Page 44 of Hallow Hill at Halloween: Part One

“For me, yes. But I’m not the one for him.”

“And you decided what he wants? For him?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, that’s the first rule of healthy male/female relationships. Neither tells the other what they should like, what they should want, or how they should feel. Love means letting the other person be who they are. That means allowing them to make their own choices and then supporting them.”

She sat back as if she was thinking this over. “You’re giving me a lecture on love?”

“Of the two of us, I’m judging myself the authority in the room.”

“You think I made a mistake.”

“A whopper.”

She picked up her mug of toddy, gulped, and slammed it down on the table like we were four sheets to a beer garden. “Let’s say I was to consider agreeing with you.”

“Let’s say.”

“What would I do to, ah…”

“Get him back?”

“Yes. How did you contact him before?”

She scrunched her brow like I was daft. “Cell phone.”

“Do you usually call or text?”

“Both.”

“Okay. How did you end it?”

“I told him not to contact me anymore.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“How did he take it?”

“I think his feelings were bruised, but sometimes Kagan hides his feelings.”

“Esme, I can guarantee you that his feelings were bruised. Go back to the shop. Leave the closed sign up. Call him on the phone. If he answers, tell him you’re an idiot and you can’t live without him. If there’s no answer, and you have to text, tell him that you need to talk to him right away. Then when he calls, tell him you’re an idiot and you can’t live without him.”

“That doesn’t seem as easy as you make it sound.”

“It’s easier than you think. Want to know why?”

“Yes.”

“Because he’s crazy about you and doesn’t know the why you rejected him. He most likely thinks it’s something he did wrong.”

“But it wasn’t.”

“Like I said, he doesn’t know that. This was borderline cruel, Esme. I feel so bad for Kagan right now and that’s hard because I don’t like him all that much.”

“Rita!”