Beth pursed her lips.
“Technically. I’m not divorced yet.”
“So? You’ve been separated for over six months, and I don’t believe there’s any rule that says you have to stay celibate until the papers are signed. You know David’s not.” Beth quickly cupped her own mouth. “I’m sorry, Lottie.”
Looking down at her shoes, she took a deep breath. “No, it’s okay. I know you’re right. It’s just still hard to believe it’s over sometimes. My head knows he’s cruel. It’s my heart that’s the fool. I can’t do anything about it no matter how hard I try. I still love him.”
“You need a distraction. And nothing works better for that than a hot piece of man meat. Seriously, Lot, wait until you see him.” Beth walked backward a few steps and pretended to cast out a line to a fish.
Lottie shook her head and grinned, following her with heavy, begrudging steps. Beth turned around and squished her way through the small crowd, hip checking a few on the ladies along the way and sending out sincere-sounding apologies. “Hey, there. I’m Beth. It’s nice to meet you. Have you met our other third-grade teacher yet?”
“Beth. Hello. I’m Grant. No, not yet,” a deep voice said.
Lottie’s stomach fluttered, and the hairs on her neck stood at attention at the sound of his voice and his name. She slowly started to back up.
“Lottie, get over here and meet Melissa’s replacement, Grant.” Beth reached and grabbed Lottie’s hand, pulling her forward.
The awkward, pressed smile on Lottie’s face melted away when her fears were fully confirmed. Her eyes now rested upon the man from the dentist’s office. The very one who had ridden her ass that morning. Lottie gulped and looked down at her shoes. “Nice to meet you.”
He placed a plate—overloaded with cookies—onto the table next to him as he struggled to get up from underneath all the treats the ladies wanted him to try. He finally stood. “It’s nice to meet you too, Charlotte.”
Her eyes flew up to his. Her lips pursed and her brows crinkled. “How did you know my name?”
“Your friend said it. Right?” He motioned to Beth.
“Uh, no. I said Lottie. Not Charlotte.” Beth shook her head and grinned widely.
“Oh.” Grant scratched the back of his neck. “I’m sure someone mentioned the name of the other third-grade teacher.”
Lottie tried hard to stifle a smile. “Well, nice to meet you…”
“Grant.” He stretched out his hand.
She took it briefly before pulling away “Grant.” Lottie nodded and turned away. Running straight into Mr. Cooley. “Oops, sorry, Mr. Cooley.”
“Where’s the fire? I don’t hear an alarm.” Mr. Cooley held his hand to his ear as though listening for one.
Lottie forced a smile and scooted around him. She scuttled down the hallway, ducked into her classroom, and plopped down at her desk, resting her forehead on it.
After a few deep breaths, a tapping came at the door. “What?” She didn’t bother lifting her head. She knew it was Beth by the sound of her shoes clapping on the floor.
“What the fuck was that all about? I’ve seen you act awkward around men before, but that takes the cake!”
“Ugh. Of all the men in Altus.” She sat up and gripped handfuls of hair.
“Oh, I’ve got to hear this.” Beth lowered herself onto the corner of the desk.
“It’s nothing.”
“You’re not acting like it’s nothing, and I’m not going anywhere until I find out what it really is.”
Lottie scowled at Beth and kicked the corner of the desk. “Fine!” She dropped her hair and slapped the desk, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. “I was running late for the dentist this morning.”
Beth clutched her chest and gasped. “What? You? Running late? After all the times you vag-punched me for being late.”
“Yeah, okay. So, you know how I hate being late. When I was driving, I hit every single red light in Altus. Then I had this super obnoxious asshole in a blue pickup riding my ass the whole way. I was so aggravated, I gave him the finger.”
Beth laughed and clapped her hands. “You giving the finger? This is great. Go on.”
“So, I get to the dentist and the truck pulls in after me. Apparently, we were both headed to the same place.”
“And it was him?” Beth roared with laughter. “This is great. I wondered why you looked like you’d seen porn with butt stuff for the first time when you looked at him.”
