Big Man's Contract

“To be honest, I’m surprised you and Haley became friends,” Lina says.

“No more surprised than me. She was trying hard. I thought maybe she was wracked with guilt.” She laughs and I do too because knowing Haley, that’s preposterous. Part of me knew that back then, but I guess I was feeling sorry for myself and wanted it to be true.

I say, “I remember, senior year, shortly after you’d left, and Haley was very obviously pregnant, she was trying particularly hard to get close to me.”

She seems to marvel at that. “Do you know who the father is?” she asks.

I laugh and look at her confused. “Are you joking?” But the look on her face makes me realize that she’s clearly not. “Weren’t you the one who spread the rumor that one of her teachers knocked her up?”

Her eyes go wide, seeming horrified. “I would never do anything like that. I didn’t even know she was pregnant until a couple days ago when I arrived.”

My head hurts. I don’t know who has been lying to me. If Lina is telling the truth, that means Haley lied to me and was trying to get close to me while I was hurt and fragile. For some dumb reason I’d trusted her.

10

Lina

It’s not the sunlight peeking through the curtains, or the clanging of dishes that wake me up the next morning. It’s a heavenly smell. My eyelids stretch open and look around Madden’s room. Then I look beside me and see he’s not there. For a panicked moment, I fear he’s ditched me and this is part of his revenge against me, but as I wake up further, I know that’s not true. Something in my gut tells me he wouldn’t do that to me. Not now. Not after last night. We bonded, I know we did. When he looked in my eyes, I know he felt the same way about me that I do about him. If he denies it, he’s only lying to himself.

Careful footsteps climb up the stairs, bringing that amazing scent closer to me. Then Madden comes around the corner, into the room. He’s holding a tray full of pancakes, sausage, and eggs. I’ve eaten nothing but vending machine junk food from the motel since I arrived and the food smells so good I might just maul him if he tried to take it away.

“Thought you might be hungry after last night,” he says with a wink.

I sit up, excited. He laughs. “Starving,” I say.

“Sexy as hell, good in bed, and a fabulous cook? How are you still single?” I ask him as I spread butter over the pancakes and cover them in warm syrup.

“I guess I’ve just been waiting for the right person to come back to town.”

I almost choke on the giant bite of pancake I shoved in my mouth. He chuckles at my expression and stands up. “I have to go help Abe out at the shop for a couple hours this morning. Finish eating, take a shower if you want. There are fresh towels in the closet.”

He kisses my forehead, so sweet and soft. I can get used to this. I can see myself waking up every morning to that perfect face, to those delicate kisses.

I take a deep breath and try to shove those thoughts away. I know we’re starting to connect, but I’m not delusional. I hurt him and I don’t know if what I did is forgivable. Right now he’s being flirty; we just slept together. I’m not going to take his words and a fabulous breakfast in bed as an indicator that he wants to spend the rest of his life with me.

After he leaves I take a shower and wash my clothes. And to be honest, I poke through his stuff a little while I wait. I look at old family albums and see the progression as he changed from a skinny awkward kid into the beautiful man that he is now. His mother liked taking pictures of him. There are hundreds of him and Abe. My mom was never like that. I wish she had been. I hardly have any pictures of my father or my childhood.

After my clothes are dry, I leave. Standing outside by my car, I look over at my old house, the for sale sign staked into the brown lawn. So many good memories in that house. I miss it.

I decide to call my mom. She never told me about putting it up for sale or that it hadn’t sold. She never wanted to talk about our life in Pepperhill. Whenever I would bring it up, she would change the subject. It seemed like some kind of secret we were never supposed to talk about. I always thought it had something to do with my dad. Maybe their marriage was never as happy as it seemed, and maybe one of them had an affair—which seems impossible, but you never know. Seems everyone is full of secrets in this town.