Read Online Down to the Liar by Mary Elizabeth Summer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Mary Elizabeth Summer
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“The best help would be her parents’ support,” I point out.
“Like I said. The best help money can buy.”
We stand in glum silence for a moment, and I think of last October and all the ways we sabotage ourselves and the people we love.
“Do you think we’re doomed to repeat our parents’ mistakes?” I ask out of nowhere. I’m not the heart-to-heart type, and even if I were, I wouldn’t do it with Bryn, of all people. But it’s too late now.
To her credit, though, Bryn doesn’t immediately smack me down. She actually thinks about her response before answering, which just shows how distraught she is. “I think we’re doomed to make our own mistakes, whether they relate to our parents or not.”
“Great,” I say. “So we’re doomed
and
it’s our fault.”
She actually smiles at me. A half of one, but I’ll take it. It’s a rare feat to make Bryn smile.
“Want a coffee?” I ask.
“You paying?” Bryn snaps back. She’s already starting to sound more like her old self.
I start moseying in the direction of the Ballou. “Well, I’m officially broke now, since Skyla’s in no position to pay me for the job I didn’t quite do, and Tog’s still expecting his fee.”
Bryn bumps me with her shoulder in an almost friendly way. “You did make the posts stop,” she says quietly. And I nearly trip over the thank-you behind her words.
To distract myself from the surreal feeling of Bryn being nice to me, I change topics. “I probably owe Garrett an apology. I called him a psychotic, abusive loser.”
She rolls her eyes. “He’ll get over it. Besides, he has bigger problems right now.”
I push back thoughts of all the people who have left me when I say, “Skyla’s lucky to have him.”
Bryn shrugs. “He loves her,” she says, as if it’s that simple.
I shake my head. “People say ‘love’ like it’s the answer to every question, but love is just another wire game. It sets you up with a tale about something that doesn’t exist. Then it shuts you out, just to drive you crazier for it. The second you go all in, it takes you for everything you’re worth, leaving you with nothing.”
Bryn stops walking and turns a sulfuric glare on me. “Bullshit,” she says.
I blink at her in surprise. I think it’s the first time I’ve ever heard her swear.
She tosses her head. “You think because you can manipulate people that you know everything there is to know about love?”
I never said I knew everything about anything, but she’s waiting for an answer.
“Maybe I don’t know everything about love,” I admit. “But I do know that it usually causes the problems I end up having to fix.” Like hypersuspicious fiancés, for example. Or my own ruined heart.
Bryn’s expression morphs into something that looks suspiciously like pity. But she lowers her voice so I’ll listen.
“Murphy buys me mint-chocolate-chip-flavored gum every time he sees it, because I once said I liked it. I have an entire desk drawer at home full of gum now. I open it sometimes just to look at the piles and piles of gum he’s given me over the last few months. Because
I
know what love is, Julep Dupree. And it’s not some two-bit con.”
I drop my gaze to the sidewalk. The sad thing is, I envy her.
She storms up to the door of the Ballou, her heels clicking on the pavement. She grabs the handle but turns back to me before pulling it. “Maybe Tyler’s death made you jagged-edged and bitter. But love didn’t kill him just to piss you off. And if you really believe that crap you just said, then you didn’t care about him at all.”
She walks into the Ballou without me, letting the door swing closed behind her. I stand there awhile and think about Murphy’s happily ever after and how I was wrong about his broken heart. If I was wrong about that, then perhaps I’m wrong about other things. And if I can be wrong about things, then perhaps there’s hope for me yet.
Praise for
Trust Me, I’m
“The best help would be her parents’ support,” I point out.
“Like I said. The best help money can buy.”
We stand in glum silence for a moment, and I think of last October and all the ways we sabotage ourselves and the people we love.
“Do you think we’re doomed to repeat our parents’ mistakes?” I ask out of nowhere. I’m not the heart-to-heart type, and even if I were, I wouldn’t do it with Bryn, of all people. But it’s too late now.
To her credit, though, Bryn doesn’t immediately smack me down. She actually thinks about her response before answering, which just shows how distraught she is. “I think we’re doomed to make our own mistakes, whether they relate to our parents or not.”
“Great,” I say. “So we’re doomed
and
it’s our fault.”
She actually smiles at me. A half of one, but I’ll take it. It’s a rare feat to make Bryn smile.
“Want a coffee?” I ask.
“You paying?” Bryn snaps back. She’s already starting to sound more like her old self.
I start moseying in the direction of the Ballou. “Well, I’m officially broke now, since Skyla’s in no position to pay me for the job I didn’t quite do, and Tog’s still expecting his fee.”
Bryn bumps me with her shoulder in an almost friendly way. “You did make the posts stop,” she says quietly. And I nearly trip over the thank-you behind her words.
To distract myself from the surreal feeling of Bryn being nice to me, I change topics. “I probably owe Garrett an apology. I called him a psychotic, abusive loser.”
She rolls her eyes. “He’ll get over it. Besides, he has bigger problems right now.”
I push back thoughts of all the people who have left me when I say, “Skyla’s lucky to have him.”
Bryn shrugs. “He loves her,” she says, as if it’s that simple.
I shake my head. “People say ‘love’ like it’s the answer to every question, but love is just another wire game. It sets you up with a tale about something that doesn’t exist. Then it shuts you out, just to drive you crazier for it. The second you go all in, it takes you for everything you’re worth, leaving you with nothing.”
Bryn stops walking and turns a sulfuric glare on me. “Bullshit,” she says.
I blink at her in surprise. I think it’s the first time I’ve ever heard her swear.
She tosses her head. “You think because you can manipulate people that you know everything there is to know about love?”
I never said I knew everything about anything, but she’s waiting for an answer.
“Maybe I don’t know everything about love,” I admit. “But I do know that it usually causes the problems I end up having to fix.” Like hypersuspicious fiancés, for example. Or my own ruined heart.
Bryn’s expression morphs into something that looks suspiciously like pity. But she lowers her voice so I’ll listen.
“Murphy buys me mint-chocolate-chip-flavored gum every time he sees it, because I once said I liked it. I have an entire desk drawer at home full of gum now. I open it sometimes just to look at the piles and piles of gum he’s given me over the last few months. Because
I
know what love is, Julep Dupree. And it’s not some two-bit con.”
I drop my gaze to the sidewalk. The sad thing is, I envy her.
She storms up to the door of the Ballou, her heels clicking on the pavement. She grabs the handle but turns back to me before pulling it. “Maybe Tyler’s death made you jagged-edged and bitter. But love didn’t kill him just to piss you off. And if you really believe that crap you just said, then you didn’t care about him at all.”
She walks into the Ballou without me, letting the door swing closed behind her. I stand there awhile and think about Murphy’s happily ever after and how I was wrong about his broken heart. If I was wrong about that, then perhaps I’m wrong about other things. And if I can be wrong about things, then perhaps there’s hope for me yet.
Praise for
Trust Me, I’m
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