“I’ve never seen porn with butt stuff. God, you’re gross.”
“I wonder how he really knew your name.” Beth waggled her eyebrows.
“Oh, shut up.” Lottie reached into her purse and fumbled around for a mint. “You want one?”
Beth stretched out her hand, and Lottie plopped a mint on her palm. Beth put the mint in her mouth and smiled with it clenched between her teeth. “He’s cute, though. You gotta admit that, and no wedding ring.”
“So what?” Lottie shook her head and sucked on her mint, trying not to smile. “He’s not going to want to have anything to do with the woman who flipped him the bird this morning.”
Beth laughed but stopped abruptly at the knock on the door accompanied by the clearing of a throat. Lottie’s mouth dropped open when she peered around Beth to see Grant standing there.
“Fuck,” she muttered.
“Indeed.” Beth made kissing faces and raised her brows at Lottie, who crinkled her face and waved frantically for her to stop doing it.
He took a step inside. “Hey, I just wanted to stop by and see if I could talk to you for a minute.”
Beth turned to Lottie and grinned. “I was just going anyway.”
Lottie glared at Beth with pleading eyes, but Beth quickly turned and trotted across the room. “Nice to meet you, Grant. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again.” Beth waved as she walked out the door. Lottie gulped as Grant crossed the floor toward her, suddenly worried about the way her hair looked. Were there boogers hanging out of her nose? How was her breath? Oh, thank goodness for the mint. She almost choked on it when Beth popped back into view, humping the doorway and giving her the finger before ducking away again.
Lottie shifted in her seat. Once he was beside her desk, she tried to pop up, to stand and be polite, but she banged her hip on the desktop, causing her to flop back into her seat. She blushed and put her hand to her forehead. “This has been quite a day.” Hiding behind her hand, she couldn’t bring herself to look at him.
“I’m guessing that’s partly because of me. Anyway, I just wanted to stop by and apologize for being so rude this morning. I’m usually not a dick driver like that. It’s just, well, I was running late, and I hate being late.”
Lottie’s hand slowly slid from her face as she looked up at him. “Me too.”
“So, I’m sorry. And I hope we can get to know each other a little better since we’ll be working together, and I hope to have the chance to show you that I’m really a nice guy.” He smiled. “Well, I’ll let you get back to what you were doing, and I’ll get back to the party.” Grant turned and headed for the door.
Lottie pushed back from the desk and stood, clutching her hip. “I’m sorry, too.”
Grant stopped and turned. “For what?”
“For giving you the finger.”
Grant smiled and released a small chuckle. “It’s okay. I deserved it.”
“No, you didn’t. I don’t usually do things like that.”
“No?”
Lottie shrugged.
Grant smiled. “Okay, what if we both agree to forget about this morning completely and start over. Friends?”
“Friends.” Lottie smiled.
“Do you want to go back to the party with me?” he asked, holding out his arm for her to take.
“I’d like to go home. I hate things like this.” Lottie crinkled her lip.
“Oh, come on. You can’t leave me in there alone. You’re the only friend I’ve got here. And besides, it’s kind of
like a rattlesnake pit. I was seriously waiting for a few of them to bite me.”
“Bite them back.” Lottie took his arm. “Rattlesnake tastes pretty good. I tried some at the roundup they have over in Mangum. Ever been?”
“Yeah, I’ve been lots of times. I grew up in Altus.”
“You did?” Lottie stopped and turned to face him. “I’ve never seen you before. I’ve only lived here a few years, but this is a pretty small town.”
“I’ve been living in Tulsa for the past twenty years. My dad moved us out there when I was sixteen for work. My grandpa recently died, and I moved back here to take care of my nana. She’s taking it hard. I’m worried about her. Physically and mentally, she’s still a very strong lady, but emotionally, she just crumbled.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“Yeah, they were married for sixty-one years. Can you imagine living with someone for that long and they’re suddenly gone? And my grandpa adored her. He treated her like she was the most beautiful girl and he was seeing her for the first time every day. It was like something out of a movie.”
