"Meg, my life is such a dumpster fire right now," I say. We sit at the bar counter in her beautiful kitchen. A big, fat vanilla cake sits on the counter between the two of us, and we pick at either side of it with our forks. There's no better way to get over bad news than to drown your sorrows in a whole entire cake from Wal-Mart.

"Tess," she says, shaking my arm, "This is just a roadblock. Things happen. You have to pave your own road on the way to greatness. If the road was already paved, everyone would be able to travel on it."

I shovel another bite into my mouth, straight from the edge of the cake, and this one is almost all frosting. My stomach churns with anxiety and sugar is about the only thing I think I can keep down right now. "But what about Hunter?"

"What about him?"

"It's not just the café that's on the rocks. He is, too."

"I thought this was a fake marriage?"

"You know what happened between us in high school. It was stupid of me to think I could get involved without getting hurt again."

Meg reaches over to the stroller sitting behind her, and she checks on her baby. I'm still getting used to that. I remember how things were when we were both single at Springville Tech. Things change, that's for sure.

"Doll, from what you've told me, it sounds like the guy really cares about you. But he's dealing with his own shit, you know?"

"If by 'dealing with his own shit' you mean abandoning me again."

"Listen, Tess. You need to sit down and have a real conversation with him. Guys are absolutely horrible at understanding their own feelings. Sit down with him, tell him how you feel, and tell him what you won't compromise on. Take it one step at a time. That's all you can do."

"I guess you're right," I say. Sometimes I wish I hadn't ever met Hunter at all. He's caused me so much pain and consternation throughout my life.

But on the other hand, if I hadn't met him, maybe I still wouldn't know what true love really is. I guess you can't know true love if you aren't willing to put your own heart on the line.

"I know I'm right," she says with a wink. "But I totally saw this coming."

"What do you mean, us breaking up again?"

She looks surprised. "No, silly. You two getting together again. It was so obvious that you two were still into each other. A fake marriage, sure." She laughs. "I believed that for about two seconds."

I stab at the cake again. I'm feeling particularly stabby right now. "We're just good at pretending. And hiding our true feelings, apparently."

"I don't buy it," she says. "Do what I told you. Have a talk with that man. He needs you as much as you need him. You know me. I can tell these things."

Meg always was good at reading people.

* * *

When I step into my apartment, it's dark inside. I feel around for the light switch and flip it on. "Hunter?" I call out.

No response.

I look around the room. There's no sign of Hunter's stuff. All the sheets are gone from the floor. I get a sinking feeling in my stomach. Then I see a piece of paper on the kitchen table. I cross the room and pick it up.

I read it and my stomach drops.

* * *

The next couple days pass in a blur. I keep calling and texting Hunter, but he doesn't reply. I contact a lawyer about my restaurant situation, and the news he gives me isn't good. Yes, I can eventually beat the city in court, but it'll be expensive and time-consuming. And in the meantime, there's no way to get the doors open again.

A week passes without any communication from Hunter. And the lawyer fails to come up with any faster and cheaper method of getting the shop open. I request another meeting with the mayor, but his secretary screens all my calls. I can't believe this is happening.

I never thought a mayor of a small town could be so indifferent—no, downright cruel—to the people he's supposed to represent. At the next town hall meeting, I'm going to make my case in front of the whole town. We shouldn't have to put up with a leader like Mayor Wilkinson. But who knows if the shop will be able to recover.

Since there's no prospect of opening the café any time soon, I head down one morning with a couple huge rolls of brown paper and a roll of duct tape. I cover the windows over and climb up on a ladder to cover the neon sign with a tarp. The brand-new neon sign that I paid $8,000 for and was so in love with.

Eddie and Oscar come out of their shops while I'm out front, just finishing up covering the windows. "Hey guys," I say. All the excitement is gone from my voice. I feel like an idiot for getting my hopes up about Hunter and about the shop. I can't help wondering if these two knew that I was just a piece of ass, a conquest, to Hunter.

"What's going on?" asks Oscar.

I fill him in on the situation. I leave out the fake marriage part.

"That's fucked up," he says. "Closed, for good?"

"I don't know what to do," I say. "For now at least. I can't afford to fight the city in court. And now I'm going to be stuck with all these business loans."

"Go to the media," says Eddie. "Get Hunter to help you. Where is he, anyway?"

I shake my head. "You really don't know?"

Both men look at me blankly.

"He left."

"Why would he do that?" says Eddie. "When's he coming back?"

I study his face hard. "You didn't know anything about that?"

"About what?"

Well, I guess it feels good to know I wasn't the butt of some group joke. I'm honestly surprised that Hunter didn't tell his best friends the true story about what was going on.

"We're… getting a divorce," I say. That's the truth, right?

"What the hell?" says Eddie. "Fucking marriage ruins everything!"

"You serious?" says Oscar. The men exchange glances.

I take a deep breath. I'm done crying over this. I'm done crying over Hunter. I've done enough of that over the years and I refuse to do it one more time, much less in front of Eddie and Oscar.

"I wouldn't joke about this."

"Damn, man," says Oscar, giving Eddie a bewildered look. "Didn't see this coming."

"You alright?" says Eddie. "That's uh, real rough. Especially after your last marriage."

They must think I'm a real idiot for getting into another "marriage" so soon, that ended so quickly. "I'm fine."

Eddie shakes his head. "I'm gonna beat that motherfucker senseless the next time I see him."

"Who knows when that'll be," I say. "He's gone completely radio silent."

"Sorry," says Oscar.

* * *

After I finish covering up the shop, I call Jason. I fill him in, thank him for all the work he did for us, and I let him go. He takes it well, but he's bummed out. Apparently he dated that girl Crystal for a while, but they're not talking now.

I don't call Hunter back again, even though every time my cell phone buzzes, I hope it's him. I keep hoping he'll call, say he changed his mind, and that he wants to stay here in Maple Ridge with me. I want to kiss him again, want to let him inside me, because it feels so good and so right. But it doesn't happen. He's gone for good.

News spreads fast about the café shutting down. A sour mood pervades the town, and I hear more griping about the mayor than I have in the last five years combined. Both Eddie and Oscar were getting extra business thanks to their close proximity to the café, and their businesses have been in a slump since my shop shut down. I feel like crap about it. I thought it was a chance to live my dream, and maybe even a chance to breathe life back into the crusty old Maple Ridge economy. A chance to maybe save this town from becoming a washed-up old hick den ten years down the line.

As for Hunter, I decide to let go. For good this time. This is twice he's broken my heart and I won't let it happen a third time.

I don't know how I'm going to move on, and I don't know how I'm going to pay off my debts. But I know that if I succeeded once, I can do it again.

And it starts by getting the hell out of Maple Ridge.