Simon gave his head a shake and had an expression that suggested he thought I was an idiot. “I didn’t humiliate and discredit her. That was you, my boy.”
I ground my teeth at his calling me boy. “Then why did you bring Rick back?”
He shrugged. “I needed to…distract Ms. St. James. She’s got too much sway over the teachers and many parents.”
I frowned. “What?”
“She makes it difficult for Wallace to be heard. He’s got good ideas but many in the PTA won’t take the time to listen because she’s always touting about Mrs. Jones. Now, I could have reported her to the IRS because she skirts the law that says PTA’s can’t endorse candidates. But that would have been an asshole thing to do, and despite what people think, I’m not an asshole.”
I gaped. “Paying her ex to come back and pretend to love her isn’t an asshole thing to do?” What world did this guy come from?
“It’s not good, I admit. But this only hurt her, and perhaps you. Reporting her to the IRS would have hurt the PTA, other teachers and parents. I’m not that big of a dick.”
Yeah you are, I thought.
“And I was doing her a favor.”
“Favor?” I arched a brow, wondering if maybe I’d entered the Twilight Zone. Was up down now? How was what he did a favor?
“Love…it’s a myth. It’s something used to sell greeting cards and flowers.”
“How would you know about love?” I scoffed.
He looked down into his drink. “I’m not as immune to emotion as you think. At least I once wasn’t.” He looked up at me again. “The only things that last that won’t kick you in the teeth, are money and power. True love, it’s a farce. It doesn’t exist.”
“I know plenty of people in this town that would disagree.”
He laughed. “Sure. Today. Maybe even tomorrow and in five years, but eventually, the shimmer of love fades. Love is fleeting. It wavers and it dies in deceit and lies.”
“Who broke your heart to make you so callous?”
His jaw clenched. “Tell me, I’m wrong. Did your parents once love each other, and then your dad left. He cheated on your mother, did he not? And then he abandoned the family.”
I supposed I shouldn’t have been surprised that he’d investigated me.
“And rumor has it, you’re no longer married to Ms. St. James.” He put an emphasis on the word married to suggest it had been fake. “You tried to help her get her library, and how does she repay you?”
“So, is that your purpose in life? Destroy love?”
“Nah.” He waved his hand. “People do that all on their own. My goal is power and money.”
“Why Salvation? Why this town? These people?”
“That is none of your business.”
I let out a laugh. “Funny coming from the man who investigates and manipulates other people’s lives.”
He shrugged.
“You know, your attitude suggests that you’ve been lied to and betrayed. So, you’re lashing out and hurting people who’ve never hurt you. I’ve seen it first hand in my student, but you’re a grown man. You should know better.”
His expression darkened. “You don’t know me. And plenty of people here have hurt me.”
Interesting. “Not the children of Salvation? Your actions hurt them.”
“They’ll get their library. I’ll see to it.”
That should have been good news, but it sat like a lump of old oatmeal at the bottom of my stomach.