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He’ll find someone else.
Someone better than me.
Someone that can give him everything. I tell myself.
You have to let him go, Karly.
I close my suitcase, using every ounce of strength I have to try and push it down so it will zip. It does, but just barely. I’m driving to my mom and dad’s house tonight, and in two days, we will celebrate Thanksgiving. After that, I fly from Charleston to Nashville for a couple of weeks. That should be plenty of time to get away and clear my head.
Hanna called me earlier. I’m going to stop by on my way out and see Ellie. She’s home but still feeling kinda rough, which is to be expected.
An uneasy feeling of emptiness surges through me when I think about Hanna and her family. A sense of longing for something I know I can never have, not fully anyway.
I pull the handle up on my suitcase and roll it out the door to my car, and start the drive to Legacy Bay to see Ellie.
A few minutes and several Taylor Swift songs later, I’m sitting in the driveway, rethinking my entire life and every decision I’ve ever made. Tay Tay does that to you. I unbuckle and walk up the sidewalk to Jameson’s house. Hanna moved in about a month ago, and I’ve never even been inside.
I hesitate at the door. I didn’t knock before. Do I knock now? Of course, I knock now.
While I’m going over it in my head, Hanna pulls the door open, and a big blob of yellow fur flies past, nearly knocking me on my ass.
“Jet!” Hanna yells, “Jet, stop!”
The dog jumps on my legs and barks playfully. I pat its head and wrestle it around.
“Sorry, we’re still working on that. That’s Jet.”
I smile, petting him, “I like the name. It’s fitting.”
Hanna rolls her eyes, “He’s a mess. Come on in.”
I walk in behind her, noticing that everything looks so homey, a lot like Hanna’s old house. A house she swore she’d never sell because it was the only place that ever felt like home.
We walk into the living area, and I notice Ellie asleep on the couch, propped up on about fifty vibrant-colored throw pillows. Her hair is pulled into a high bun, and she’s wearing button-up pajamas.
“She’s really tired,” Hanna says, “She’s not sleeping well because she can’t get comfortable.”
I place the bag of stuff I brought her on the table in the kitchen, “Don’t wake her up. It’s fine. I really need to get going anyway.”
“Karly—” She begins, but I interrupt.
“I’m sorry. I never should’ve lied to you. I just didn’t even know what to say.”
“What happened?” She asks, fondling the strings on the gift bag. “I just want to know when it started.”
“After the wedding, Hanna. I swear to you, and even then, I felt horrible for feeling anything.”
“You like him?” She asks.
“Of course, I like him,” I laugh, “He’s kinda nuzzled his way into my life over the past three years.”
She smiles, “Yeah. How can we be the three musketeers without him? Or the three blind mice? The three amigos? Hansen? The three stooges? The third-wheel jokes he made were the best. I gotta give it to him.”
I laugh, “His humor is top-notch.”
“Next-level,” Hanna agrees. “I should’ve never asked you to get in the middle of what was going on with him and me. It wasn’t fair.”
“I shouldn’t have slept with him,” I agree. “And I definitely shouldn’t have lied about it.”
