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She lifts her head then, turns to me. Her face is swollen and red, her eyes bloodshot.
My heart falls. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, Jack. Nothing is wrong.”
“Whatever it is, I’ll fix it.”
“You can’t fix this, Jack.”
“You have to let me try.”
She shakes her head, tears rolling down her cheeks. “You, of all people, can never fix this.”
“But that’s what we do. You fix me and I fix you. We’re two sides of the same coin. You’re the other half of me, Mandy.”
She chokes back a sob, and then she nods. “Don’t forget that, Jack. Don’t you ever forget that you’re the other half of me.”
She falls into me then and hugs me as I continue rubbing her back.
A few moments later, after we say goodbye again, I leave her house.
I drive to college.
…
I didn’t give that conversation another thought for eleven years. Not until now.
The other half of me.
They weremywords, not hers, and they were the words that made her stop crying.
It was always so easy to dismiss how much Mandy meant to me. She was always there when I needed to talk, but when things were going well—with football, with college, with my woman of the month—I didn’t need her.
Only when things got tough.
She was there. Every single time.
She’s been the one constant in my life—other than my parents—for nearly all my twenty-nine years.
That’s why I went to her last night. Because she’s Mandy. Because I can tell her what’s wrong, and she’ll fix it. Or I can tell her nothing—as I did last night—and she’ll take care of me anyway.
Maybe Ben is right. Maybe I feel more than I’ve been willing to admit all this time.
Maybe…
I grab my phone and call her.
Damn. Voicemail.
This is Mandy. You know the drill. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
I clear my throat. “Hey, Mandy—” I stop myself from adding theCake. “It’s me. I…need to talk to you. It’s important. Call me, okay?”
I’m still in my workout clothes from this morning, so I head down to the street and run. I run and run and run to clear my head.
And I wait for Mandy to return my call.
Chapter Twenty-Five
