“So far I’m hearing a lot of nothing. I wantfaults.”
I cross my arms over my chest and sit back. “They are faults.”
“They sure as hell aren’t valid reasons a man cheats on his hot wife.”
I grin. “You think I’m hot?”
“Absolutely.”
I swear I might cry. How absolutely stupid will I look when I break down in tears? Here I am, though, getting misty-eyed. “You mean that?”
“Tell me you really don’t know that you’re still stunning.”
“I don’t know that I’ve ever been calledstunning,” I admit.
Everett stares at me. “You ... you what?”
This was part of why I wanted to leave Dylan years ago. “I always felt small when I was with him. It was Dylan’s life, his career, his wants and needs, and I just existed.”
He wasn’t mean or degrading, he just didn’t care.
“Please tell me you’re joking. You are not small. Jesus, he’s more of an asshole than I thought before.”
I shrug. “I honestly can’t remember the last time anyone other than my best friend told me I was pretty or complimented me.”
Everett sits up and clears his throat. “Violet, hear me when I say this, you are absolutely breathtaking. You were the day I saw you when you were fourteen and you still are today. Your husband is a fucking moron for not spending every waking moment telling you how goddamn lucky he was to be with you. He should’ve counted every star in the sky and thanked each one for having the chance to hold you, love you, touch you. And I can say with all the confidence that he will never forgive himself for letting you go. Never.”
It has to be the wine talking. I have to remind myself of that.
He doesn’t know the me of today, regardless of what I tell him.
“I appreciate you saying it, truly, but whether Dylan thought I was beautiful or a horse’s ass, it doesn’t matter. He cheated and I got to learn about it with millions of other people.”
Everett leans forward. “I can’t imagine that was easy.”
I snort. “Yeah, it was definitely not. I thought it was a lie. You live in this sort of alternate reality in Hollywood. Everything is sensationalized and twisted into these clickable moments. Like, if they can get the right hook, then you’re locked in. It doesn’t matter if any of it’s true. It just matters that people will stop and read it or watch it. I’m aware of that fact, so when it started to break, I thought,Here we go again. When I kept seeing the photos and finally believed it was true”—I laugh once—“I realized that my life was about to be completely changed.”
“So you came here?”
I nod. “I went and stayed with my best friend, Analeigh, for a few days. But I couldn’t do that forever, and I couldn’t be in LA. I was ... drowning in the photos and the news reports. I told her I had to leave and Ember Falls was the first place I wanted to be. I came, I saw a job opening at Ember Falls High School, and it happened quickly. I filed for divorce when I went back to pack the rest of my stuff, and I’ve been here since.”
It was the only place I could run to. Here I’m not Dylan Leone’s soon-to-be ex-wife who was cheated on.
I’m Violet, or I’m Mrs. Stewart at school. Even though half the kids know exactly who I am.
“I knew you missed me,” Everett says with a grin.
I laugh, so grateful for the break in seriousness. “Yes, you were the number-one reason. I thought,Let me go back to where the boy I loved was, even though he’s probably married by now, and I can torture myself in an entirely new way.”
“I think it’s you who wanted to inflict the torture. My ass is falling asleep in this hard chair. How about we go in the living room?”
I let out a quick laugh. My grandmother’s furniture is sturdy, but not the most comfortable. When I got here, the cushions on the chairs had to make their way to the trash. Regardless of the woman who came to clean once a month, they were not worth keeping.
“Okay. Let’s go.”
I grab the wine bottle, and we head into the living room. Everett stokes the fire, adding another log, and we curl up on opposite ends of the love seat, both turned into each other a little and our knees just barely touching.
“Okay, my next question,” Everett says, refilling his glass. “How did you meet him?”
