Simple Perfection

touchy-feely.
    “Sorry about that. I wasn’t thinking,” she said as he left the room.
    “It’s okay. I will have to learn to deal with that the rest of my life. Might as well get used to it now. Couples are everywhere.”
    Braden reached over and grabbed my hand. “You will find your happiness. I think you’re wrong about Woods but I’ve told you that. He loves you. I know he does. I remember the madman who came chasing after you just a few months ago. He adores you. I hate to see you let that go.”
    How could I keep it? “I couldn’t stay. He was tired of my craziness. I heard him say it. He doesn’t know I heard him, but I did. He was talking to Jace about how hard it was to deal with me. He was tired of it.”
    “What! I don’t believe that. You must’ve misunderstood him. I can’t see Woods ever saying that. And let me tell you, if he did I will cut him. Cut. Him. You hear me?” She was already getting worked up. I should have kept that to myself. I knew that would send her into a blind rage.
    “What did he say exactly?” she asked, setting her cup down and studying me for any sign of a lie.
    “It was a conversation, really. I can’t remember exactly.”
    “Bullshit. It is etched into that brain of yours and you know exactly what was said, word for word. Spill it.”
    She wouldn’t give in until I told her.
    “I was at the club and I was looking for Woods. I decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator, so I stepped into the stairwell and I heard him talking. I didn’t want to eavesdrop but I heard Jace saying that he didn’t know how Woods had dealt with the crazy as long as he had.”
    “And what did Woods do? Please tell me he shoved his fist up his nose.”
    I shook my head and let the numbness ease me. I couldn’t think about what I was saying. “He said it was what he had to do. That he couldn’t let me be alone but it was affecting his work.” I stopped and swallowed, then looked down at my hands. Anywhere but at Braden. “He said that at least when Angelina was there, she helped.” That part hurt the worst. Hearing him say that someone like her was easier. That she was what he needed. Not someone like me. The crazy one.
    “Maybe he wasn’t talking about you. Isn’t his momma a loony bitch?”
    “No. She’s just mean,” I explained. There was more. Jace had said more. “Jace said that Woods needed to get his ass away from the insane shit. He had a corporation to run. He then said . . . that Woods dropping what he was doing to deal with my batshit crazy episodes wasn’t fair. That he needed to fix the problem.”
    “Woods better have beat his ass then,” Braden said, her face turning red.
    I should’ve changed the subject so I could calm her down. But I needed her to understand that I had left Woods for him. This was what he wanted. He just didn’t know how to ask for it. “Woods said he couldn’t. Then he asked how he would do that.”
    Braden shook her head, her eyes wide with disbelief. “That just doesn’t sound right. That isn’t the same man I talked to . . . that I talked to back when he came to get you a few months ago.”
    “No. It’s the man who had the responsibility of a country club and his mother laid on his shoulders overnight. He has real problems and concerns. I’m more than he can handle now.”
    Braden kept shaking her head. It would take her a while to process all of this. I hadn’t told Tripp about that conversation. I hadn’t wanted to talk about it. He hadn’t pressed me the way Braden had, either.
    “You’re not crazy. You’re not insane.”
    “I know you believe that. But it’s in my blood, Braden.”
    She gave me a sad smile. “No. It’s not. There’s something I need to show you and a lot I need to tell you. While you’ve been riding on the back of a hot stud’s bike for two weeks, I’ve been doing some research.”
    “What? What do you mean ‘research’? On what?”
    “Della Sloane, you were adopted.”

Woods
    D arla Lowry, my golf course manager, was now a board member. She was the one thing my dad had gotten right. I trusted Darla with my life. With Jace planning on marrying Bethy, Darla’s niece, we were just tying the family knot tighter. Darla was also wise. She was older than me and she had seen this club grow and flourish for over twenty-five years. She deserved a seat on the board. She also deserved the paycheck that came with that seat.
    My phone rang and I glanced down to see