Page 53 of The Scars We Heal

I knew he was just stressed, too. Tomorrow would be better and he’d apologize. Bring me flowers. We’d be okay. At least I hoped we would.

Still, I pulled out my phone, taking a break from the words that seemed to jumble themselves in my textbook.

Hey.

Jake

Hey. How’s things?

Oh, you know. Same old. Stressed with school and…things.

Jake

Yeah?

Yeah.

It’s stupid.

Jake

Nothing you say is ever stupid. I’m here to listen if you need me to. Or send more cookies.

I laughed to myself, because he always knew exactly what to say to make me feel better.

Cookies would be nice.

“Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be here. I’ll always be here for you.” Jake’s voice broke me out of my thoughts.

He had to have been drunk. His words slurred together—or maybe I just imagined it—because they dripped from his tongue like honey. Sweet and exactly what I wanted to hear.

Still, I shook away those thoughts.

He didn’t mean it.

He couldn’t have meant it.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

caitlin

PRESENT DAY

Now, you’re going to take your hook and insert it into the two loops. Then yarn over and pull it through,” the woman on the crochet tutorial explained.

I reached forward, pausing the video before she could continue, and I became even more confused and lost than I already was. Rewinding a few seconds, I locked my eyes on her hands, trying to memorize what she was doing instead of just listening to the instructions.

My hands just weren’t cooperating, and the pile of yarn I was trying to work with was turning into a mess of tangles after unraveling and trying again over and over.

“Well, this hobby is going to be a waste,” I muttered, dropping the yarn and hook in my lap.

I wasn’t sure how I expected to make a tiny square, much less a whole blanket, if I couldn’t even get started.

“What are you doing, Mommy?” Whitley tugged on my sleeve.

Mommy’s about to lose her shit on this ball of yarn.

“I’m trying to learn how to crochet.”