might even run into Sam
.
That was ridiculous, of course. Sam was with Heather. He was not only with Heather, he was sleeping with her. And Gaia should know: unbelievably, she'd witnessed them having sex not once, but twice. Although she could be a glutton for punishment, even Gaia had her limits. It was time to accept that Sam was never going to be part of her life. It didn't matter how Gaia felt about him because Sam didn't share those feelings.
"Is this song really that sad?" asked a voice at her back.
Gaia spun to find Mary looking at her. "You're early."
"So are you," said Mary. She tilted her head a little to the side and looked at Gaia. "Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing." Gaia was embarrassed to find there were tears blurring her eyes. The combination of the music and her own thoughts of Sam really had been getting to her. Gaia blinked away the tears and smiled. "How did your shopping trip go?"
Mary's lips turned up in
a wicked grin
. "Great, of course. I found exactly what I need for tonight."
"About tonight," said Gaia. "I don't know--"
"Oh, no, Ms. Moore," said Mary. "You're not getting out of this." She took Gaia by the arm and drew her away from the phonograph cart. "Come on, let's get somewhere we can talk without yelling."
Gaia followed as Mary led the way toward the north end of the park, where a re-creation of the Arc de Triomphe loomed over the people strolling the paths. The music from the weird phonograph faded until it was only
a melancholy hum in the winter air
. "Where do you want to go?"
Mary waved a hand ahead. "Doesn't matter. Somewhere we can continue our conversation."
"Which conversation is that?"
"You know." Mary gave Gaia a sideways look. "The conversation we were having about your mother."
Gaia stopped dead in her tracks. Mary was the first
person she had ever told about her mother's death. Sharing had made Gaia feel better than she expected, but she was definitely not ready to say more. "That wasn't a conversation," she said. "That was a dare."
"I know," Mary said. "But I thought it might help you feel better to tell me more about it. I'm here for you, Gaia."
"There isn't any more to tell," said Gaia. Images of snow and violence danced on her brain for a painful moment. "I told you everything."
"Everything?" Mary paced back and forth on the sidewalk. "What about your dad? And how did you end up with the Nivens? And why was your mother killed?" She shook her head. "You've barely even started."
Gaia started to answer, stopped, opened her mouth to reply, then shut it again. The problem with most of Mary's questions was that Gaia didn't really know the answers. And even when she did know,
there were still things she wasn't ready to tell
. "The truth or dare game's over now," she said. "Let me catch my breath before we get into more."
Disappointment creased Mary's forehead, but she nodded. "All right," she replied. "It's just that it's all so . . . so . . . sad and . . . I wish I could help."
Sad
wasn't the first word that came to Gaia's mind when she thought about her own life.
Try tragic
.
Heartbreaking.
"Let's try another subject. Tell me what you found to wear tonight."
Mary raised her chin and struck a pose. "Only something perfect."
"How nice for you," Gaia said with a laugh. "At least one of us will look decent."
"That's the really good news," said Mary. She held up her left hand and revealed a small plastic shopping bag. She let the bag dangle from the tip of her finger and swung it back and forth. "Now for the even better news. I found something for you, too."
"You bought something for me?" Gaia looked at the bag and got a tight feeling in her stomach. "Something to wear?"
Mary nodded. "Something perfect for tonight." She held the bag out where Gaia could take it. "Come on. Take a look."
Gaia squinted at the bag suspiciously. "I don't know about this. I don't think I should even go."
"You promised."
"That's what you say," Gaia replied. "I don't even remember
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