Tears filled Lottie’s eyes. She thought about David, unsure he’d ever felt that way about her. He’d always had a wandering eye, and she’d always wondered why those eyes had settled for her in the first place. She never felt like she was good enough. A tear spilled over and traveled down her cheek.
Grant reached into his back pocket and handed her a handkerchief. “Don’t worry. There’re no boogers on it. Nana insists I carry one. ‘You never know when a lady might be in need of a handkerchief,’ she says. She tends to always be right.”
Lottie smiled, took it, dried her eyes, and wiped her nose. “Well, there might be some boogers on it now.”
Grant chuckled.
“I’ll wash it and return it to you.” Lottie dabbed her eyes again and smiled.
“That’s okay. You can keep it. Trust me, Nana’s got an endless supply.”
Grant held his arm out for her again. She tucked hers around his and followed him into the teacher’s lounge and back into the party—now in full swing. Lottie blushed and shook her head when her eyes caught those of Beth, whose grin was so big, you’d think she was the one on his arm.
“Do you want anything to drink?”
“Maybe some water.” Lottie smiled and wiped the remaining moisture from her cheeks. She watched him as he walked away. His shoulders were wide, and his waist was narrow. Blushing, she noticed his butt was round and his jeans fit snugly around it. His eyes were a cool, ice blue. His dark blond hair mingled with some white hairs at the temples. A short beard surrounded his square, masculine jaw, and full lips. Lips she was suddenly thinking about kissing.
He handed her the water. His finger brushed hers as she took it. She could barely mutter a thank you.
“Hey, Charlotte, since we’ve decided to put this morning aside and be friends, I have a confession to make so that we can start completely over with a blank slate.”
“Me first. It’s Lottie. I hate being called Charlotte.” She smiled, wondering what his confession could possibly be.
He grinned and pretended to take a note on the palm of his hand. “Check. As for me, I knew your name because I asked at the dentist office. I thought you were pretty.”
Lottie’s cheeks flushed with heat, and even though she fought it as hard as she could, a smile slide across her face. Her green eyes locked on his and mingled there for longer than she usually found comfortable.
Chapter Four
Lottie
A rush slid up Lottie’s body when she thought back to what Grant had said.
I knew your name because I asked at the dentist office. I thought you were pretty.
A smile flitted across her lips. He thought she was pretty. Pretty enough to want to find out her name. How could it be possible? How could a man with the kind of rugged good looks only seen in a vintage Stetson commercial think she was pretty enough to ask about?
Flicking her shoes off her toes and into the shoe basket by the front door, she skated down the hallway in her stocking feet, grateful the one thing she’d taken the time to do—despite running late—was to pull on her control top hose. Inside her bedroom, she pushed back the door to look herself over in the full-length mirror, placing her hand on her stomach and smoothing it down. It looked pretty good. Pretty flat, indeed. Until she let the blubber free from the sausage casing it was trapped in. If only her skin could be so taut without the hose.
Her eyes followed the line of her body up to her small breasts—nose crinkling a moment—before drifting up further to her face, freezing on the makeup-crusted zit on her chin. She’d forgotten about it. Surely, he’d seen it.
Pretty, but not beautiful.
A sigh escaped her.
I should feel fortunate anyway. If I were to pick a word to describe myself, it would be plain or even ugly. Plugly?
But a man wouldn’t ask who that plain woman at the dentist office was, would he? Maybe he did think she was pretty. Maybe he normally wore glasses and had forgotten to wear them that day. He did say that he was running late.
A thunderous stabbing struck at her neck, and her head flew back.
Why can’t I be anyone else in the world besides me? Not pretty enough. Ungraceful and definitely not gifted with charm or mastering the art of conversation.
