Free Love Lift Me by Synthia St. Claire

Kat.”
    “So,”
I said, hoping she would go away but not having any luck, “What brings you
here? Did the maid stop making grocery runs?”
    She
snapped her head back and answered, “Oh, you’ve still got that sense of humor,
I see! But no, I’m just here to pick up a treat for someone very near and dear
to my heart.”
    “Yourself,
you mean,” I groaned under my breath.
    “What’d
you say dear?”
    “Nothing.
Just picking out something for my mother. The chocolate one looks nice, doesn’t
it?” I offered, although a sour taste was developing in my mouth.
    “It’s
not bad. I put in a custom order, of course.”
    I
looked around, hoping someone would hurry up and come take my order. Standing
there with Cindy was beginning to make me feel ill. Down at the other end of
the deli counter, the only clerk that appeared to be working was still haggling
with a woman that looked every bit of a hundred or more and wouldn’t accept her
turkey until it was cut into paper-thin slices.
    “Of
course. Who could think of buying something right off the shelf?” I said.
    “Uh
huh,” she answered, ignoring my jab, and said conspiratorially, “I heard all about
what happened, with the crash that is. Terrible, just terrible. I sure was glad
to hear that you were all right.”
    “You
were?”
    She
sucked air between her teeth. “Sure I was, silly.” Cindy raised her hand and
waved it to get the clerk’s attention before turning back to me and lowering
her voice. “Is it true what I heard? That some man pulled you out and saved
you?”
    I
nodded and tried not to frown. I’d been so wrapped up in my own recovery and
taking care of mother, I hadn’t gotten the chance to find out anything else
about Shane. “He was sitting next to me on the bus before the wreck. If he
hadn’t been there…I don’t want to think about what might have happened.”
    “How
come I didn’t hear about him in the news? Something like that, they’re usually
all over it. An honest to God hero , and all they talk about is the Bucks
game or what the mayor is up to this week, like anyone cares about that stuff.”
    “I
don’t know,” I answered with a shrug. “He didn’t seem like the kind of guy that
wanted attention.”
    “I
know one man that always loved getting your attention,” Cindy said and gave me
a devious wink. “But I hear that ain’t the case anymore. Not too big of a
surprise, really.”
    I
shrugged and turned my attention back to the wondrous confections arranged
under the deli counter glass to avoid showing any emotion. As mad as I was at
Hale, seeing how happy Cindy was to throw our breakup in my face had me seeing
red.
    “You
know, I should stop by his place tonight on my way home, just to see how he’s
handling your unfortunate recent circumstances. I know right where it is, been
there myself more times than I can count since you went off to school and left
him here by his lonesome.”
    “What?
We just broke up-” I pushed the words out through gritted teeth.
    “Should
I pick him up something for that sweet tooth of his? You know how he loves
something sweet. Maybe some strawberries and some whipped cream?” My face was
burning as she licked her lips and continued, “ Mmmm …that sure sounds
good, doesn’t it?”
    Instead
of losing my cool and punching her right in the jaw, I grabbed my shopping cart,
swung it around angrily, and stomped away from the sound of her sickening voice.
The triple-layer fudge cake would have to wait. If I had to listen to Cindy
Reid’s dirty, flapping lips for one single moment longer, she’d be wearing the
damn thing.

Seven
     
    “That
girl is and always has been jealous of you,” mother said when I filled her in
on my chance encounter with Cindy. “Been like that since you two was
youngin’s.”
    “Then
why do I feel like the jealous one?” I grumbled, conveniently leaving out the
part where Cindy told me that she’d been sleeping with Hale behind my back
while I was away at