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“Wow,” I squeak through my tight throat.“Thank you so much.”Tears are coming.Coming in fast, leaving no more time to play it cool.“Okay, bye, see you both later, thanks so much, Wesley.”
I exhale the words in a rush and dash for the door, emerging into a gray, snowy afternoon that perfectly matches my mood.I power walk around the corner of the brick building, keeping my head down, sucking in breaths of cold air and willing the tears to stay in my eyes until I’m safely inside Charlotte and on my way home.
I reach the car and swipe the snow from the front glass with my coat sleeve before ducking inside and starting the engine.There, the familiar scent of the musty VW bug I’ve had for most of my life comforts me.It also reminds me that my longest functional relationship, outside of my immediate family, is with a car.
The thought sends tears exploding from my face.They leap out of my eyeballs like in one of the cartoons Chase watches on Saturday mornings as I replay every sweet and sexy word Aaron said to me last night.And yes, I’m the one who avoided talking about how exactly we were going to make this work, but deep down, I wanted it to work.
I hoped it would.
I hoped so hard…
But now the hope is gone, and my son is at his dad’s house, where Radcliffe is whipping Ben into a frenzy over nothing, I might have a court battle ahead of me, and I’m going home alone.
Alone, the new story of my life.
“I don’t like this story,” I sob aloud to the purring car.
Charlotte rumbles softly, as if trying to comfort me as we idle on the side of the street, but it doesn’t help.If there’s one thing I know by now, it’s that there’s only one cure for a broken heart—time.
Or action,Charlotte says in the breathy voice I use to make her “talk” when Chase and I are playing “What Would Charlotte Say?”on the way to school.Fighting for Ben was a lost cause, but Aaron’s different, girl.You know he is.I mean, he’s in love, too!He said the words.More than once.
“But he’s l-leaving,” I sob with a sniff, not caring that I’m talking to my car.Right now, I have bigger problems than a little crazy.I’m losing the one guy who’s ever made me feel safe and treasured for exactly who I am, no modifications required.“And he was smiling about it.”
Oh, come on, Starshine.You’re smarter than that.You know what he’s up to.You know because you would do the same thing if your positions were reversed.He’s doing what he always does—being the white knight who sacrifices himself to save the day.
But maybe this time, he doesn’t have to.
Maybe it’s the princess’s turn to get on her horse and ride to the rescue.
I sniff again, my tears slowing.“Good point, Charlotte.”
Charlotte doesn’t respond, but that’s okay.Her work here is done.I know what I need to do.Shifting into gear, I pull out into the softly drifting snow and head where I always head in times of trial.
As I steer east, I call Matty on speakerphone.When he answers, I say, “Pikachu Promise,” and briefly explain the current shitstorm.“So, I’m activating emergency twin protocols.I’ll be at your place in fifteen minutes.”
“Good,” he says.“I’ll start coffee.Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out.”
“I’ll help,” Nora calls out in the background.“No way are we letting Aaron run away from true love.True love is not something we run away from in our family.”
“Or in ours,” Matty says.“See you soon, sis.”
I end the call and roll my shoulders back, letting Charlotte, my noble steed, bear me hence.
Chapter 28
Aaron
Inside the rental, I sag onto the couch, feeling like a bag of stinking, aching, miserable human garbage.The scent of the breakfast Melissa made this morning, when we were still happy and hopeful and pinching each other’s asses in between coffee refills, hangs in the air, taunting me with memories of how stupid I was.
Stupid enough to think Mel and I could make love work.
Stupid enough to think I could be part of her family.
Stupid enough to think Chase could be my little guy, too, and maybe we’d get lucky enough to have more incredible kiddos just like him.But this time, they’d beours, just ours, and no one could take them away.
“Fucking stupid,” I mutter as tears slip down my cheeks.
Good.Crying is good.This is why I decided to stay here instead of going to Gram’s.Here, in the ghost house, no one will see me cry like a big selfish baby.
