Page 29
“Max.” She places her hand over mine. “They built two memorials. One in the town square and another…” she pauses, giving my hand a light squeeze, “at the old mill.”
“Two memorials? Wow. How thoughtful of them,” I retort, the bitterness in my voice unmistakable.
“Thoughtful of her,” Sienna corrects, pulling her hand away from mine. “Mayor Crawford made sure both memorials were ready before the reunion. The one in the town square will be officially unveiled next Friday. I heard they’re even planning some kind of candlelight vigil.”
“I see,” I say, reaching for Sienna’s whiskey and downing what’s left of it.
“Sorry. I just thought you should know what Peyton has in store for you this week.” Sienna looks almost apologetic for giving me such news.
I let my eyelids fall shut and count to ten, bracing myself for the inevitable spiral. However, when I realize that the name neither sends my heart racing nor my lungs gasping for air, I slowly let out the breath I’ve been holding.
Huh. No panic attack. No total meltdown. I’ll take the win.
“So Peyton’s mayor now, huh?” I say, forcing a humorless laugh. “Figures. She was always good at spinning things her way. Of course she’d go into politics.”
“Well, she sure found the town for it. Fairhope always had a blind spot when it came to her.” Sienna’s nostrils flare. “I still can’t believe they actually voted for that bitch.”
“Don’t call her that. No woman deserves to be called such a degrading name.”
Sienna snorts. “Man or woman, if you act like a bitch, then I’m calling you one. Can’t call a spade a spade by any other name. Hell, calling that fucking cunt a bitch is me being nice.” She leans closer. “She’s fucking evil. You, above anyone else, know that.”
“Can we not talk about Peyton? Please? It’s taking everything in me not to bolt and go back to Manhattan as it is.”
“Well, you’d better get it together and fast. Tomorrow there’s supposed to be a brunch here for all the female graduates of 2016. And you know Peyton and her Red Squad will be taking center stage since they’re the ones who organized this whole shindig.”
“Peyton organized this? Does she have that much free time to deal with high school reunions, being mayor and all?”
Sienna shakes her head. “No. This was all Misty.”
Now there’s a name I could’ve happily gone another ten years without hearing. Of course, Misty was behind all of this. Back in the day, she had been head of the yearbook committee, helped organize homecoming and prom, and was student council treasurer. A ten-year reunion is exactly the kind of thing Misty would jump at the chance to take over.
“I see. And what else has Misty been up to?”
“Are you sure you want to know?” Sienna asks, concern flickering across her face as I order a shot of tequila.
“Hit me,” I say just as the bartender drops the shot glass in front of me. I down the shot in one go, the liquor burning its way down my throat. When Sienna doesn’t say anything, I look at her and frown. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m fine. Just tell me,” I retort as I signal the bartender to fill the glass again.
“You don’t look fine. You don’t drink, remember?”
“I’m making an exception this week.” I give her a bitter grin before downing the tequila and slamming the shot glass on the counter. “Now… tell me what Misty Buckley has been up to since I left.”
“It’s Misty Galloway now. She married some bigwig architect right after college. She convinced him to move to Fairhope, where they built a bunch of million-dollar homes along the lake. Safe to say she’s doing well for herself.”
“Well, Misty always did look out for her own self-interests, didn’t she?” I snark belligerently, slapping my hand on the counter and ordering another shot. “Glad to see someone got their happily ever after. Kudos to Misty for making it happen. She always did think ten steps ahead no matter whose neck she had to step on to get there.”
“And with that glowing endorsement, I’m cutting you off,” Sienna says before stealing the shot glass from my grip and knocking the tequila back as if it were water. “This walk down memory lane has been too much for one day.”
A sardonic laugh escapes me. “Ah, Sienna. It was too much for one lifetime. What’s one fucking day in comparison?”
My chest tightens when the stoic mask Sienna wears so effortlessly slips. Her eyes soften to the point that they almost ache. I must look pretty pathetic to her if just talking about my old high school nemeses still gets under my skin like this.
“I think we’ve reminisced enough for one day,” she says gently. “How about we call it a night instead?”
A quick glance at my phone tells me it’s only a quarter past six. It’s too early to go to bed. Though when I do go, I’m pretty sure I won’t sleep a wink knowing I’ll wake up to fucking Fairhope. Still, I might as well go up to my room now and wallow there where poor Sienna doesn’t have to witness my pitiful state.
“Yeah, okay. I am pretty beat from the drive anyway.”
“Eight hours on the road will do that. Tomorrow you’ll feel more like yourself. You’ll wake up, have too much coffee, and pretend that none of this shit matters.” Sienna offers me what she considers to be an encouraging grin, at least by her standards. “For what it’s worth, I’ll be there with you every step of the way. You’re not alone, Max. You’ve got me. Okay?” I flash her a grateful smile.
