Matty turned the cellphone toward Bill and held it inches from his face.
"This is Randy?"
Bill smiled sheepishly.
"Yea."
Matty tossed the cellphone on the bed.
"No wonder you never told me about Randy."
"Actually I did," Bill defended himself.
"On several occasions."
"Really?" Matty snapped back, hands on her hips.
"Why don't I recall that?"
Bill shrugged.
"I think I would recall you telling me about some gorgeous redhead, that you were friends with."
"I wouldn't say Randy is gorgeous," Bill whispered.
"So? Just how fucking close were you and this Randy?"
"We would do things together, once in a while. Go to a concert or hockey game."
Matty suddenly remembered conversations her and Bill had, when they first got together.
"Wait a minute. Wait just one fucking minute."
Her eyes opened wide.
"Please tell me this Randy is not the buddy you told me about, that you used to get drunk with and crash at each other's places?
The buddy you said was your best friend in the world?
The buddy you were closer to than anyone?"
Bill took a deep breath.
"Maybe?"
Matty wanted to scream, but she held it in. She turned quickly and walked to the table, in the suite, where the wine was.
"Matty, I ..."
Matty spun around, pointing her finger at Bill.
"You don't talk yet."
She stared at Bill's naked body.
"And put some clothes on."
Bill went to the bathroom. He returned a few minutes later, fully dressed again.
Matty was sitting at the small round table, smoking a cigarette and drinking the wine from the bottle.
"This is not a smoking room."
"I talked to the front desk. You have to pay a five hundred dollar cleaning fee."
"Oh."
Bill started walking toward Matty.
"Look ..."
Matty pointed to the chair across from her.
Bill sat down and Matty poured him a glass of wine.
"Okay. I have some questions and you better not lie to me."
"I won't."
"Why didn't you tell me that your best friend in Edmonton, was a girl?"
"I don't know. It never really came up. The few times that I talked about Edmonton, we really didn't get into it that much. I really didn't have many friends.
Well actually, apart from Randy, I really had none. I was not much of a social butterfly. Me and Randy just clicked. She was a little crazy and she dragged me around with her."
"So there was nothing between you and Randy, just a friendship?"
Matty shook her head.
"And why did she sign the email, R,A,N,D,Y?"
"That's just Randy being Randy. Her name is actually spelled with an I, not a Y."
Bill laughed slightly.
"She thought it was funny. She used to sign her name that way all the time. I remember once when ..."
Matty put up her hand.
"I don't give a fuck how she spelled her name.
I am asking you if there was anything between you and this woman?"
Bill shook his head.
"Not really."
Matty put her hand on Bill's.
"I am about two seconds away from going ballistic. So, if you don't start answering my questions properly and not in some fucking cryptic code, I am going to start screaming and yelling."
She dug her nails into Bill's hand.
"Do you understand?"
Bill grimaced slightly and pulled his hand away. He quickly finished his wine.
"Randi and I were best friends. We just clicked and I will admit that in the beginning I was attracted to her and she was, slightly, to me, as well."
"Slightly?"
"We fooled around once. Just once."
"And just what does fooled around mean?"
Bill let out a long sigh.
"We were a little drunk and we started kissing. It got a little hot and heavy."
"How hot and heavy?"
"Really, Matty? You want details?"
"Did you fuck her?"
Bill shook his head.
"No. We didn't even get past our underwear. She stopped it."
"Why?"
"She said that if we made love, it would destroy our friendship and she didn't want that to happen."
"So she has a conscience?"
Bill shrugged.
"Maybe. We were living together at the time and ..."
Matty stood up quickly.
"Living together," she yelled.
She closed her eyes and shook her head.
"This just keeps getting better. So, how long were you two living together?"
"About three months or so. It wasn't like we were sleeping together or anything like that. We had a two bedroom apartment."
"So why did she leave?"
"She didn't. I did."
"So when you won the lottery, you were on your own?"
Bill shook his head.
"No. I was still living with Randi."
"Okay, this is just getting more confusing by the minute."
"I didn't tell Randi about the lottery."
Matty just stared at Bill.
"And she was supposed to be your best friend?"
"She changed after we fooled around. She became more distant. Started doing things on her own. She became even weirder that she had been."
Matty lit another cigarette.
"So you win this money, you don't tell your so called best friend and you just walk out?"
Again, Bill shook his head.
"Not exactly. We lived together another month or so. It took that long to get the whole lottery thing worked out. When it was, I told her that I had discovered that I had relatives out east, in Ontario, that I didn't know about.
I told her I was taking a month off and going to visit them. I paid the rent for six months, took what I came here with and left. I called Randi a couple weeks later and told her I was staying and that I would be back for my stuff, when I got settled."
