Page 92 of The Do-Over

“Both,” Lilah said, her eyes wide with excitement. She grabbed Nate’s arm and pulled him toward the object of her affection. “Let’s go.”

“I thought I could steal Perci away for a little,” Phee said.

“Daddy, hurry up!”

Nate waved us off. “Take your time. Something tells me we’re going to be occupied for a while.”

Phee linked arms with me and directed us to a semi-circle of food trucks not too far away from the tent. We both ordered something to drink and a fried pickle to share. (This was Texas. Most any food could be found in fried form.)

“How are you not melting?” I asked, pulling my tank top away from my sticky skin. We’d found a seat at a table under a slightly wilted umbrella that provided very little relief.

“I am. You just can’t see it under all the make-up. Occupational perk, I guess.” She pushed her sunglasses on top of her head.

I took one look at her and my sister-sense went wild. “What’s wrong?”

She froze and took a deep breath. “Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s fine.”

And then she burst into tears.

“Oh, Phee.” I patted her hand and handed her napkins. When she’d calmed down some, I asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

She shook her head but started talking anyway. “Everything is just so… weird.”

I waited a beat and when she didn’t go on, I prodded her. “With what?”

“With everything. Joel. The wedding. My job.” She sniffled and whispered, “Mathias.”

“Did something happen?”

With a nod, she settled her head on my shoulder. “On my birthday. Mathias showed up at my apartment and wanted to talk. We haven’t talked much since…”

“…he kissed you?”

“You know about that?”

“Phee, he’s my best friend. He tells me stuff.”

She looked away. “Yeah, since the kiss. He said he had something to tell me.”

“And?”

Her fingers tangled in her lap. “He said he’s in love with me.”

“He did what?” I half yelled. “He didn’t tell me about this.”

She sniffled. “It surprised me too.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing at first. Then he said some things. I said some things and then he left. I’ve tried to text, but he won’t respond.” Eyes filling with tears, she sat up and swiped at her cheeks.

“Phee, I’m so sorry.”

“You know when we first met, back when he was just regular Mathias before all the clothes and hair, and we were kind of seeing each other? It wasn’t serious. But it could have been.” A small smile broke through the sadness and just as quickly, disappeared. “Then one night, Mom figured it out and she sat me down and told me that Mathias was a nice boy but that I needed a man who could take care of me, help me reach my goals.”

My jaw dropped. “She didn’t.”

“She did. And Perci, I wanted those things too. At least back then. You can’t blame it all on her.”