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I barged into his room and almost stepped on a shattered picture of him and Mindy on the floor. It had been from their Hawaiian vacation a few years ago.
“What?” he shouted at me.
“I, I heard a noise.” I turned my attention to the destroyed picture frame on the wooden floor, taken aback by his furious expression. Holden wasn’t the sort of guy who raged, but I could imagine him doing it now, and it scared the crap out of me. “Did something happen?”
He laughed and shook his head. “Only catching my girlfriend fucking my student in my bed!” He squeezed his head between his hands. “I was planning to propose at Christmas. How can she cheat on me? We’ve been together since college!”
“Your student?” I gulped and my stomach churned. Holden was a teacher at the high school. He taught agriculture and his Ag students adored him. He also coached football. How could Mindy be with a student? They were minors.
“My quarterback.” He covered his mouth like he might throw up. “At least he’s eighteen, as of last month.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry? Don’t be.” He paced in front of me. “It’s not the first time she’s cheated.”
“What?”
“Yeah, your pathetic older brother has forgiven her two other times. How can I be so goddamn stupid and trusting?”
“Holy shit.”
“I’m such a fucking idiot. A loser with a capital L.”
“You’re not a loser.” I stopped him and hugged him tightly. “You loved her.”
“Not that she deserved it.” His voice cracked and his face went down on my shoulder. I rubbed his back and listened to him sniffle. I couldn’t tell if he was crying or not.
“I know you don’t want to hear this, but you will be okay.” Or I prayed he would be. He’d been betrayed in the worst possible way. It should be easy to get over Mindy, but it would still be painful.
“Why, Shelby? Why would she disrespect me this way? We’ve been together for ten years.” They had met in graduate school. Holden had wanted to be the first Smithfield to go all the way in college. He’d been a great mentor to me when I’d started college.
“It’s a blessing you didn’t marry her years ago like you wanted.”
“She kept putting me off. Guess she knew she couldn’t be faithful.”
“You dodged a bullet, Holden. Can you imagine if you had a kid?”
“I wish we had. Maybe she would’ve straightened out.”
“Nope. Once a cheater, always a cheater.” Olivia’s bitter voice came from behind us.
My baby sister had the worst luck with men. She had a strong personality most guys couldn’t handle because they wanted a woman to be obedient and needy, which was so not Liv. The few boyfriends she had had cheated on her. I doubted she’d ever trust another man, much less, marry one.
Besides, the pickings were slim in Burntwood, anyway. We knew everybody, so he’d have to be an outsider, a new resident in town for Olivia to consider him. I didn’t see that happening.Nobody moved to Burntwood, they passed through on their way to somewhere bigger and better.
“Terrific, big mouth is here, and all of Burntwood will know my business by suppertime,” Holden groaned.
“Oh, jeez.” Olivia put her hands on her hips. “Do you really think I’d blab about this?”
“He knows you wouldn’t,” I told her.
Holden plopped down on his bed. “My student. If the word gets out, my reputation is ruined.” His concerns and disbelief were palpable.
“Mindy’s reputation will be ruined. Not yours.” I sat next to him.
“Yeah, you’ll just be the pathetic victim.”
We both looked over at Olivia leaning against the open door. She looked hot in a white off-the-shoulder blouse with ruffles on the hem, a denim skirt, and red western-style ankle boots. She was beautiful and had a heart of gold, but the more she was burned by a guy, the uglier her attitude got.
