Weston (Broken Falls #6)

Chapter Seven

CHAPTER SEVEN

Weston

O ur drive into Broken Falls is quiet, and fucking uncomfortable. I find myself wishing we still had the same jokey mentality we had as teenagers. Our relationship had been so good. Many of our friends' parents had said our relationship was so much like an adult relationship and that we were more than likely going to make it. I believed that. With everything in me, I had counted on it. It wasn't until I came home that day, and she was no longer here, that I realized how crazy it was for me to believe that about a high school relationship.

"It's really grown, huh?" Melanie says as she watches the town passing us by. "I hardly remember any of this stuff being here."

"Yeah." Even her voice is getting on my nerves right now, but I can't force myself to be rude to her. That's not who I am, and that's not how I want her to think of me. "We had a bit of a population boom in the last five, six years, and then things like the popularity of the food trucks really brought in a ton of people. One of the food trucks around here streams daily." I beat out a rhythm on the steering wheel to a song I hear in my head.

She turns toward me, confusion written across her face. "Food trucks? What are you talking about?"

"Abel's soon-to-be wife. She owns a food truck called Let's Taco 'Bout It. It's social media famous, and a lot of people come to town wanting to see it. And unfortunately for a lot of us, those people, they like the town, and they decide to stick around. So, the small town you remember is no longer here, and hasn't been for a while."

She makes a noise in the back of her throat. "You really sound like you hate that."

"Yeah, well, you know me. I have always hated change, especially to the town I love. I've had to become a little more adept at it, considering I thought that when we got married, we'd be married for life, but you know how that worked out." She swallows roughly, so hard I can see it from where I'm sitting. I don't like bringing things like this up, but it's who I am, and she hurt me more than any other person in this world. I just can't let it go, not until she knows what it did to me, because right now, it seems like it didn’t do a damn thing to her. Melanie seems to have lived her life, and not had the same struggles I have.

We don't say anything else as we head further into Broken Falls. I've kind of ruined the wobbly peace we had with what I just said, but I've kept my feelings about her to myself for a long time. I didn't want to talk about it, and then when I was ready to talk, no one asked me because I was being such a dick about it previously. And that's my fault, but it's hers too, because she left me.

We park at Broken Falls Pharmacy. I look over at her. "Don't touch that door." Regardless of what has happened between us. It's still ingrained in me to be a gentleman. At least that's the way I feel. She's still my wife, and it's hard to turn that off.

She drops her hand, her green eyes gazing over at me in surprise. "You still open doors for women?"

I lift my shoulder as if it doesn't mean anything. "Well, I haven't opened a door for anyone other than you since you left because I haven't really had any other women. There were obviously a few dates here and there, but no one ever measured up to you, Mel." It hurts to admit this to her, but unless I start being honest, she's not going to be either.

With those words, I get out of the driver's seat and then slowly walk over to the passenger side. It's hard to admit that I've been stuck on her since she left, that I haven't moved any further on from where I was that morning I came home and she was gone. When I open her door and hold my hand to help her out, she mumbles a thank you and together we go inside the pharmacy.

I'm in here at least two times a week just to pick up snacks when I'm working with the road crew. They know me and they knew her. From behind the counter, there's a loud shout. Casey, the pharmacy tech that's been here since we were children, lets out a screech.

"Oh my God, Melanie, are you back? Where have you been?"

I stand over to the side, arms crossed over my chest. These are answers I want, too. Is she going to give them to somebody else before she gives them to me?

Melanie looks uncomfortable as she shakes her head. "It's a long story," she giggles. "I'm just here to pick up a prescription. My doctor from Montana sent it over?" She says it like it's a question, as if she isn't sure whether it actually happened or not.

As nosy as I am, I still want to give her privacy because she deserves it. There's a part of me that wants her to think I'm different than who I am. So I walk over to the family planning section and browse the condoms. It's not as if I haven't had sex since she left, but I haven't enjoyed it necessarily. It's a need that most people have, and I scratch it every once in a while. There's a piece of me that takes great pleasure when she walks over holding her bag of medicine and whatever else she got, and she comes to a stop, you can almost hear the screech when she sees what I'm looking at.

Reaching forward, I grab a box. I hold them in my hand and look over at her. "I'll take these and then we can leave if that's cool with you."

Her eyes fall toward the ground. "Yeah, that's fine. I'll be waiting by the truck for you."

Although I wanted this to make her realize that life is different, I can't turn it all off. I open my pocket and grab the keys, tossing them to her. "Here, go ahead and get in so you won't be cold. I'll only be a few minutes."

She nods but doesn't say anything and scurries out. And although I hoped I would feel good about this, I feel like a complete dick.