"She must have known about the lottery winnings. I mean when someone in your area wins that kind of money, people are bound to know."
"No. I cut my hair and dyed it. I grew a goatee. When I went to get my cheque and have the pic taken, I wore glasses and I went by James Williams.
Even if Randi had seen the pic, she probably would not have recognized me. And she wasn't much for that shit anyway. She didn't believe in wasting money on shit like lottery tickets. She liked her beer too much."
"And you never got hold of her again?"
"No," Bill whispered.
Matty collected her thoughts for a moment.
"Now I wonder if that was what you would have done to me."
"What do you mean?"
"If you had left Tuckamore Bay in the beginning. Would that have been that? I would have never heard from you again?"
"No. I mean, I don't know. You can't compare you and Randi."
"Why? You just told me that you loved her."
"More like a sister."
"Bill, the two of you made out."
"And you never made out with another man?
That's not fair."
"I've told you about the few relationships I had. I have never held anything back from you.
And now, this mysterious beautiful redhead is on her way to see you."
Bill stood up.
"I will get hold of her, somehow. I will tell her not to come."
Matty shook her head.
"No. You will do nothing."
"Matty, I am sorry."
Bill took another step toward her, but she put up her hand.
"No. Not right now. I am half drunk and I am tired. And more than all of that, I am pissed off.
I am pissed off at you, for hiding shit from me and I am pissed off at this fucking Randi, for popping back into your life, at the most fucking inconvenient time.
And once again, you have put me in a position that I am second guessing myself."
"This changes nothing Matty. Even if Randi shows up, it is not going to change anything. You know I love you. And only you.
You ..."
Matty put up her hand again.
"Stop talking Bill, because all I am hearing is white noise. You are lucky that the wine has swollen my fingers, because if they weren't swollen, I would be throwing this ring at you."
Matty pulled at the engagement ring.
"Fortunately for you, my fingers are swollen."
Matty wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
"I am going to bed. Alone. You can sleep out here on the pullout and if you are lucky, I won't come out, in the middle of the night and smother you, with your pillow."
"Matty, please."
Matty shook her head and wiped her eyes, again.
"I love you Bill, but I am getting tired of the rollercoaster ride that is our relationship. If we keep talking, I just might start not liking you. And if I don't like you, I won't marry you."
Matty turned and went to the suite's bedroom.
Bill walked toward the door, as it closed, but stopped, when he heard the unmistakeable click of the lock.
"Fuck," he sighed, as he walked back to the table. He sat at the table, lit a cigarette and picked up the bottle of wine. He drank heavily from the bottle and sat back in the chair.
He wondered if he had just ruined the best thing that had ever happened in his life.
Under different circumstances, he probably would have been happy to see Randi again. To have the opportunity to apologize to her and try to explain why he did what he did; leaving so suddenly and not getting in touch with her again.
Bill finished the wine and pondered the idea of opening the second bottle, but Matty's words came back to him and he didn't want to be too drunk. He would need all his strength, to fight her off, if she decided to go ahead withe her threat ...
to smother him, in the middle of the night.
He finished his cigarette and walked to the closet, near the door to the room. He pulled down two of the skimpy pillows from the top shelf, and went back to the couch.
He turned off all the lights, except the one over the small desk in the corner of the room and lay on the couch. For the next couple hours, he was aware of every sound, until he finally fell asleep.
Bill was awaken suddenly, by the pillows being pulled out from under his head. He looked up to see Matty standing over him, holding the pillows.
He sat up quickly.
Matty threw the pillows at him.
"Get our shit together. I am going down to pay for the room. If you are not down, by the time I get to the truck, you will be walking home."
Bill put on his running shoes quickly and gathered up the parcels that Matty had in the room. He grabbed his coat and headed downstairs.
Matty was just walking through he front doors of the Inn. Bill struggled with the parcels and ran to catch up with her.
Two minutes later, Matty started the truck and pulled off the parking lot.
Bill was silent, until they reached the highway.
"Matty?"
"Not a word," Matty snapped.
They drove the hour or so to Tuckamore Bay in uneasy silence. As they neared the lighthouse, the two could see a small pickup, with a small U-Haul attached.
"Fuck," Matty snapped as she pulled in next to the truck.
She put the truck in park and got out, without even turning the truck off.
Bill quickly turned off the truck and opened the passenger side door. In his haste, he struggled with the seatbelt, as he watched Matty.
She went to the truck and looked inside.
"Fuck," Matty yelled, as she slammed her fist on the hood of the truck and continued to the front door of the lighthouse.
Bill, finally, managed to get out of the seatbelt and ran to the open front door.
As he stepped inside, he heard a woman's voice yell, "Is that you asshole?"
Randi walked out from the kitchen, holding a mug. She stopped when she saw Matty.