She hugged me one more time and went out.
I sat there alone for a few minutes, just breathing.
Then I got up, and I didn’t go to the cake. I went out the side door of the barn. The same door
Crystal had walked out of.
I wasn’t sure why. I just knew I had to.
I found her in the parking lot.
She was sitting on the back bumper of her rented white SUV, in the dark, with her shoes off. Her perfect hair was coming down. Her mascara was running. She was holding a cigarette she wasn’t smoking.
She looked up when she heard my heels on the gravel.
“Come to gloat?” she said.
“No.”
“You should. You won.” She laughed, but it was a terrible sound. “Congratulations, Laura. You got the girl.”Support Causes
I stood there for a moment. Then I sat down on the bumper next to her. It was cold. I could feel
