She gives me a thoughtful look. “You do, but in your own way. And you’ve only got me to manage, not a whole team.”
Her words make me pause.
“You should sit down and have coffee with him sometime,” she adds casually.
“I’m fine. Life is simple right now. I work, I take care of Lila, and call my sister every once in a while. We’ve got a good routine going.”
“I thought your sister was heading back here yesterday. Did you go pick her up later?”
There were some flight cancellations, and by the time she got her new plan, her company called to ask her to head to Denver for work. So she won’t be here for a bit longer.”
I glance around the shop, wishing we could just get bodies in here. Do I need to kidnap people and set them in the booths? For some reason, that makes me smile as I think about Max and the felony conversations we’ve had. After being a corporate lawyer, life is much safer when I don’t even tamper with acrime. Even a signature on a wrong document can cause problems.
“So, you’d never want to date again?” Sarah asks.
I sigh, thinking it through before answering. “I won’t say never. But right now? Life is full enough. And I’ve had my share of…complicated experiences. I’m not in a rush, especially with someone who doesn’t plan to stay around for longer than a few weeks.”
And yet, I was a mess last night with the text message debate. Am I trying to convince Sarah, or myself?
Sarah gives me a sad smile. “Fair.”
“What about you?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I don’t want anything serious. My ex went to college, I stayed here.”
“Why did you break up?”
“I didn’t want to hold him back.”
I smile a little. “Sounds familiar.”
She frowns. “How so?”
I hesitate, then say, “I was in a similar situation just out of high school, except I was the one who left for school.”
It’s the first time I’ve said that out loud here, and it feels…strange. But not wrong.
“Was he your most recent boyfriend?”
“No, that was Curt. There was some drama at the company we worked for, and I was forced out.” It gets too complicated to explain that Curt is the one who did the shady thing and blamed me—only I didn’t find out until a couple of weeks later.
“He didn’t stand by you?” Sara asks gently.
I let out a small breath. “He then took over my promotion and had to move. I asked when I should start looking for places near him, and he ghosted me.”
Sara’s eyes widen. “Was he cheating?”
“No. He just wanted a different life. One where he could make decisions without factoring anyone else in.”
“Jerk!” Sarah says louder than I was expecting, and I jump.
I pause, then add with a small, steady smile, “So I built one that works for me instead.”
“You know that not every guy is going to do the same thing, right?” Sarah asks.
“I don’t though. How can two people spend so much time together and then just poof! It’s over within days?”
“Part of it is knowing what you want in life. If you have that to guide you, you’ll eventually find someone who fits.”
