BooksBarbecue
Back One White Lie Save as PDF
Chapters (59)
  1. COVER
  2. About the Author
  3. DEDICATION
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY
  54. FIFTY-ONE
  55. FIFTY-TWO
  56. FIFTY-THREE
  57. FIFTY-FOUR
  58. Acknowledgments
  59. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

‘It’s amazing,’ Vera said as she pulled a little black vaporizer out of the pocket of her skirt. ‘After things with … well, with Rachel’ – her eyes, again, flashed to John – ‘I was so eager to meet someone new, someone like-minded, you know. I joined this god-awful book club in Woodstock. I even signed up for Meetup. It was horrible. But now you’re here. An awesome Brooklyn woman – plop – right next to me. Do you mind?’ she asked, clicking the vaporizer to life.

I shook my head, taking another sip of wine, hardly able to quell my curiosity. ‘So I guess you’re not friends with her anymore?’

‘Huh?’ Vera looked up.

‘Your neighbor,’ I said. ‘Rachel. You guys had a falling-out or something?’

‘Oh,’ Vera said as John glanced down at his hands. ‘I don’t walk to the other side of the street if I pass her in Woodstock,’ she said. ‘But friendships change, you know. People disappoint you.’ She dug again in her pocket, quickly looking away. ‘Shit,’ she said. ‘I forgot to grab the weed.’

I jumped up, eager to make up for prying. ‘I can get it. I have to go to the bathroom anyway.’

John stood, too. ‘I’ll come with. You’ll never find it in the catastrophe that is our junk drawer.’

Vera held up her glass so the wine sloshed inside it. ‘Bring back some more – there’s another bottle on the counter.’

John and I walked off together, and as the crickets buzzed, my body did, too.

Penguin walking logo

SIX

‘I swear, my wife is obsessed with you,’ John said as he shut the door behind us.

The wine went to my head, and I reached for the wall, my hackles instantly rising. ‘What?’

John only grinned like a schoolboy, bashful, and I immediately felt foolish. ‘Oh, I only mean she likes you a lot,’ he said. ‘I can tell already.’

I steadied myself on the chair rail, then forced a smirk, trying to lighten the mood. ‘You said “obsessed” a second ago. Why’d you have to downgrade me so quickly?’

There was that deep laugh again. ‘Fine. I will adjust it back to obsession level. But only because you asked.’

I ambled to the counter, strewn with unrinsed dishes. The chaos made me feel like I didn’t have to be so perfect, like we were all good and messed up. I looked at John, who I just knew would never spend his time coming up with creative ways to screw with me, who knew loss as well as I did, and the thought struck me quick and foolish and entirely inappropriate – What if all this were ours?

I felt my cheeks redden. I had given up on properly judging men long ago, and besides, he was married. ‘I have to go to the bathroom,’ I managed. Avoiding his eyes, I stumbled down the hallway and into the first door on the right.