Stupid, so stupid to think it was going to work out. It was too perfect. I was a fool to think a man like that would want me. Of course he didn’t. I wasn’t enough for him, he had to cheat on me. How long was it going on? He said it meant nothing. The liar. It changes everything. I can’t marry him now… I can’t…

When she got closer to town and began to see people passing her by, giving her strange looks, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and made an effort to calm down. She pulled herself together enough to stop the tears from flowing. She wasn’t far from home now. She realized she had left her purse along with her phone at the Rutledges’. Grant would probably bring them by. He was probably at her house now, waiting for her, or driving around trying to find her. She veered her steps over to the waterfront. She walked along the promenade for a while and sat down on a bench facing the water and covered her face in her hands. She felt so drained.

After a few minutes Tina struggled to stand up and started to walk home. She passed by one of the few restaurants in town that was open on Sunday and noticed a woman with dark, curly hair sitting alone at an outdoor table, who was watching Tina as she walked past. When their eyes met the woman looked downward, and Tina felt conspicuous. She hurried her steps toward home. She was both thankful and disappointed to see Grant was not waiting for her there. She went around the back of the small bungalow where she lived and got the spare key from the secret spot where she kept it hidden out of sight. She opened up the backdoor and went inside.

She set the key on the counter and went into her neat, if rather bare, bedroom. She unzipped her dress, crumpled it into a ball and tossed it into the laundry basket. She went into the bathroom and was tacken aback by her reflection. Her hair was messy, there was redness around her now-bloodshot eyes, and pink splotches on each of her cheeks. No wonder she had drawn so many stares on her way home. Walking the streets in tears just wasn’t done, not here in Mercy, North Carolina. Well, her reputation didn’t matter anymore. Not now.