AllFreeNovel
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Alex is the first to speak. He doesn’t just volunteer for The Hope Foundation—he’s a huge donor. The man built an entire housing complex, for Christ’s sake. “Nora wants you to run the new shelter, doesn’t she?”
“The women’s shelter?” Mandy looks between me and Alex. She knows it well because her soon-to-be husband designed it and just finished overseeing the build.
“A women’s shelter?” Garry echoes, and I wonder if they’ve turned into parrots. “That’s been your dream since college. You would be amazing.”
“I know,” I moan before gulping my wine. “And I’ve been too embarrassed to speak to her since.” I sigh, not meeting anyone’s gaze until I see Mandy with her arm outstretched toward me. She’s holding my phone.
“Call that woman right now, Claire Russell. You’ve known her for years. She loves you like a daughter. Ask for another chance.”
I sit back in my chair, and I’m not the only one dying to laugh. “Did you justfull nameme, Mandy Parker?”
She puts a hand on her hip and blows a stray curl from her face. “Yes, I did. Now get your ass up and go call her.” She nudges the phone into my chest. Her voice is softer when she says, “Don’t let him win, Claire.”
She’s right.
Time to pump some steel into my backbone, but it’s late and I don’t want to have this conversation when I’ve had a glass of wine.
“I’ll call her on Monday. I promise.”
My mouth shakes as I try to smile. To hide it, I stare into my wine, swirling the liquid around like a whirlpool, wishing I could get pulled into it.
I don’t need to look up to know it’s Garry’s arms around my shoulders. I glance at him from the corner of my eye, laughing under my breath when he pouts.
His bony chin digs into my shoulder as he mumbles, “Why so sad, friend?”
Biting the inside of my cheek to stop the tears threatening to fall—a tight, anxious lump makes it hard to speak.
“I’ve been with you guys since I can remember. It’s three hours away, and it would mean being closer to home.” A single tear leaks from my eye despite my efforts. I moved with them to get away from my childhood home. Going back might break me.
It’s silly.
I probably won’t even get the job, but the thought of leaving my friends makes me want to curl up in a ball.
They’re all I have.
My family.
“Three hours is nothing.” Mandy pulls me into a comforting hug until I’m smothered.
“I’ll gladly drive three hours for a babysitter when this baby comes along,” Garry jokes, his voice cocooned in our embrace.
When Mandy pulls back, she cups my face in her hands, her eyes heavy, brimming with tears. She sniffles and brushes my hair over my shoulder. “You came here with us. For us. You kept me afloat more times than I care to admit, all while never admitting you were drowning.”
A sob tries to rip through my chest, but I swallow it until it’s nothing more than a strangled breath.
“What would Nick tell you to do?”
Nick isn’t here.
He can’t tell me to do anything.
But imagining helps to soothe the burn.
I laugh, trying to lighten the mood. “He’d say, ‘Claire, you’re twenty-eight. Stop climbing through my window.’”
Our houses were next door, our bedroom windows facing each other. It only took ten steps to get to his room. I counted once. Ten steps, and I was out of hell.
He was Mandy’s first love, Garry’s best friend, and he was my…What was he? I always find it hard to put into words what Nick was to me.
