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Jamie interrupts, “Sammy and I will take the room with two beds. The other room is yours.”
“Really?” I’m not about to kick this gift horse in the mouth. I’m going to crawl into that king-size bed and pretend I’m in Tahiti or something.
Sammy gets up off the couch and says, “I know it’s only nine, but I’m going to bed.”
“Want me to tuck you in?” Jamie asks.
She shakes her head. “I’m good. I’ll see you guys in the morning.”
Jamie looks like he wants to go after her, but he chooses not to. When she’s out of the room, he asks, “Want to sit down?”
That’s when I finally see the view outside of the living room. The windows are floor to ceiling and look more like a movie screen than windows. The city below looks miniature and sparkly, a view like every blockbuster movie includes of the city they take place in. “I booked us on the second floor,” I tell him.
He sits down on the couch and pats the seat next to him. “This is better, isn’t it?”
I cross the room and sit by him. “This is amazing.”
“Melissa …” he starts to say but stops.
“Yes?”
“I have so many things I want to say to you, but I don’t know where to start.”
I really don’t want to hear him tell me how he wishes things were different. I just want to pretend thingsaredifferent. I know I’m only going to be hurting myself, but right now, all I want is to feel close to him. So, I say, “Let’s not talk about us until we’re back in Elk Lake. There’s enough to deal with in Chicago.”
“I’ve missed you this week,” he says.
“I’ve missed you, too.” No sense lying. “How was it seeing Beth?” I ask.
“It was like being in the twilight zone. I didn’t know what to expect, but I didn’t think she would feel like a stranger.”
“She felt like a stranger?”
He reaches over and takes my hand in his. It’s not a romantic gesture. Instead, it’s one of someone looking for comfort. “She felt like someone I once knew, but don’t know anymore.”
“That had to be weird.”
“Beyond so. You would have been so proud of Sammy, though,” he says. “She acted like a little adult.”
“You’ve done a great job raising her, Jamie.” I squeeze his hand to emphasize my point.
Changing the subject, he says, “In other news, I didn’t hate Karl.”
I can’t help but laugh at that. “He seemed pretty cool. Fritz, on the other hand, was a harder one to read.”
“Imagine how strange this whole situation is for him. His own mother died during a critical time in his development, and then he has to worry it might be happening again with his stepmom.”
“Then there’s the whole moving across the world so his stepmom can meet the daughter she abandoned,” I add.
“Makes you grateful for our boring childhoods, huh?” he teases.
“You aren’t kidding.” I lay my head against his shoulder before adding, “Life sure doesn’t always feel fair.”
“Melissa, there’s something I need to tell you …”
I cut him off. “I was serious when I said I didn’t want to talk about us.”
He doesn’t seem happy, but he agrees, “Okay. But can we at least say out loud that we’ve called a truce?”
