami said.”
“So she’s not into Tim?” Missy asks.
“She started dating someone who isn’t on the show.”
“I guess not. What else did Eva have to say?”
I shrug while reaching out for Missy’s beer. After taking a sip, I tell her, “I left before it got more interesting.”
“And you really think that Tim still loves her?”
“Don’t you?” I ask.
“I can’t imagine how he possibly could, but loveiscomplicated.”
I put one finger in the air and declare, “He went on the show to make her jealous.” Lifting another finger, I add, “He partnered with Cami to do just that.” Third finger. “He asked me out on a date, and he wanted it to betelevised. All of that adds up to him using me.”
Missy exhales. “Yeah, it’s not looking good for him.”
“I just can’t believe I fell for it.” I roll my eyes before adding, “I know I’m not interested in Fielden, but there might have been another guy I could have liked. So not only was Tim insincere about how he felt about me, but he also ruined my chances of meeting another guy.”
“Why not go back on and see if there isn’t someone else?” she wants to know.
“No way,” I tell her. “I made such a spectacle of myself I can never see those people again.” Not to mention, my heart is truly bruised, and it may be quite a while before I trust another man.
“So you’re just going to walk away?” she asks.
“That’s my plan.”
“And if Tim tries to get a hold of you?”
“I won’t be taking his calls,” I tell her.
“And if he shows up at your house?”
“I’ll call the cops.” I probably won’t, but if Tim knows what’s good for him, he won’t tempt me. Then it hits me. “Why aren’t you out with Jamie tonight?”
“He’s taking Sammy to Chicago to see her mom. He’s going to spend the night and come back in the morning.”
“I’m surprised how well things are going with Beth,” I say. “I mean, it can’t be easy on them that she was AWOL for so many years and now she wants to be a part of Sammy’s life again.”
Missy pulls an afghan off the back of the couch and wraps herself up in it. “Beth has had a hard time of it. I used to want to hate her, but I’ve come to realize she did the best she could. That’s all any of us can do.”
“I just don’t see how they could have forgiven her.”
“You don’t forgive people for them,” Missy says. “You do it for yourself, so you don’t have to live in a cesspool of anger.” She sends me a meaningful look.
“You’d better not be telling me to forgive Tim right now,” I say heatedly. I’ve got myself a good, long grudge to keep and I plan on doing just that.