He went for the food apps, only minorly cringing at the delivery fees. It should’ve been illegal to charge that much for a few burgers and fries.
While he waited for his food to arrive, Rex headed up to the attic to begin cleaning. In his mind, tackling the hardest thing first made more sense. Biting the bullet usually led to an easier life later on down the road, something Rex considered much-needed.
He tugged the chain to the light, and soon, the entire room was illuminated from the single yellow bulb. The shadows only made the attic slightly unnerving. Rather than considering what—or who—could be hiding in the corners of the room, Rex grabbed the nearest box and took a seat. He rifled through its contents, picking out important items like manila folders and dusty old books.
At the bottom of the box was a broken picture frame. The glass had shattered long ago, but the picture inside remained unmarred. Rex brought it closer to examine the image.
There was a nagging feeling inside of him as he looked at his mother, his father, and Nana Bailey all together. He traced a finger over the curve of his mother’s dark hair and tapped each dotted freckle that peppered his skin as well. They each wore matching smiles, but Rex knew the truth, the story hidden just beyond his father’s eyes.
On paper, he was the perfect husband. Loving, providing, and considerate, he made it clear that his wife and son were the only things that mattered to him. Family was the foundation to any man’s life, and without it, they were often led down less than savory life paths. Anything less than the idyllic family was unacceptable.
Of course, the truth made his father’s beliefs laughable.
Behind the scenes, Alan Bailey lived his life on a whim, landing wherever the wind took him. The vows he’d made came with a section of clauses that excused any of his affairs, and his wedding ring was a fashion statement more than it was a commitment to his wife. That was how Rex ended up with a sister seven years younger than him.
Amy was born into a world of chaos, of petty arguments, broken promises, and secrets revealed. She shook up Rex’s entire world, and for the longest time, he resented her for simply existing. As he grew older, and his father left his mother for Amy’s, he grew to understand who the real problem was. It wasn’t the child of an affair, but rather the man he’d once so passionately idolized.
Looking at the picture in his hand reminded him that all the stories of love he’d been told as a child were exactly that. The idea that two people could spend forever together was bullshit, lies packaged up by Hallmark and Hollywood. In the real world, people were selfish. They were liars, cheats, and users. They were people like his father.
The worst part was that they could never admit it. They plastered on perfect smiles and pretended nothing could shake the foundation of their family. But like the glass on the picture frame in Rex’s hands, illusions eventually shattered.
Rex tossed the frame back into the box and returned the rest of the trash inside, burying the image exactly where it belonged. This was too much work. Maybe his assumption about starting from the top had been wrong. The attic was a graveyard of dead promises and haunting memories. He’d worry about it later.
Rex pushed himself up from the wooden floor and dusted himself off, suddenly overcome with the feeling of filth. He needed to wash it all away before it became permanent. In the kitchen downstairs, he spent a few moments scrubbing his hands clean. He dried them on the towel hanging from the oven handle, ears perking up at the sound of the doorbell.
Dinner.
Rex’s entire mood changed the second he had his meal spread out on the coffee table in the living room. Between the books he’d retrieved from his bedroom and the greasy feast before him, he couldn’t decide what to dive into first. He settled on unwrapping a burger and taking a large bite, wiping the corner of his lips with a napkin before he scanned over the titles.
His eyes fell to the three books teetering on the edge of the coffee table. It had been an impulse, really, a move he hadn’t truly thought through before making, but he’d grabbed them all the same. They looked severely out of place compared to his other books, yet they called to him the most.
The same three novels Jordan Collins had picked up two days ago.
Rex convinced himself it was just a joke, something he’d bring up the next time Jordan came into Millerstone, but beneath everything, there was a bit of intrigue. What made these silly little beach reads so interesting? Were they seriously good enough to make a man like Jordan get defensive about them?
Part of him couldn’t believe it. In his eyes, all these books were just wish fulfilment stories for lonely women who didn’t get out much. Bodice rippers, with scantily clad men and women in dresses that always seemed to fall off the shoulder. Yet there Jordan had been, all stuffy and ready to fight him over Rex’s comments about the books.
Clearly, there was something to it, and with Nana Bailey’s lack of cable and Wi-Fi, Rex had nothing better to do and nothing to lose.
He reached for the historical one first, settling back into the couch and cracking open the spine.
Saturday. The day that, for the past six months, always sent Jordan’s stomach into a frenzy. His nervousness crackled like lightning as he flitted all over the house, making sure everything was perfect. To anyone watching through the windows, he must’ve looked absolutely out of his mind running all over the place, this direction and that. He needed everything to be perfect.
Jordan placed the tray of cookies in the middle of the coffee table, followed by a pitcher of lemonade, six bottles of water, and a stack of napkins. In the kitchen, he lit his favorite lavender vanilla candles, and while the scent began wafting through the house, Jordan twisted the blinds open and parted every set of curtains on the windows.
By the time he was finished, his little house radiated with light. It made his white furniture practically glow. The smell of freshly baked cookies mixing with his candles gave the entire house a feeling of warmth that he knew the members of Meet Cute Club would love.
Right on time, there was the knock of his first guest. He straightened his short-sleeved white button-up, took a deep breath, and unlocked the door, pasting on a wide smile as he hugged Lana and welcomed her into the house.
“Ooh, it smells delicious in here,” she said, taking a seat on the sofa in the living room. She placed her bag down on the floor and looked around. “I’m not the first one, am I?”
“You are, yeah.”
“Shoot,” she said, slouching. “I wanted to be fashionably late so that everyone could compliment me on how much weight I’ve lost!”
Jordan cracked a smile and looked her over. “You seem happier.”
“I am! Have you heard of the keto diet? Seriously, Jordan, it’s life-changing, I swear to God.”
As she launched into her pitch for this new lifestyle choice of hers, Jordan could only listen with amusement. It seemed every other week Lana was coming up with new things to try and exploring different social groups. It was a miracle she’d stuck with Meet Cute Club for so long, considering she’d joined on a whim, and as her previous track record showed, commitment didn’t seem to be Lana’s thing.
The other four members arrived during the twenty minutes leading up to the official start time of the meeting, and Jordan hopped up each time to give them a hug and welcome them. Gloria had just gotten her hair dyed, which she was excited about, and Madeline had recently returned from Hawaii for her grandson’s wedding, which she was more excited about. Even Charles, the only other man in the group, came bearing good news about his job promotion.