She didn’t say a word. Was I supposed to glean some tidbit of wisdom from her silence? I had nothing.
“And then?” she prompted.
“I came home.” And began to heal. And discovered that my best friend was in love with me. Part of me wanted to tell my mother, but I held back. My life was heading in a direction that, now that the boulder had been dislodged, was rolling downhill. I couldn’t stop it. Didn’t want to stop it, even though it was as scary as Jules sending her life’s work off to someone who might tell her they hated it.
“You came home. Exactly.”
“I feel like I’m missing something.”
Mom glanced at my more than half-eaten bag of popcorn. “Probably lack of nutrients.”
I laughed as she let go of my hand.
“I am getting a little hungry,” I admitted.
“How about we go to The Big Easy? You always liked the red beans and rice special on Sundays.”
My stomach growled. “Let me go change quick,” I said, the sweats I was wearing not going to cut it for public consumption. I headed upstairs to my room, thinking about my mother’s question.
And then?
It wasn’t until I changed and was fixing my hair that her meaning came to me. I came home and began to heal. I surrounded myself with friends and family. Got involved, or whatever you called it, with Beck. I made the wrong decision, getting engaged to a man I didn’t truly know. Not as well as I should have, to commit my life to him. It turned out to be the wrong decision, so I’d changed course.
And survived.
Was I making the right decision now?
That was yet to be seen.
* * *
How was your day?
I waited until now to text Beck, wondering if I’d hear from him at all. But I guessed he was serious about the whole “give you time” thing. It just felt odd, to be a few miles from him and not talk at all. My mom wanted to stop by the bar after dinner, but I convinced her to have a proper girls-only night since Dad already ate at O’Malley’s.
But enough was enough.
Busy, getting us back open. You?
I looked at the time, unsure if he was closing or not tonight.
Good. Spent the night with Mom.
He texted back immediately.
I heard. Red beans and rice?
I sent him a thumbs up.
Now what?
My plans weren’t something I wanted to text him. We needed a real-life discussion for that.
Still at the bar?
He sent a thumbs down.
So not closing.
