For Always (book one)

Chapter 19: Takers

Malyn

When I woke up the next morning, I just wanted to cover my head and go back to sleep. You'd think that after spending the evening and most of the night with Beau that I'd be on cloud nine. And I would be if I didn't have another boyfriend to deal with.

Today was the day I was going to have to break Jace's heart. Beau had made it clear that our relationship had changed and that he was no longer going to share me with Jace, and I couldn't blame him. There's no way I'd share him, either, or even Jace, for that matter. I also wasn't the kind of person to have two boyfriends. From the looks of it, I could barely handle one.

When I got downstairs, I found Beau scarfing down Grandmama's French toast.

"I thought he might like to actually eat somethin'" Grandmama said. "And since this is your favorite, I thought he might like it, too."

I looked at Beau. "Do you think it's wise to eat all that?"

He looked at me with a mouth full of food and shrugged, swallowing it. "Guess we'll find out. That mountain drink did okay, last night, so I thought it'd be alright."

"Yeah, but a sip or two of Mountain Dew ain't like eating three slices of French toast."

My phone lit up on the counter, causing Grandmama to shake her head. "That's probably Jace. He's called all mornin'. Ya need to call that boy back, Malyn."

I sighed. "Yeah, I know." Beau was still eating, acting like he didn't even hear us or see that my phone lit up, again. It was another text from Jace. "Maybe I should go ahead and call him." I unplugged my phone and headed out onto the back porch. It took me a few minutes to dial his number, and my stomach turned once I finally did.

"Malyn, I'm so glad you called. I'm sorry about yesterday. I wasn't mad at you. But I'm sure that's how it looked when I got up. I'm sorry, I just didn't think. And I sure as heck didn't think you'd leave like you did."

"It's okay." We weren't going to be together anymore, so it didn't matter, anyway.

"You're not mad?"

"No, but I do need to talk to you."

He was quiet for a few seconds. "Okay. Do you want me to come over or do you want to meet me here?"

"Me and Grandmama were going to come to town and eat supper, so I'll just meet you at the marina. We should be there around six or so."

"Okay." He was quiet again. "Malyn?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you. And I hope you know that I'd never intentionally hurt you."

"I know."

More silence. "Are you okay? Sure you're not mad? Because it seems like you are."

"No, Jace, I'm not mad. Really. I understand why you got frustrated. But we can talk about it later."

"Okay. I'll look for y'all around six."

I told him that sounded good, that we'd see him, then, and quickly hung up the phone before he could tell me he loved me again. I knew if he said it that he'd expect me to say it back, which I didn't need to be doing right before I broke up with him.

I collapsed into the swing, wondering how I was going to break up with someone who I still had feelings for just so I could be with someone else.

I heard the door and opened my eyes to see Grandmama coming out. "Malyn, Malyn, Malyn.... Honey, I can feel your stress all the way in the house. What's goin' on?" She sat down next to me and started to swing.