Chapter 27 Georgia
Georgia
I am extended across Junie’s sofa, my swollen feet propped on the arm as they pulse for relief. We sold almost everything
we set out for the garage sale, so we can count on several hundred dollars. If nothing else, it’s a step. For now, I’ll celebrate
with something delicious and comforting to eat for dinner. I wonder if Junie would prefer pizza or Chinese.
Junie rattles the front doorknob and bursts in along with a warm breeze.
I sit up, Puds raising his head where he lies beside me, and Junie startles when her eyes land on me. She almost freezes in
surprise. Eddie bustles in behind her and bumps into her since she stopped so quickly in front of him. It makes sense. Junie
must’ve forgotten I was here, and this is some sort of romantic rendezvous.
“Oh. You’re here,” Junie says, not hiding her disappointment over my presence one bit.
A small hurt wells in my chest, and I swallow it. “Actually, I was thinking about heading to Dad’s.” I won’t make things uncomfortable
by mentioning the dinner plans I assumed we had.
Junie nods. “Ok.” Her expression is flat in a way that is unusual for her. Maybe this is the new normal of my sister dating my ex.
And honestly, out of their hair is precisely where I want to be.
Junie heads toward the kitchen where she sheds her purse, two different beverages, and whatever the last item was she had
tucked under her arm. Eddie stands in the doorway unmoved. His eyes linger on me in a way that looks serious, and I wonder
if he’s thinking about all the ways I’ve hurt his feelings. His mouth drops open, and I wait for him to say something. He
should be honest with me.
I don’t deserve his warmth, nor his generosity. His deep brown eyes, a carbon copy of his mother’s, are warm like antique
woodwork. His hair is thick and just long enough to be considered shaggy.
I’m sorry is what I want to say, and now for the first time not because I think it’ll win him back.
Solely because I want him to know I regret it all.
Somehow, as if he reads my mind, Eddie presses his lips together in a tight line of a smile, then drops his gaze. The way
someone does right after they say I’m sorry too.
He follows Junie into the kitchen, and I scurry to the guest room. I shut the door behind me and take several deep breaths.
It’s probably the one good part about the fact that I can’t stay, that I’ll be out of this horrific love triangle. That Eddie
and I won’t ever have to awkwardly rehash any of what happened between us, not in the face of what he’s created with Junie.
It’s only a matter of days until I’m forced back to Atlanta, and I can get busy with forgetting about him and the two of them
together.
I change my clothes quickly, stopping only to text my dad to let him know I’m coming over. Thankfully I still have my key,
so worst-case scenario I’ll let myself in. Who knows what social engagements my father keeps these days, now that he’s fully
embracing his retirement.
When I pop open the bedroom door and slip out into the common area, Junie and Eddie have presumably gone behind her bedroom door that is currently closed.
Ick. I keep moving, out the front door, to my car, inside it, and onto the road.
I think the worst part of this Junie-and-Eddie setup isn’t even my missing out on Eddie or the way it highlights my shortcomings,
the way I’m emotionally stunted when it comes to people beyond my family. It’s the fact that I’m not getting this time with
Junie, that our girls’ nights at the Clementine are no longer automatic events, that she has something to look forward to
and enjoy that doesn’t include me.
I take a turn and head up the winding road that leads to Dad’s house.