Chapter 23 #2
Sunday she stayed home and turned off her phone. Monday morning she had to get out of bed and enter the world again. She had
a spark of hope that Leo had called last night, wanting to talk everything through. But the only missed calls were her parents
and Dora. She fell back against her pillow and texted Dora.
Via: Calling off sick. Will be at PV tomorrow. Cover for me.
Dora: Okay.
And that was it. Nothing to discuss. They both knew she messed up. Sir and Squeaks must have sensed she was upset, too, because
they were extra cuddly, and Squeaks actually behaved herself for the whole day. A miracle.
At 7:00 p.m., Via was lying on her couch. Her stomach growled but she didn’t want to eat. Dora always stuffed down junk food when she was upset or stressed, but Via was just the opposite. She could barely choke down a sandwich and water the whole day.
A knock sounded at the door. She sprang up. Had Leo come back? She didn’t hear the loud engine of the Turismo, but she’d had
the TV blaring all day, trying to block out her thoughts. She looked down at her fuzzy cat pajamas with the pink bows on them.
Touched the rat’s nest that was the current state of her hair. Got up and hurried to the door as she tried to smooth it down.
She opened the door to—
Fergus.
She let it fall open and shuffled back to the couch. “What are you doing here?” she asked, then plopped face down on the purple
plaid seat.
He shut the door. “You look revolting, by the way.”
“Gee, thanks,” she said, her voice muffled. Then she felt her brother pick her up around the waist and set her upright. “Hey,”
she said when he set her down. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I refuse to talk to your behind, Via.” He glanced at the papasan, seemingly making a mental comparison of his weight to the
sturdiness, and chose the only other seat in the room—a white armchair that looked out of place in the colorful palette. “Mom’s
worried. Dad would be worried, but he usually takes a while to get there, and Dora looks like she knows something but is clamming
up.” He crossed his ankle over his knee. “Where’s Leo?”
She blinked. “I thought you were here to check on me?”
“I am. The road goes through him.”
She leaned her head on the back of the couch as Squeaks curled up in Fergus’s lap. Now she had two cat traitors. “Dora already knows what happened. I’m never telling Mom and Dad. There, the family’s covered.”
Fergus’s lips pressed together so tightly they disappeared in his beard. “What did he do to you?”
“Nothing, Ferg. This was all my fault.” She threw her arm over her eyes. “I’m a screwup.”
“So you’re going to feel sorry for yourself for the next three years again?”
Via sat up. “Excuse me?”
“You’ve been beating yourself up over that jerk, Trevor, this whole time.” He shrugged.
“I have not!” She perched on the edge of the couch cushion. “I moved home. I started my own business.” She lifted her chin.
“I’m thinking about running for mayor next year.”
His brows shot up. “Really?”
“No.” She slumped. “I could only think of two accomplishments.”
“Via.” Fergus sounded more sympathetic than she’d ever heard him. Weird. “Trevor did you a favor.”
“He broke my heart!” She hadn’t said that out loud to anyone—not even Dora. Or her mother. “I loved him.”
“Pfft.” Fergus scratched Squeaks’s chin. Via could hear her purring from across the room. “You were in love with the idea
of love. Or some kind of thing where you thought you had to get married. I don’t know—that whole relationship never made sense
to me.”
“Then why didn’t you say something?” She glared at him. “At least warned me, if you were so clairvoyant.”
“Would you have listened to me? Or anyone else? You deserve more than a snotty history professor who thinks he’s God’s gift
to the universe.”
“I didn’t know.” She folded her hands in her lap. “No one said anything.”
“Because we didn’t want to compound the hurt. And sometimes you gotta learn things the hard way.”
Via met her brother’s eyes. This was a side of Fergus she’d never seen before. It wasn’t just an act. He really was the overprotective
brother. Right now she needed his overprotection.
“So,” he said, putting Squeaks down on the floor, then leaning his elbows on his knees. “Where’s Leo?”
She side-eyed him. “You’re not going to beat him up, are you?”
“Depends.”
“Fergus!” She blew out a breath and told him everything.
“Geez, Via.” Fergus shook his head. “What were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t!” She threw her hands up in the air. “I didn’t trust him. And it wasn’t fair to him. Dora reminded me he wasn’t
Trevor.”
“He’s totally not Trevor,” Fergus said.
“I know.” She sighed, tears starting to flow. Great, she was crying in front of her big brother—the one who used to tease
her for being a big baby when she skinned her knee. “I promised myself I wouldn’t let my past get in the way of my future.”
She lifted her head and looked at him. “I did exactly that.”
“Why didn’t you make an offer on Second Chapter? That makes the most sense to me.”
She stared at her lap. “I couldn’t afford it.”
“Then I would have given you a loan. Or gone in as a partner. It’s a great business investment.”
“Mom and Dad paid so much money for my wedding. I promised I’d pay them back, even though they didn’t want me to.”
“What does that have to do with me? I just rented the tux.”
“Nothing . . . I guess.” She wiped off her cheek with the back of her hand. “I didn’t want to depend on family. Or anyone else. I’d already made such a huge mistake, and now I just made an even bigger one. I’m hopeless.”
Fergus shoved himself off the chair and went to the end table. He grabbed the tissue box and offered it awkwardly to her.
“Thanks.” She pulled one out and honked into it. “It doesn’t matter. It’s over between me and Leo.”
“So there was something between you. I knew it.”
Via looked up at him looming over her. “Sparks?”
“What? No.” He grinned. “He told me.”
Via shot up from the couch. “What? When?”
“After Sunday lunch a few weeks ago. You were packing up the car. He pulled me aside and admitted it. Said he didn’t want
me to worry about you.” His smile faded. “That he wouldn’t hurt you.”
Her brother might as well have shot an arrow into her heart.
“I’m sorry you guys didn’t work out,” he said. “Leo seemed like a good dude. For an Ivy Leaguer.” He paused. “You sure you’re
gonna be okay?”
She fell into his bear hug. “Yes.” Eventually. She had to be. “Thanks for checking on me.”
“Anytime.” He pulled away. “Just don’t spread it around that I did. I have a reputation to uphold.”
Fergus left, and Via sat back down on the couch. So Leo had told her brother he liked her. She had no idea. And now she felt
even more despondent.
Trevor had shattered her heart. She never imagined she would be the one to shatter it again.