“Yeah, why was that?” He stirred sugar into his tea, licking the spoon.
“Because all my thoughts ever told me was I wasn’t enough. Pretty enough, smart enough, talented enough.”
“They’re lying to you Fancy. The thoughts in your head. You are so much better than you know.”
“You don’t ever doubt yourself?”
“All the time. Late at night I lay in my bed wondering if I’m going to die alone in a farmhouse that smells like cheese surrounded by kitschy shit.”
Slamming my hand on the kitchen island, I agreed. “It does smell like cheese. Why is that?”
“I don’t know? I keep thinking one day I’ll move a box and find a big wheel of gouda”
“Despite the house being made of Manchego, you could probably have any woman you wanted.”
He scooped eggs on two plates. “You and I both know that’s not true.”
“Maybe back in high school. But I saw the way the ladies were looking at you at The Tipsy Owl.”
“No one was looking at me.”
“Them bitches were following your every move. I should know I was one of them.”
“Do you want bacon?”
“Have we met? Of course I want bacon.”
“I mean eventually I’ll find someone and settle down. That’s what you do in Hume.”
“Well don’t settle. Never that. It needs to feel like a Shania song. I thought I had it once or twice, but the melody was always slightly off.”
“Hmm, I fear settling is in my future.” He placed a plate in front of me before taking a seat.
“I still believe in love and so should you.”
“I believe but that doesn’t mean we’re all going to find it. What are there like eight billion people on this planet?”
“That’s a lot of opportunity.”
“You know that saying there’s someone for everyone? I used to believe that, but now not so much.”
“What changed?”
“The math ain’t mathing. What if my soulmate is in Peru? Now what?”
“I think your person is right here in Hume.” There it was again. Edison shot me a look I couldn’t quite identify, but it was giving hints of uncertainty and frustration.
“Love comes with too many variables. That person needs to feel the same thing I’m feeling at the exact same time. It’s a gamble.”
“When did you become the love sucks guy?”
“I never said love sucks. It’s amazing when you can find it. But finding it is like sifting through a haystack for a needle. Honestly, and I know this might sound weird, but I think the Birch siblings are cursed.”
“Explain.”
“Cyrus, Dial, me all single for years now. Maybe that’s just our fate.”
“Hey, look at me.” Claiming his chin, I continued, “You deserve all the love you can hold. Now you may be on to something with Dial because she is like a cat in a bag. But not Cy and certainly not you.”