She closed her eyes, shuddering again at the approximately two hundred and fifty million times in her life she’d stuck her foot in her mouth or tripped over her own feet. Like the time she told that lady her baby looked like Walter Matthau. Even though it was true, she should have known better than to say it. And the verbal diarrhea she regretted the most was telling David that if he thought he’d be happier with Veronica, he was free to leave. Perhaps if she’d never said that, he wouldn’t have had his bags packed and been gone by morning. She should have begged him to stay. She should have found a way to forgive him and work it out. That was the biggest one. Hoping to someday learn to think before she spoke had oozed out and disappeared from her body after that one. Why was it so easy to remember all the horrible things one says and all the stomach-kicking feelings that goes along with being an idiot? Would her life ever not be filled with should’ves?
Lottie flung herself onto her bed, ready to wrap herself in the covers and disappear into the hole of nothingness she’d so often wished would swallow her up and whisk her off to someplace where the realities of life couldn’t reach her. Just as she pulled the comforter around her, blocking out all light, the sound of her cell rang out from the hallway.
“What now?” Although she was certain it was just another garbage call—as she’d named them—a compulsion to find out dragged her out of her bed cocoon and sent her racing down the hallway. Scooping up her purse, she slid the zipper open as quickly as she could and sifted through the pointless contents until she found it. David’s smiling face standing in front of the C-17 in his flight suit was looking back at her. Her heart jumped. Her thumb flew to accept the call.
“Hello, hello? David?” She tried to pull back the desperation in her voice, but it had escaped.
“Hey, Lot.” His voice was bathed in aggravation.
“What’s going on? How are you doing? How’s Hawaii?”
“It’d be a lot better with the rest of my clothes. I thought you said you were going to send them last week.”
“Okay, I’m fine too. Thanks for asking.” Lottie regretted answering, wishing she’d stayed wrapped up in her burrito of solitude.
“Sorry, but you said you were going to send them and they’re not here. I don’t want to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe, especially when I’m paying two mortgages.”
Lottie’s stomach sank. He’d bought a house for her—Veronica—in Hawaii. He was living with her in Hawaii and didn’t want Lottie to have any of his things.
“It’s not my fault you’re paying two mortgages. I’m not living in the old house, and it’s not my fault it hasn’t sold. As for your clothes, you shou
ld’ve supervised the movers yourself. I didn’t forget them on purpose. I have things to do here too. And I tried to send it out all week, but I just couldn’t make it to the post office in time. Between staff meetings and late parents, I couldn’t find the time. Oh, and there was a going away party after work.”
Lie.
She’d never tried, but he didn’t know that. The truth was, she was thinking he’d come back to her. Or want her to come to him and she’d bring it then. “I’ll try to send it out tomorrow. I have a life too, you know.”
“Yeah, well, I wish you’d move on with it already. Just send me my stuff. I don’t want to have to keep calling you.”
“Why? Does it upset Veronica? Your whore can’t stand you talking to your wife?”
The phone was silent. He’d hung up. Lottie flung the phone at the couch, flinching for a moment when it nearly missed the couch and hit the wall instead. Lord knew she couldn’t afford a new one. A tear spilled down her cheek. She felt stuck with her foot in her mouth again, having said the wrong thing, and surely, she’d pushed him away even further.
Lottie padded down the hallway and slid back into her burrito.
The way he treats me, you’d think I did something wrong. That’s what I get for being a good wife. Left behind in Altus, Oklahoma, while his little slut gets taken to the beautiful beaches of Hawaii.
Her mind drifted back to Grant’s story about his grandparents. How do people get lucky enough to find a love story like that anyway? Jealousy stabbed at her gut. When she met David, she was sure he was her one and only. But looking back on it now, she could see the signals just weren’t visible to her then. She’d loved him so hard. Always hopeful for the return of her grand admiration. She never thought that when he’d return it to someone, it wouldn’t be to her.
One day when she’d been shopping at the base exchange, she rounded an aisle and saw them picking out a pair of sheets together. The way his eyes danced when he laughed with Veronica had never happened with her. And yet, here she was, holding out hope that he would come back to her. Here she was, heart sputtering like a girl with her first case of puppy love when his photo popped up on her phone. And here she was, wrapped up in her burrito of solitude, wondering who was ever going to love her in that way. And questioning why anyone would even want to.
Easy Love Page 3