Her eyes closed briefly before she opened them again. “One guess,” she said, her head nodding along with my changing expression.

“Brina.” My throat constricted with the single word as fire started to flow through my veins. “Why would she do that?”

“Because she’s a jealous bitch, Tatum. There’s no other reason for her awful behavior other than if you weren’t going to be with her, then you weren’t going to be with anyone. Especially not someone famous. Brina can’t handle it. She can’t handle the fact that you want nothing to do with her. She can’t handle the fact that a famous Hollywood actress wants something to do with you, so she got rid of her. She found out Paige’s agent’s name and she called him. Told him exactly where Paige was.”

“I wondered how the hell he found her,” I said, my voice almost failing me.

“I had my suspicions and once I caught her in a lie, she couldn’t keep her information straight, she let it all out. Not only did she call Jayson, she was the one who suggested he bring Colin along. She told him it might help. That Paige missed him.”

My head spun as my insides churned. “Haven’t I been through enough hell in my life without the people who are supposed to care about me working to screw it all up? What the hell!”

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Celeste’s eyes met mine.

“I didn’t scorn her, she scorned me!” I shouted and then fought back a laugh at how ridiculous this conversation had become.

“I’m just saying,” Celeste said with a shrug, “women can be cruel. And Brina doesn’t like losing.”

“She lost a long time ago. None of this makes any sense.” I battled with my growing fury, thanking God I wasn’t a woman, but couldn’t help but wonder why some of them were so screwed up.

Celeste frowned. “I’m done with her. I can’t be friends with someone like that anymore. I’ve overlooked a lot of things over the years, but this is something I can’t get past.”

I shook my head, unable to form a response because, really, what was there for me to say? I’d given up on Brina the day she gave up on me.

“I just wanted you to know what was going on, Tatum. And I needed you to know what she’d done.”

I assumed she was done and would get up to leave, but she stayed seated, staring at me. “What?” I asked her, shrugging my shoulders.

Celeste tilted her head as she studied me. “What the heck are you gonna do about Paige? You’re not just going to let her go without a fight, are you? That’s not the stand-up guy I know.”

I dropped my head into my hands, feeling worse than ever. “I don’t think it was anything more than just a fling. She was in a bad place and needed to get away, and she happened to find me in the process.”

“That’s crap and you know it.” She narrowed her eyes at me as a scowl appeared. “Or maybe you don’t know it. But I saw the way she looked at you, and I saw the way you looked at her. That was no fling. And if you’re too stupid to realize it, I’m sitting here telling you. That way you have no one to blame but yourself if you don’t go after her.”

“I can’t just pick up and leave!” I snapped before forcing myself to calm down. “I have a business to run. This shop is our livelihood and I can’t abandon it, or my mom.”

Reaching across the desk, Celeste tapped my arm and said, “Tatum, you are so much more than this small town. I don’t think your mama would want you to stay here at the cost of your own happiness. You’ve been doing that ever since your daddy died.”

I knew she was right, having already discussed this with Paige on more than one occasion. I remembered the other night where I promised her that we could start looking toward my future. That was before I shoved her out of my house, when every day felt like a promise just because she was a part of it. Now my days felt like a sort of punishment. A well-deserved one, at that.

“Have you even talked to her since she left?”

Her question burned a hole in my gut, and I shuddered at my own cowardice. “No.”

“Don’t you think you should at least apologize?” Celeste’s eyes bored through me, her disappointment as clear as the sun on a cloudless day.

“I should do a lot of things, Celeste. Thanks for the pep talk,” I said sarcastically, sensing myself starting to shut down.

She shook her head. “It’s like I don’t even know who you are anymore. And it’s sad.”

“Why are you on my ass?” I shouted. “Why do you care so much about what I do?”

She inhaled a deep breath before saying, “Because you have no idea how happy you looked these past few weeks. It was like we had the old Tatum back. And I want that for you.”

Her words stung. “What do you think I should do?” I asked.

“I think that for starters, it’s time you had a frank conversation with your mama. Like yesterday,” she said pointedly before getting up and walking toward the door.

“It’s not that easy,” I called out to her.

Celeste stopped in the doorway and turned to pin me with a serious look. “The best things in life aren’t always easy, Tatum. But they’re worth fighting for. I’m scared to death you’ll never get over this thing with Paige if you stay here and give up.” And just like that, she walked out, leaving me in the office alone with my thoughts and her words echoing in my mind.

She was right, which thoroughly pissed me off. I wanted to toss something after her or punch something, but I buried my head in my hands instead. I’d really screwed things up with Paige. Even if I did get my shit together and work on my future, how could I do that and still include her in it?

Paige probably didn’t even want me at this point; she probably hated my guts. But Celeste was right—losing Paige would ruin me if I let it. A girl like that was worth fighting for, and it was time I took a turn in the ring.

The Land of Spectacular Lies

Paige

“Hi, Mom,” I said into my cell phone as I settled onto the couch. I’d slept most of the day away, my mind filled with dreams of a place that suddenly felt achingly far away.

“Hi, honey. How was your night? Did you sleep okay?” she asked, although I half wondered if she already knew the answer.

“Once I finally fell asleep, yeah. Actually, I just woke up not too long ago,” I said, glancing over at the wall clock that read 4:42.

“Well, that’s good. You’re probably mentally exhausted. Do you want me to come over?”

Seeing my mom sounded so appealing, but I needed more time. “I do want to see you, Mom, but not just yet. I need to figure some things out first. You’ve seen all the reports about rehab and stuff?” I squeezed my eyes shut with the ridiculous notion.

She sighed. “There are some paparazzi camped outside the house. They’re relentless. I lost it and yelled at one of them the other day, but they wouldn’t believe me.”

“What happened? What did you say?” Curious, I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees.

“They were asking me all these horrible questions about your battle with drugs and alcohol and suicide. I told them that you simply needed a break, but when they asked me where you were, I couldn’t answer, and so I think I made it all worse. I’m sorry, honey. I was only trying to help.”

She sounded exhausted too. It was one thing for the stories to affect me and my day-to-day life, but when they affected my family, it stung. I hated the way they got dragged into anything that had to do with me. If I lost sleep over anything, it was things like that.

“Mom, you didn’t make anything worse. Don’t worry about it. You know they’re going to say whatever they want to make money. Just don’t talk to them anymore. They aren’t worth your energy.” I tried to believe my own words, but it was easier to give advice than it was to take it.

“Paige, I’ll come over anytime you need me to. Just let me know, okay? I’m dying to see you. Your sister is too,” she added, sounding happier at the notion.