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Jenna shakes her head. “He didn’t say specifics. He just said there’s something there, and since guys don’t really discuss that kind of stuff too much, you have to fill us in.”
“Yes, fill us in,” Danica demands, picking up a wine bottle to top off our glasses but frowning when she finds it empty.
“I’ll grab another,” Ava says, moving over to the built-in wine rack under the butler’s pantry.
“So, what’s the deal?” Sophie says, nudging me with her shoulder as she stands to my left.
My gaze drops to my glass, filled halfway with a delicious Merlot. At least I think it’s delicious. I’m not a wine connoisseur by any stretch, but it tastes good to me. “We used to be high school and college sweethearts,” I finally say as I look back up.
Jenna gasps, hand fluttering near her heart. “And you two have reconnected? That’s so romantic.”
“Not in the way you think,” I rush to assure her. “He’s helping me out of a bad situation.”
“What kind of situation?” Ava asks without any shame.
I’m buzzed enough to spill the beans, but I think even without alcohol, I’d tell my story. These women are so warm and genuine, I know they’d never judge and they’ll support me.
“I met Callum when I was fifteen and he was seventeen…” I walk them through my love affair with Callum, starting with how we met and making sure to include Joshua in the story. He was the end game, after all. They all sigh and swoon when I talk about Callum and how much we loved each other, and then get distinctly quiet when I tell them of the breakup. Next, they look uncomfortable when I tell them about my friendship with Joshua, except I don’t sugarcoat it. I tell it like it happened… the overly solicitous behavior and the way he set me and Callum up to fail via an ill-timed ultimatum.
“And then one day, Joshua asked me out on a date and I said yes.”
“No,” Danica almost wails with disappointment.
“Yes,” I repeat. “And that led to another date, and eventually, it led to marriage.”
“No,” Danica says again, and she looks like she might cry. “You belong with Callum.”
I grimace over the welling of bitter feelings, but I notice they’re less today than they were yesterday. I’m getting over it the more time I spend with Callum and I’m reminded what a good guy he is. “I married Joshua and, well… it wasn’t a fairy tale.”
“What was it?” Sophie asks hesitantly.
“Eventually, it became abusive. He was controlling, alienated me from friends and liked to slap me around whenever he felt like it.”
“Oh fuck,” Jenna growls protectively. “Please tell me there’s a point in the story where Joshua gets his ass handed to him.”
I shrug noncommittally. “I don’t know about that. Callum saw bruises on me, figured out what was going on, and next thing I know, I’m in Pittsburgh.”
Ava reaches across the counter and grabs my wrist. “At the risk of sounding like I know way too much when I might not, you don’t seem like the type to stay with an abusive man.”
“I’d like to think I’m not,” I reply with a mirthless laugh. I then explain about my father and there’s more swooning when I tell them that Callum moved my dad here, which is truly what enabled me to leave Joshua.
“And you and Callum—” Jenna nudges me for information. “Any second chances there?”
“No way,” I say with a wild wave, spilling wine all over my hand. I curse and grab a napkin to wipe it up, continuing my denials. “Our time is past. But I am grateful for all he’s done and once I get my divorce settlement, I’ll be able to figure out where I want to go. Maybe I’ll take my dad down to Florida. Somewhere warm, where the water is blue.”
“Or you could stay here and rekindle things with Callum,” Danica says, her tone unyielding, like there’s no other alternative. I peg her as the real romantic of the group.
“That’s just not on my radar,” I reply with a kind smile. “I’ve got an asshole husband to divorce and a father to take care of.”
I don’t want to talk about it anymore, so I start rounding up the empty cake plates, intent on turning my back on the women with the ruse of loading the dishwasher.
“You can do all of the above, you know,” Sophie says. Her voice is so soft, I barely hear it, but it’s said with such conviction, she makes me pause. I glance over my shoulder at her. “You can divorce Joshua, take care of your dad and see if something happens with Callum. None of it is either or.”
I shake my head. “He broke my heart, Sophie. He ended things with me. I’m not sure I could trust him again.”
Sophie waves her hand. “That was forever ago. I’m not condoning what he did, but he made a choice. He made the choice of a young man and I bet Callum would say it was the wrong choice if you ever asked him.”
I don’t need to ask him. He already told me it was the worst mistake of his life.
