Page 123 of Bonfire and Bliss Bookstore

“What?” I cough out the least humorous laugh. “Monty, people are arriving here in ten minutes. I have all these books…” I cry, staring at the boxes filled with Julie’s books that will go unsold if she isn’t here to sign them. I squeeze my eyes shut. “Forget it. I’ll handle it.”

“Penny, no. Fuck, I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, me, too,” I mutter, staring at my three friends who all look just as shocked as I feel. I hang up and barely restrain myself from throwing my phone. “They’re not coming.”

“I don’t understand,” Tally says, bewildered. “He didn’t show up this morning and now he just bailed on you? What the hell? I thought Dick sucked as a boyfriend, but jeez, Monty is giving him a run for his money.”

“I’m with her,” Rosie cuts in. “What the hell is going on?”

“It’s fine,” I huff out. “I’ll just let everyone know the author isn’t coming.”

I feel numb. God, how did I let this happen again? How did I fall for someone who ended up treating me as second best, just like Dick? Everyone is going to be here soon and I’ll be pathetic Penny all over again.

“Penny,” my sister whispers, as she steps closer.

I tilt my chin toward the floor, unable to face her pitiful expression, not wanting to let everyone know how destroyed I feel.

“It’s really nothing,” I say in an almost-whisper. “I’m just embarrassed.”

“Why would you be embarrassed?” Rosie presses. “Monty’s the one who fucked up. He’s the one—”

“Because it was all fake!” I can’t look at them when I say it. “Monty doesn’t owe me anything. Everything was fake. We pretended to date so that everyone would leave me alone and stop trying to set me up.”

“It was what?” I hear someone say from behind me.

I spin around and groan when I realize that every single one of the Liberty Ladies, and my mother, are standing in the brewery. Of course there would be a crowd to witness my complete and utter humiliation.

I shrug, unable to explain, too exhausted by all the lies.

The saddest part is, I started to believe it was real. How could I have been so stupid as to fall for my fake boyfriend?

Chapter 37

Monty

I call Penny back three times but she sends me to voicemail.

Two seconds later I get a text.

Penny: You’re off the hook. Everyone knows our relationship was fake.

I don’t want to be let off the goddamn hook. Fuck. I bang my hand against the steering wheel. How could I have fucked this up so badly?

I go to my text messages and click on the thread with Julie. Maybe she’s still on her way down.

Julie: Hey Monty, just checking to see if the signing is still on? I never heard from you yesterday.

I never saw that text from her looking to confirm. I was so in my goddamn head about my parents, I didn’t even look. How could I have let Penny down so epically?

Fuck, she’s better off without me. If I walk away now, she’ll have a shot at being with someone who doesn’t have all this baggage. Someone who can love her properly.

And yet, I can’t get Joe’s words out of my head. “She loved me until her last breath, and I love her still.”

I know without a doubt that even if I walk away, I’ll still love Penny. She is the love of my life.

I think of how Penny said that the love story I wrote about my grandparents, which we both know ends in heartbreak, is her favorite of all time. I think of spending my life with Penny. Marriage, kids, growing old together. A life filled with memories of her.

Maybe Joe was right. Maybe that is the dream. Loving someone until their last breath with your whole heart.