“You came back to town and needed an ego boost, and you knew just where to look.”
“I didn’t come back for Edison.” I shrugged off her words.
“Do you think that makes it better or worse? Edison’s feelings were never a consideration for you. You had one foot out of this town for years but still strung him along.”
“He was my best friend.”
“He was your lap dog,” Dial spit out.
It was no secret there was no love lost between Dial and us Palmer siblings. She’d dated Oz and he broke her heart, or she broke his. I wasn’t privy to the details, but ever since she’d had a hard on for me and him. She didn’t have to like me, but she was trying to control my relationship with her brother and I was sick of it.
“I don’t know what I did to make you so angry with me.”
“You hurt my brother. That’s all the cause I need.”
“Edison and I are in a good place, a really good place. So you can pack up your cape.”
“He’s soft on you and willing to look past shit easier than me.”
“And isn’t that his right? Seeing how my relationship with Edison is between me and Edison.”
Dial stood rod straight. Even though she was a few inches shorter than me, she had the power of intimidation on her side. I don’t know if it was the slant of her mouth or the balled-up fist, but it was clear she wasn’t looking to play games. “If you hurt him again, I will fly to LA and whoop your ass all across the golden state.”
“I’d like to see you try.” I squared my shoulders, never one to back down from a fight. Truthfully, Dial was stronger than me and could easily best me in a fight, but I was scrappy and wouldn’t go down without connecting a few blows to her face and ribs. We stared at one another for a bit like those boxers do at weigh in before I walked away in a huff. Getting into a fistfight with his sister would probably do me no favors with Edison.
“Go back to LA,” Dial shouted, not caring who heard her. “No one wants you here.”
“You better get used to this face Dial.” I pointed right at my mug. “Because when you see Edison, you’re going to see me standing right next to him holding his hand. Cry about it.” I unhitched and mounted Candy before trotting away.
Back at Edison’s spot, I obsessed over everything. The situation with Darla, my fight with Dial. Darla was a two-faced liar and she and I would cross paths soon enough and when we did, I don’t know if I was interested in talking so much as whooping her ass. Chap cheating, I could get over. Fuck him, he was a dumb guy who took me for granted. A mistake he would regret for the remainder of his days. But Darla was my best friend. She knew everything about me, even the things I normally kept to myself. That kind of betrayal cuts deep. And it wasn’t something I could easily move past. What that meant for the group I wasn’t ready to think about.
Then there was Dial. It’s funny how I came to Hume to escape my problems and just ended up picking up new ones. I didn’t need us to be besties, but we had to find a common ground. One thing about Edison, he didn’t play about his family; he loved his parents, and his siblings fiercely, so disliking Dial wasn’t a route I was willing to take. If Edison and I were going to work, I needed to fix things as best as I could with her. Because if he was forced to choose, he wouldn’t pick me.
Speaking of, where did all this protective, “Hurt my brother and I’ll kill you” attitude come from? What exactly had Edison said about me to his sister because whatever it was appeared to make me out to be the bad guy. Which was absurd. But Edison didn’t believe in shades of gray. There was only black and white. So, if he was the victim, that had to make me the villain.
I tried to keep busy, but I found myself stewing for the rest of the day. I checked on the animals, swept the porch, and cookeddinner, but all I could think about was Edison’s perception of my leaving Hume all those years ago. It was never about him. I was doing what was best for me. When Edison entered the house, I met him at the door, my feelings turned up to ten.
“What did you tell your sister about me?”
“What do you mean?” He placed a shopping bag on the floor and removed his ball cap.
“Exactly that. What did you say to her because she has a real bad taste in her mouth whenever she says my name.”
“Hello, my day was good. Thank you for asking.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” I tapped my foot, still waiting for an answer.
“It smells great in here.” Edison approached me, looking for a welcome home kiss.
“Answer my question.”
“I don’t understand the question. What are you talking about? Our relationship?”
“No, I’m talking about when I initially left Hume for LA. What did you tell her about that? About us.”
Edison shrugged. “You expect me to remember shit from ages ago?”
“Whatever you said stuck with your sister like a piece of popcorn caught in her molars.”
