Page 42 of Daddy to Go

“Thank you. God, where did I go wrong?”

“Would you like me to tell you exactly or…”

I shook my head. “I mean, rhetorically. I was a shy, quiet person with a simple laugh and thenthishappens to me.”

Melody put up her hands. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Happened to you? I am pretty sure that people told you this was a bad idea. People like me.”

I sighed dramatically. “I know. I should have listened but I fell in love with Dr. Rivington.”

“No way,” she said crossing her arms. “There is no way you could be quote, unquote, ‘in love with him.’ Things don’t happen that fast.”

I shook my head. “That’s not true. Mom knew she loved Dad after the first date.”

Melody scoffed. “Yeah, and we all see where that got her.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” I grumped. “He’s gone. Done. Out of here.”

Melody clicked her tongue, holding her chin up with indignance.

“See? I was right all along. He is just a worthless cad who uses women for whatever his little desires are at the moment. Then, in a really easy escape from responsibility, he leaves. He even made you fall in love with him because that’s his MO. He’s not the only one either. There are a bunch of those fuckers out looking for their next target.”

Melody wasn’t exactly being nice about the whole thing, and it did not help the situation. In fact, with every snide remark, I just started crying harder.

But then, Melody had a change of heart. With a wrinkle of her nose, my sister gingerly patted me on the back. “Good lord. Deep breath, woman. You’ll get over this. You’re young. You’ll meet someone else and the memory of this guy will fade right off into the sunset.”

I groaned, rolling my eyes. “Like who? I’ve lived here my whole life and no one’s been interested in me. Why would they start now?”

Melody gave her a side glance and her trademark smirk. “I know one guy who is interested in you.”

“Who? Old Jim at the creek?” I asked angrily.

“No, Derek McHutt has been asking about you every time I see him,” Melody replied in a conspiratorial tone. “Maybe you could go out with him sometime. Sure, he’s no Doctor McHottie, but he likes you and always has.”

“Ugh yuck,” I snarled. “Derek McHutt is the literally the definition of gross. He’s a boy compared to Ryder. He’s nineteen, has braces on his teeth, and the worst halitosis I have ever encountered. Then there was the whole school dance fiasco where he tried to feel me up, sweaty hands and all. He’s so not my cup of tea. Or water. Or bourbon. Or algae infested runoff water for that matter.”

Melody covered her mouth while holding back a laugh.

“See? You already have a romantic history. Not the nicest one, but one none the less.”

I sniffled and soured, giving Melody a look.

“I would have to be dead to handle Derek McHutt. Even then, I just don’t think I could do it.”

Melody shrugged.

“Be a picky loser then. All I know, is you need to take the good you got from Ryder, forget the negative, and move on. He’s gone, and there is nothing you can do to change that.”

I knew he was gone, I understood that firsthand. But hearing it come from my sister’s mouth made me want to cry even more. Melody and I had a complicated relationship. Yet even amid all those snarky comments, she still found a way to be somewhat kind to me. Was it that bad? Had Ryder mistreated me so gravely that even the Queen of Ice could find warmth in her heart?

It just didn’t seem real to me. I wanted to rewind the clocks and go back to the weekend before, but I couldn’t. So instead I was going to sit on my bed and just deal with the pain. I was going to eat chips, ice cream, and candy, and I was going to stare at my new reality until I accepted it.

Meanwhile, wherever Ryder was, I hoped he was absolutely miserable. I hoped that karma would find him wherever he was, and wreak havoc on him. One day he would wake up and be completely and utterly alone because of his uncaring actions. And when that time came, I would be nowhere in sight. It was only fair, but I cried harder at the thought, my heart breaking again.

19

Ryder

Winchester, Iowa: another tiny town with nice yet non-descript people, and a bunch of patients that had absolutely nothing wrong with them. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I was in a new place exactly as planned, but at the same time, I was absolutely miserable. Maybe I was expecting something more out of Winchester, but it looked exactly like the town I was in the week before, and the one before that, and the one before that. The list just went on and on, and all the towns started blurring into one.