Page 185 of Merry Christmas, You Filthy Animal
He opens the door to the truck. “What the hell are you doing?” His eyes glance down at the paper and then back up at me. “What is this?” He snatches it from my grasp and then reads over it. When he’s done, his gaze moves right past mine and to Atlas’s. “I fucking knew it,” he says. “I fucking knew you were trying to fucking lure her in.”
“No, that’s not... Fuck,” Atlas says, gripping the steering wheel.
“And why are you in his car? Because he convinced you that I was in the wrong? I told you this was his plan all along, Betty. I fucking told you. He wanted to distract you from what you were doing so he could find a way to save his farm.”
Martha’s and Mae’s comments float through my head, and I turn to Atlas. “Is that what Martha and Mae meant by preventing me from conducting business?”
“Shit,” Atlas mutters.
“Oh my God.” I unbuckle my seat belt. “Oh my God, Atlas.” I hop out of the car. “Has this all been just one giant ruse?”
“Yes,” Uncle Dwight says next to me. “I told you that, Betty. Let me guess, the new idea you wanted to talk to me about, it’s because he convinced you it would be a good idea?”
“He... he did,” I say, unable to believe it.
“Wait,” Atlas says as he unbuckles and then gets out of the truck. He moves around toward us, but Uncle Dwight holds up his hand.
“Don’t you dare come fucking closer.”
Atlas holds his hands up, clearly not wanting to start trouble. “Please, just let me explain.”
“There’s nothing to explain,” Uncle Dwight says. “You were using her.”
“Wait,” I say, crossing my arms. “I want to hear what he has to say.”
“Why?” Uncle Dwight asks.
“Because I want him to say it to my face.”
Atlas sticks his hands in his pockets, clearly distressed.
“If you have a truth to speak... then speak it.”
He stares at the ground and takes a few calming breaths before he says, “Yes, I had a master plan to woo you, to get you to fall for me so Martha and Mae had time to look into the town rules, to give me time until my parents were back from vacation and they could handle it. I just wanted time before you started uprooting everything that I’ve ever known at the farm. The intention was to get you to fall for me and then for me to break it off once we had everything figured out.”
Tears well in my eyes as I can’t believe what he’s saying. “You... you were using me?”
“No,” he says as he takes a step closer, but Uncle Dwight pulls me back.
“Don’t come near her.”
“Wait,” Atlas says, looking distraught. “Yes, that was the plan, but after a few interactions, I told Storee that I couldn’t?—”
“Wait, Storee was helping you?”
“Fuck.” He pulls on his hair.
“Oh my God.” Tears fall down my cheeks. “I thought... oh my God, I thought everyone was being nice to me because they wanted to be my friend, not because they were trying to deceive me.” Memories of the “friends” I had in Fort Collins flash in my mind, the aching feeling of being played all over again filling my chest with hurt.
How could I be so stupid?
“Storee is your friend,” Atlas says quickly. “She is. Trust me.”
I shake my head. “There is no way I can trust you. Everything you’ve said to me, it’s a lie. Everything. And you made me believe you.” I wipe at my eyes. “You made me think Uncle Dwight wasn’t telling the truth.”
“He’s not,” Atlas says desperately. “I wasn’t the one who took the ornament.”
“Please stop.” I shake my head while Uncle Dwight wraps his arm around me.
