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I head into the adjacent dining room and call my mother. Not surprisingly, it takes all of twenty seconds before she’s enthusiastically and unequivocally expressing elation at the idea of Lucky Martin Vaughn becoming Lucky Martin Vaughn Morgan. In fact, before I’ve even finished explaining the full situation, Mom’s already burst into tears of joy for our beloved Lucky.
“Your grandmother would have been so happy for him,” Mom says. “It’s Lucky’s luckiest break yet. Aw, sweetie.Are you crying? Honey, I know it’s hard to say goodbye. But you can always visit him.” She clucks her tongue in sympathy. “My love, you know what I always say: ‘If you love someone, set them free.’”
I pull myself together well enough to respond. “Yeah, I know. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.”
“Speaking of which, have you spoken to Charlotte yet?” I broke down during my visit one night and drunkenly poured my heart out to my family over a shared bottle of wine. Mom knows I’m in love with Charlotte. My whole family does. Also, that I’m regretting what I didn’t tell Charlotte that night on the sidewalk in front of our hotel.
“No. We’ve texted a bit, but not much.”
“Like I said when you were here, I think you should call her and tell her how you feel. Charlotte can do with that information what she chooses. But that way, you’ll have no regrets if you need to move on with your life. And heck, it might turn out you should start applying to vet schools in New York.”
My heart throbs. “So, which is it, Mom? Should I set Charlotte free out of love, or follow her across the fucking country like a stalker? Because I can’t do both, consistently.”
“Auggie.”
I exhale. “Sorry. I’m not well.”
“Tell Charlotte how you feel andalsoset her free. The rest will take care of itself, my darling.”
I’m aching to follow Mom’s advice. But picking up the phone to say “I love you” feels like a consolation prize, when six days ago, I could have done it in person, while looking into Charlotte’s eyes, and then sealed it with a kiss.
I fucked up. That’s all there is to it. And now, I’m not sure how to fix it. Or if I should even try. For all I know, Charlotte’srelievedwe parted so cleanly. Grateful to be set free from even thinking about trying to embark on a long-distance relationship with me.
“Okay, I’ll think about it,” I say. “Thanks, Mom. I love you.”
“I love you, too. Send me photos of Lucky with his new family.”
“I will.”
We say our goodbyes, and I head back into the kitchen to give Tessa the good news. When I tell Tessa it’s a go, that Lucky is now, officially, a Morgan, she lurches to me and hugs me warmly.
“Thank you so much, Auggie. I promise we’ll give him such a great life.”
“I know you will.”
“And you can come see him, any time you like. We’ll give you the code for the front door, and you can come, any time.”
I wipe my eyes and chuckle. “We don’t need to go that far, but thanks for offering. It’ll be enough for me to know my grandmother’s looking down from heaven, crying tears of joy to see Lucky so happy and loved.”
“Aw, Auggie. You’re such a sweetheart. And not only in relation to Lucky.” She twists her mouth. “Do you want to be the one to tell Charlotte this amazing news? If you want to call her to tell her about it, I’m pretty sure she’s available to talk right now, as a matter of fact. I was just texting with her and mentioned you were here to pick up Lucky. She said she’s sitting in her hotel room, home for the night.” That’s all Tessa says, verbally, but I feel like her facial expression is saying a whole lot more.What’s she trying to tell me?
“We could FaceTime Charlotte together, right now, so she can see Lucky in his new home with all of you.”
I’m thinking my suggestion is a no-brainer. But to my surprise, Tessa scrunches her nose and says, “Actually, I thinkmaybe she’d prefer to talk to you, privately, about it. Just you and her. It might be a good reason for you two to chat and catch up.”
My heart is thundering.What does she know that I don’t? “Yeah, okay. Good idea. I’ll call her outside while waiting for my Uber home.”
“Perfect.”
We head into family room and tell the kids the news, and they both, predictably, lose their shit. Even Rudy the Husky seems elated: when the kids start screaming in joy, he dances around the family room and sings as only a husky can do.
We take a bunch of photos to memorialize the occasion, and Tessa and I swap numbers and send each other all of them. But finally, dinnertime arrives, and it feels like time for me to go, even though they’ve invited me to stay and eat with them.
I give Lucky one last hug and kiss, and then head outside to wait for my Uber and call Charlotte.
“Auggie,” Charlotte says enthusiastically. “Hi.”
The sound of her voice makes my heart simultaneously soar and ache. “Hi. How are you?”
