Say You'll Remember Me(74)

“She’s not moving back,” I said.

“So how’s that gonna work?” Chris asked.

“I’m going to see her as much as I can. She’s going to come here when she can.”

Jesse was studying me. “And then what?”

“I don’t know.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

I had never been more tired in my life. Not when I was in veterinary school and working two jobs, never. And I’d never been this happy and miserable simultaneously.

Being this far away from Samantha was brutal. It was like starving, all the time. Getting a taste of something every few weeks and never getting full and then going back to starving again.

We weren’t together for Thanksgiving. I wasn’t with anyone. I worked at the ER for the overtime. I wouldn’t see her for Christmas tomorrow either. But she was coming out the day after that and then we’d get to spend the week at the cabin with everyone, so at least I had that payoff to look forward to. But after that? Who knew. The financial situation wasn’t great. For either of us.

I wasn’t in this alone, we shared the cost of seeing each other. She bought her own ticket for the cabin trip, but that was all she could afford for the next few months. She was paying on a home equity loan for house repairs now and she wasn’t in any better shape to pay for travel than I was—and only I could pick up side jobs and overtime. Her work didn’t offer OT and she took care of her mom. It had to be me to bridge the gap.

“Damn,” Jesse said. “I don’t know how you’re doing it. I’d hate it if I couldn’t see my girl for a month.”

“What day’s Samantha flying in?” Chris asked.

“The twenty-sixth.”

“I hope the weather holds up,” Jesse said. “We’re supposed to get dumped on. They said sixteen inches or something.”

Mike waved him off. “Eh, that’s tomorrow. Should be cleaned up by Tuesday.”

“Glad it’s happening on Christmas,” Jesse said. “So nobody has to drive in it.”

“I have to drive in it,” Chris and I said in unison.

He was a pharmacist, and I had the ER shift. I dreaded the commute tomorrow.

Jesse nodded at me. “Hey, I know you don’t like to talk about it, but I saw your dad the other day.”

I was about to tell him I didn’t care, but he put his hand up.

“Dude’s getting audited.”

I scoffed. “I know. My mom mentioned it.”

Mike pulled his face back. “Diana? When’d you talk to her?”

“She called me. It’s a long story,” I said.

Jesse was grinning. “That fucker is so screwed. Remember how he used to brag that he didn’t ever file his taxes?”

“Karma,” Chris said.

The corner of my lip went up.

“That asshole’s having the year he deserves,” Mike said. “Finally.” He laughed. “Mom said his profile popped up on Facebook and she clicked it just to see, and he was bitching and moaning about junk mail and campaign texts.”

“Imagine not knowing how to unsubscribe,” Jesse said. “Idiot.”

Normally hearing about my parents was the last thing I wanted, but this actually made my day.

I ordered. When Janessa was jotting down what the guys wanted, I opened up Instagram and went to Murkle’s Mustard. I got so little time to do anything these days, I hadn’t seen what Samatha was up to online. She told me a bit about it, but I hadn’t seen her work with my own eyes.

The last Murkle’s post was a graphic with a mustard bottle wrapped in a red bow. It read,

You know what they want for Christmas? Probably not a mustard gift basket, but let’s be honest, you’ve had worse ideas.



The caption said to check out the link in their bio. It took me to the gift basket on the Murkle’s website with the words SOLD OUT under it.

I smiled. She was so good at this.

She told me they’d had two thousand of these and that the CEO didn’t expect to sell them all. She’d had to push him for higher inventory and she’d been right.

I was so proud of her.

She was right when she said once that to do her job you had to “get” people. I couldn’t conceive of a world in which I’d be able to convince someone to buy a mustard gift basket.

“You still been lifting, right?” Mike said, handing his sister his menu.

“A little at home. I don’t have time for the gym,” I said.

“You don’t wanna lose those gains,” he said.

Ha.

I needed to run a business, make enough to see my girlfriend, and somehow maintain my upper body strength. I’d be lucky if I got five hours of sleep a night at this point.

We ate and I had to leave before everyone else to make it to the clinic by opening time. I was in the office checking lab results when Maggie tapped on the door.

“What’s up?” I said, not looking over at her.

“There’s someone here to see you.”

“Who?” I said, talking to my screen.

Tina popped up over her shoulder. “Don’t be mad.”

I raised my head and looked back and forth between them. “Why would I be mad?”