Besides, it wasn’t the first time I’d ever been dumped in my life. I’d been dumped. I’d been the dumpee.
But this felt different. Worse.
I took in a painfully ragged gasp of cold air and stopped walking, hugging my arms to me, letting the pain sweep over me.
It felt like somebody had just stabbed me in the heart with a two-by-four.
I’d seen a TV show recently where somebody had been impaled by a wooden fence post. A huge,
blunt, full-sized wooden fence post. Right through his chest and out the other side. Rusty nails and all.
He’d lived.
Hehad looked a little pale, though. And the scar would have been a real bitch to cover up. But he’d lived.
Distracted, with my heart currently wooden-fence-post-free, but still broken in a thousand pieces, and feeling majorly sorry for myself in the middle of the street a block away from Haven—I didn’t even hear the bus coming.
I felt a rough shove against my back, which made me stumble to the ground, narrowly missing the bus’s front tire, which zoomed by about two inches from my face.
“What are you, on crack or something?” Janie gestured at me and at the passing bus. A Greyhound, I noted without much interest, as I lay on my back in the gutter. “You need to watch where the hell you’re going.”
My cheeks were wet with “I’ve just gotten my ass dumped” tears. I blinked at her from behind my dark shades, now askew. “Where did you come from? I thought you were in the car waiting.”
She looked at me like I was a complete idiot. “When you ignore the car and wander off down the street
I follow. I’m your damn bodyguard, remember? Though it’s supposed to be hunters I’m protecting you against, not public transit.”
“I didn’t even see you.”
She rolled her eyes. “When you see me, I’m not doing my job properly. I’m like a ninja. Only better dressed. Are you going to get out of that gutter or what?”
I closed my eyes. “I like it here. Just leave me. Leave me to die.”
“Wow, somebody took their drama pill this morning. Come on.” She reached out a hand to me. “Let’s go.”
I opened my eyes and looked at her skeptically for a moment. Then I grabbed her hand and let her help me to my feet. I adjusted my sunglasses.
“Where’s Lenny? Did you two talk things through?”
Her shoulders slumped. “He’s around. I think he’s a little peeved at me.”
“He likes you.”
“Yeah, don’t ask me why.”
I sniffed. “Thank you for saving me from the evil bus. That’s a few times now that you’ve saved me.
Except for last night, of course. But I’m still breathing, so all is well.”
“You’re welcome. And I’ve saved you a lot more than that, you just don’t know it. Some hunters are very interested in seeing you on the wrong side of a wooden stake. I’ve taken care of them.” She looked at me for a moment. “I’m surprised you haven’t even noticed. Distracted much?”
It chilled me to think that she’d been protecting me from getting killed when I hadn’t even been aware of it. “On a scale of one to ten, one being totally okay and ten reflecting that I’m having the worst day of my life and am mega distracted, I’m hovering at about a thousand.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“Not particularly.”
A grin twigged at her lips. “This got anything to do with your boyfriend? What did you say about him?
He’s really old, and married, and he has a drinking problem? Haven’t personally met him yet, but that still sounds hot, by the way.”
I frowned and shot her a look.
Her grin widened. “Frankly, from what I’ve heard about him, if it’s over between you two, I’d say that’s a good thing. He’s nothing but trouble.”
I turned away from her, trying to ignore the big lump in my throat. “I think I’m going to go. Can you drive me back to George’s?”
“Getting ready for the surprise party?”
I swiveled back around to look at her. “How do you know about that?”
“As your bodyguard, Ineed to know these things. If I don’t know everything about everybody I’m involved with personally or professionally, it could probably kill me. Although, since I didn’t retrieve that necklace yesterday, I’m as good as dead, so I hope I get an invite to the party. Consider it a last request.”
I felt a twinge of guilt about keeping the necklace from her. But my gut still told me to wait and see what happened.
“Sure, you can come. You should see the cake. It’s huge.”
“I love a good surprise party. It’s for your friend Amy, right? The one who’s married to the short guy?”
“That’s right. She’s thirty.” I thought about her for a moment. “Totally over the hill. Might make us feel better about our own problems.”
She laughed. “You’re such a bitch. No wonder your boyfriend dumped you.”
I felt my stomach turn. Her words felt like a slap, even though I’m sure she didn’t mean them that way. I started to cry, right there on the street with warmly dressed, peanut-butter-smelling people pressing past me on all sides.
Janie’s face lost its amused expression. “Sarah . . . he dumped you? I’m sorry. I was just guessing.”
I nodded. “It’s over. It just happened.”
“Honestly, after everything you told me about him, this is probably a good thing. It might not feel like it right now, but it’s for the best.”
I started crying harder and without thinking, stumbled forward and hugged her. “It’s not. He’s an idiot. I love him so much and he’s too damn stupid and stubborn to see that. I don’t know what to do.”
She awkwardly patted me on my back. “Seriously? You love him? The old married guy with the drinking problem?”
I nodded against her shoulder.