I wiped my brow and sucked in the cool air, muttering, “It’s deliberate. They stuck the Elosand development centre at the bottom of the agenda, killed the air con, and are hoping the heat will discourage people from hanging around to listen to the arguments.”
Tap growled, “Fuckers. It even took two people fainting for them to call a break so they could switch it back on and cool the place off. People aren’t happy.”
“That’s good news for us.” I sank onto the top stair and fanned myself with the council agenda.
Tap joined me. “I only hope they stay that way when Elosand comes up and don’t just roll over like last time. All that talk of job opportunities and the region becoming some kind of leader in the information field was a load of bullshit. Listening to the chitchat as we came in, they sound a lot more educated this time. That social media campaign really helped raise awareness.”
“Yeah.” I grinned. “And the council is mad as hell about it. They tried to shut it down, claiming it was unduly prejudicial and spreading disinformation. The problem with that was that everything the campaign claimed was completely verifiable and had documents to prove it.”
Tap shuffled sideways on the stair to face me. “Do you think that’s why they finally dug that access road this week? As some kind of payback?”
I pulled a face and nodded. “Yeah. They clearly think I’m behind it.”
Tap hissed through clenched teeth. “Bastards. Well, they left a fucking mess, that’s for sure.”
Like I needed the reminder. I’d arrived home to find a huge cutting slashed through the bush at the end of the road with zero attempt at any clean-up on my side. Piles of broken branches, tree trunks, half my damn fenceline, and several tons of mud had been left on the council side of the boundary with my property. The place looked like a war zone, an open bleeding wound on pristine landscape. I’d sunk to my knees in the driveway and wept, the sucker punch to my heart only adding to the cycle of anger and grief I’d felt about Thaddeus.
I’d dragged myself into the cottage, stalked its empty rooms, and never felt so alone in all my life. I’d pulled out my phone more times than I cared to count and brought his number up on my screen. I’d been desperate to call him. Desperate to hear his voice. Trusting that for all of his miscalculations, Thaddeus would understand exactly what I was feeling. Knowing that he cared and desperately wanting his arms around me.
It had been three weeks, and I’d missed him so fucking much. I’d replayed that afternoon over and over in my head. My anger and sense of betrayal. His attempts to explain and my dismissal of them. None of it seemed to matter anymore. I just fucking missed him, and I’d spent most of my time wondering if he missed me too.
How was it possible for one man, in a few short weeks, to completely change how I felt about my beloved home of ten years? It felt as if his brief presence had altered its very substance. Even Ziggy had been moping. He no longerhassled Myrtle, content to eye the henhouse from a distance while Myrtle strutted her stuff, looking part triumphant, part suspicious. And as for me? I’d yet to return to the swimming hole, I’d only just changed the damn sheets on my bed, I hadn’t washed the T-shirt of mine Thaddeus had borrowed, and I’d even worn it to the meeting that night, for fuck’s sake.
Tap elbowed me gently. “You’re thinking about him again, aren’t you?”
My head jerked up from where I’d been studying the scratched and grimy linoleum. “I am not,” I lied.
He raised a brow and simply waited.
“Okay, fine,” I admitted. “So what if I am? Doesn’t change the fact he lied to me, does it?”
“He didn’tlieto you, Ry.” Tap had been repeating the same line over and over ever since I told him what had happened. “He just didn’t tell you everything he should have as soon as he should have.”
“A lie by omission is still a lie,” I said bluntly, wanting to slap myself for how ridiculous it sounded.
Tap gave a suitably unimpressed sigh. “Fine. If you want to stick with that, I’m not defending what he did, but?—”
I shot him a disbelieving look.
“I’m not,” Tap insisted. “But we all fuck up, Ry. I could list yours over the years, but I think we’d run out of time.”
I snorted. “You’ve got that right. And I know what you’re doing, but it’s not the same.”
Tap cocked his head to the side. “You want me to tell you you’re right? Sure, I can do that. Yes, Ry, you’re right. You’re right to be upset. You’re right to feel angry and betrayed. You’re right. You’re right. You’re right. There. Feel better?”
An eye-roll was as much as I could manage because no, I didn’t feel the slightest fucking bit better. And therein lay the problem.
Tap stood and clapped a hand on my shoulder. “At the risk of sounding trite, I think this is one of those moments where you need to decide if it’s more important for you to be right than to actually be happy. I love you, Ry, you know that. But you are seriously running the risk of losing your head up your own arse, never to be found again. Now, let’s get back in there before the chamber fills to capacity and they lock us out. And a word of warning, try not to punch anyone when it’s finished, yeah?”
“I’ll try,” I agreed, not sounding like I was going to put much effort into it. “Go ahead. I’ll follow in a sec.”
Tap glanced at the phone in my hand and grinned. “Get it done, cowboy.”
I pulled up Thaddeus’s name and thumbed him a quick text.
Hi. Can we talk?
Then I shoved the phone in my pocket and ran after my best friend.
