Goodbye to the Love I Lost Eight Years Ago novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: The Ladies' Room

Courtney leaned her back against the locked door.

She stopped smiling.

It did not fade.

It was simply gone, and her face under it was flat and quiet.

"That ring is from a pawn shop," she said. "It's got a stamp on the inside."

I did not answer.

"I'm not stupid, Annie. Judith told me all about you. She told me your boyfriend in the parking lot was five hundred dollars."

"Then you know why I did it."

"I know why you did it the first time."

She pushed off the door and walked a slow circle around my chair.

"Who do you think emailed Elliot the picture of your boyfriend's truck outside your house, that winter?" she asked. "Who told him you'd been seen with someone at the clinic?"

My stomach turned over.

"You were a junior in his program," I said. "You were a kid."

"I was nineteen, and I was the only one who kept his phone charged."

"Judith gave me a few hints. I did the rest."

She crouched in front of me.

"Eight years," she said, almost fondly. "And you still showed up in that dress."

"I don't want him back," I said.

"Then why wear a ring to lunch?"

"Because I didn't want him to feel sorry for me."

"Oh, he feels sorry for you," Courtney said. "Did you see his face when he saw the chair? I've never seen him look like that at me."

My phone was in my cardigan pocket.

I slid my hand inside it slowly, meaning to call Dale.

Courtney's eyes dropped to my hand.

She stood up and kicked the phone out of my fingers.

It skittered across the tile, bounced off the wall, and slid under the stall door.

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