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I promised myself I wouldn’t interrupt, but I couldn’t stop the words from escaping my mouth.
Her eyes widened as she looked at me for the first time in the entire conversation. “What? Not that I know of.”
I forced myself to relax and wait until she was ready to speak.
“After two years, he got his green card. I thought everything was great, but one night, he came home and said he wanted a divorce. I was shocked.”
“Understandably.” My jaw tightened.
“He laughed at my reaction.” She ducked her head like she was embarrassed at the admission.
My heart dipped as I moved around the counter, no longer okay with there being any distance between us. I rested a hip against the counter and took her hands in mine.
“I thought it was real.” She finally looked up at me with tears shining in her eyes.
That gutted me because I’d never seen Brooke cry. “You had every reason to believe that.”
She straightened her shoulders as if drawing strength from my words. “He said he’d used me to get his green card, and now that he had it, he didn’t need me anymore. I couldn’t even process what he was saying. I’ve rewound our relationship, gone back to the beginning, and replayed it so many times. I didn’t see any clues. No indication that he wasn’t genuine.”
“Some people are just jerks. This isn’t on you.” I wanted to be harsher because there were no words for that Levi character.
She huffed out a breath. “I’d like to believe that, but it’s hard. I keep wondering what I missed, how stupid I was; why didn’t I see him for what he was?”
I could see why she was struggling. She saw herself as a strong person, and she’d been betrayed, lied to in the worst way imaginable. “You’re not stupid. He’s the asshole.”
She didn’t even flinch at my characterization.
“I’m glad you told me.” It told me a lot. Everything I’d been missing. What she’d been hiding, what was holding her back. I wanted to tell her everything would be okay, but she had to see it for herself.
“I don’t trust myself anymore. Definitely not my judgment. Hailey told me I don’t take risks. I’m just not the same person.” She looked at me as if waiting for me to agree with her, to tell her she wasn’t a good choice.
“You’re the same person I’ve always known. Yeah, sure, you seemed a little reluctant to be in a relationship, but who wouldn’t be after that.”
Her eyes widened. “I thought I knew him, but I was wrong. So wrong about everything. I never planned on getting married so young, but I let him convince me it was a good idea.”
“He had an agenda that had nothing to do with you. He chose you because you’re loyal, kind, and driven. Once you make your mind up about something, you don’t change it. Those are good qualities in someone you need to stay married to for two years.”
“I never thought about it like that.” Her tears had disappeared. They’d never even spilled over.
I was so proud of her for being strong. Moving back around the counter, I asked, “You ready to make some popcorn?”
She looked at me in confusion. “That’s it?”
“What did you expect me to say?” I suspected what was going through her head, but I wanted to hear it from her.
She looked away, her voice softer, as her shoulders rolled inward. “That I’m not a good bet. That I’m not good enough for you.”
“I already said that none of that was true. I’d like to do something else to soothe you, but we have two kids sitting outside waiting for their popcorn.” I made my voice lighter.
Brooke looked outside where it was fully dark outside now, the screen’s light illuminating the kids’ faces. “Yeah, you’re right.”
I hit the power button on the popcorn machine, and the motor started whirring. It took a few moments for the kernels to start popping.
“Thank you for telling me.” It said everything about where her head was, and she’d given me the tools to meet her where she was. It wasn’t me she didn’t trust; it was herself.
She licked her lips, still looking uncertain.
“You wanted me to understand where you were coming from, and now I do. What Levi did was unforgivable, but you need to move on. You need to trust yourself again.”
