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Since Brant knew the answer to that question, he had to be careful how he responded. “I heard her great-aunt died, so there must be a funeral, right?”
“I heard about that, too. But I didn’t expect Talulah to come back for her funeral. They were never close. Her aunt was a miserable person to be around.”
“They were still family.”
“True.” He hesitated for a moment before revealing what was really going through his mind. “I wonder how she’d react if we were to bump into each other. Do you think she regrets what she did to me?”
If she regretted not going through with the wedding, Charlie probably would’ve heard about it long before now. But wishful thinking could blind a person to the most obvious truth. “I have no idea. Does it matter? You’ll only get hurt again if you go back to her.”
“I’ve decided to attend the funeral.”
“What?”
“I knew her great aunt,” he said, somewhat defensively. “She was my Sunday School teacher way back in the day.”
She’d also been Brant’s Sunday School teacher. Brant and his family weren’t religious, but he’d often attended church functions with Charlie. “Considering the circumstances, it’d be perfectly understandable if you skipped out on the funeral.”
“But it would also be understandable if I went. That’s the point.”
Brant could tell he was getting sunburned. He hadn’t planned to be on the roof for so long. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I’m curious about what Talulah’s like these days. That’s all.”
“You follow her on Instagram. You see what she posts.”
“You know about social media. Everything’s designed to be flattering to whoever’s putting it up. You can only believe about half of what you see.”
Which was part of the reason Brant hardly ever went on Instagram. He checked it out occasionally, when he was bored, but he rarely posted anything. “Seriously? It’s been fourteen years since you two were a thing.”
“You never really get over your first love.”
Maybe there was something wrong with him, but Brant had never been unable to get over a woman. Did Charlie think Talulah was secretly pining for him?
“I wonder where she’s staying,” he mused. “Her parents sold their house to the Willoughbys years ago when they moved to Reno, so she can’t be there. She must be at one of the motels. Or maybe she’s at Phoebe’s.”
“I’m up on the barn,” Brant said, trying to put a stop to the conversation before it went any further in the wrong direction. “I have to finish patching this roof.”
“I’ll let you go, then. But let’s play some pool tonight.”
“Okay, I’ll call you later.” Brant disconnected but before he could put his phone back in his pocket he received a text.
It was from Ellen, which was a surprise. She didn’t contact him very often these days.
Hey, remember that portable AC unit you brought over when I first came to town? If no one’s using it right now, my new neighbor doesn’t have any AC. I was wondering if you’d let her borrow it while she sorts through her aunt’s belongings.
Brant squinted up at the broiling sun. It didn’t usually get this hot in Coyote Canyon, but the heat wave wasn’t supposed to break until Wednesday.
I can do that. No problem.
Thank you. And can you deliver it, too? I’m going out of town for a wedding and won’t be back for a week or more.
No problem. I know Talulah. I’ll throw it in the back of my truck and swing by in an hour or two.
I’m sure she’ll be grateful. She seems like a nice person.
After what Talulah had done to Charlie, at least half the community would argue with Ellen about Talulah being “a nice person,” but he didn’t feel it was his place to tell her what’d happened.How’d you meet her? Did she come over?
I took her a bottle of wine an hour ago. That’s how I know it’s sweltering over there.
