She reaches over and gives my hand a gentle squeeze, offering silent support.
“I keep wondering if I should message him,” I say, my words rushing out. “I don’t want him to think I don’t care, but I don’t want to bother him either. I just… I don’t know what the right thing is.”
She squeezes my hand again. “Take a breath, Ash,” she says quietly. “You’re not going to bother him. You care about him, and he knows that. A simple message won’t overwhelm him. It might even help.”
I nod, pulling in a slow breath to steady myself. “You’re right,” I say, grateful for her calm. “I’ll text him when we get to my parents’ place.”
As we pull into the driveway, I spot Wyatt’s car and can’t help but smile, remembering Ivy’s comment last night about her old crush on him. I haven’t teased her nearly enough about that, probably because I had no clue back then, but now seems like the perfect opportunity and a welcome distraction from Ben and what’s happening.
“Oh, by the way,” I say casually, putting the car into park. “Wyatt’s here.”
“Okay…” she replies slowly, her brows knitting. “I kind of figured he would be. He lives here.”
I nod, trying to keep a straight face. “Right. Just thought I’d give you a heads-up. You know, in case you need to mentally prepare yourself.”
Her head whips around, her eyes narrowing. “Prepare myself for what?” She trails off as realization dawns. With an exasperated laugh, she swats at my shoulder. “You’re such a brat. This is about what I said to Laney last night, isn’t it?”
I nod, grinning like an idiot. She groans and rolls her eyes.
“Ash, I was sixteen! It was a dumb crush.”
“Yeah,” I say, dragging out the word dramatically. “But you never told me! We could’ve been sisters if you’d married Wyatt.”
She gives me a look like I’ve completely lost it. “And that right there is exactly why I never said anything,” she says with a laugh. “You’d have made it your life’s mission to set us up. Besides, Wyatt didn’t even know I was alive back then. He still doesn’t.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Oh my God. Youstilllike him!”
“No!” she insists, shaking her head. “I just meant he’s never looked at me that way.”
I grin even wider. “Well, he might’ve if he’d known you were into him.”
The color drains from her face. “Ash,do nottell him. I swear, I’ll kill you. That would be beyond embarrassing. I was just a kid.”
I raise my hands in surrender. “Relax. You’re my best friend. I’d never do that to you.”
She exhales in relief and slumps back in her seat. “Thank you. Now, can wepleasechange the subject?”
I glance down at my phone sitting in the center console, my chest tightening. “Yeah… I should text Ben.”
She watches me for a second. “You okay?”
I nod, but it’s more for her benefit than mine. “Yeah. I’ll message him now.”
But when I pick up my phone, I just sit there, staring at the blank screen. My thumb hovers over it, motionless.
“Ash,” Ivy prompts gently when I’m still frozen a minute later.
I let out a shaky breath. “What if she dies, Ivy?”
Without hesitating, she reaches over and wraps her fingers around mine. “Then you’ll be there for him. For both of them.”
I shake my head faintly. “I don’t know how to do that.”
She sighs softly, squeezing my hand. “None of us do until we have to.”
I nod slowly, swallowing the lump in my throat.
Finally, I unlock my phone, find Ben’s name in my messages, and type out the words that have been stuck in my chest all morning.
