Chapter 22
As if her tumble were Edie’s fault, she called out, “Fuck you, Edith Davis! You mangy cunt! Your new girlfriend’s an ugly, mannish whore!”
Joanne’s fingernails dug into Edie’s side, but she kept walking. They were far enough away now that they could pretend Charlene wasn’t talking to them, but Edie’s heart was racing, and her whole body shook angrily. With deliberate care, Joanne asked, “And who exactly was that again?”
“My ex-girlfriend,” Edie mumbled. “God, I’m so, sosorry. I don’t—I can’t…I just want to go home.”
Thank you, Charlene,she thought bitterly, for ruining what had started out as a perfectly wonderful evening.Was she nevergoing to able to be happy again? Or would the mistake of once dating Charlene hang over her like a funeral pall for the rest of her life?
* * * *
Joanne walked Edie to her truck, their jovial mood somber now. Edie bit the inside of her cheek, angry at Charlene, but angrier at herself for getting mad in the first place. She shouldn’t have been surprised at the outburst, given how frequently Charlene still tried to contact her. Every morning she woke to another e-mail, and those postcards came too regularly for comfort. Charlene’s phone calls were the easiest to ignore; Edie had her number blocked. But from what Charlene had said outside the bar, it was obvious she still called, even if Edie never answered.
What a mess. God, if there were any one thing Edie wished she could go back and undo, it would be ever getting involved with that woman in the first place. While she was at it, she also wished Joanne hadn’t been there to witness her ex’s meltdown. So much for making a good first impression.
The once busy lot where Edie had parked earlier in the evening had emptied out until her truck was one of the only vehicles left. Extracting her arm from around Joanne’s waist, Edie pulled away from her date and fished her keys out of her pocket. “Well, this is me, I guess. I’m sorry things had to end on such a sour note.”
“Hey.” Joanne caught Edie’s elbow and stopped, forcing her to, as well. “Don’t let her get you down.”
Edie gave her a twisted half-smile. “That’s easy for you to say. You don’t have to deal with her bullshit day in and day out. It’s hard to move on when she doesn’t seem to want to let me, you know?”
“Well, fuck her,” Joanne spat. Anger flashed through her eyes and flushed her cheeks, giving her a fierce beauty in the glow from the streetlight overhead. “You broke up with her, right? You two are through.”
Slowly, Edie nodded. “Well, yeah. She was cheating on me—”
“Then who cares what she wants?” Joanne asked. “She lost all rights to ask anything of you the moment she decided to sleep around. She doesn’t have to have a hold on you anymore unless you let her.”
With a shrug, Edie frowned. “I know, but she keeps trying to apologize. She sends me messages all the time, e-mails and postcards—I mean, postcards! Who does that?”
“Just tell her to leave you alone.” Joanne’s voice was stern, leaving no room for argument. As if it were that easy. “Unless you like her bothering you…”
“No, no,” Edie assured her. “God, no.”
Joanne’s brow furrowed. “Do you wantto get back together with her?”
Edie shook her head. “Hell, no.”
“Then ignore her.” Joanne eased both her arms around Edie’s elbow and hugged it to her. “Don’t let her bother you. We had a wonderful evening—at least, Idid.”
“Me, too,” Edie said with a sigh. “Well, until…”
Joanne took a step towards her, closing the gap between them. “Don’t,” she murmured, touching her forehead to Edie’s.
This close, her eyes seemed to fill the world. They were dark shadows, the pupils almost indistinguishable from the irises, depthless pools Edie almost thought she could get lost in if she let herself.
“Listen to me,” Joanne whispered. She waited a long beat without speaking, as if she knew Edie would hang on the silence stretching out around them. Then she asked, “Are you listening?”
Edie nodded. When Joanne still didn’t speak, Edie prompted, “I’m listening.”
“We all have people like her in our past,” Joanne said, speaking softly. Her words were intimate in the space between them; they warmed Edie’s cheeks and lips, and smelled faintly of the beer they’d been drinking earlier. “You aren’t the only one. Trust me, I have my fair share of crazy ex-girlfriends, too. But I can’t let them get me down or hold me back, I can’t. Or I’d never take a chance on meeting someone new. Someone like you.”
Edie ducked her head, chagrinned. “I know. I shouldn’t let her get to me, I know. I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing.” Joanne tucked a finger under Edie’s chin and raised her head up again, eyes earnestly seeking hers. “Hey, you didn’t do or say anything to antagonize her. If she wants to make a drunken ass of herself on the street corner, that’s her prerogative.”
“I just wish she’d leave me alone,” Edie griped.