Page 95 of When You Became Mine

I pressed a kiss to her forehead and then pushed out of my squat and into the chair next to hers.

She wiped the moisture from her face once more. “What do I do now?”

“You let me figure this out.”

Her smile was sad. “I know you want to fix this. But I don’t think you can.” Her eyes were red-rimmed but dry, and she’d taken on an eerie calm. “I just need to come to terms with the fact my life is going to be different than what I had imagined it would be.”

I gripped her hand. “It’s not!”

She pulled her hand from mine and stood, clapping her hands together. “Okay. Enough of the crying. I’m done with that.” She began to pace back and forth, pushing a hand through her hair. “Let me think a minute.”

I watched her warily. Her sudden surge of optimism wasn’t fooling anyone, but I let her have her moment.

She finally stopped wearing a path in my floor and turned to me. “I know what I’ll do.”

I lifted a brow and slowly asked, “You do?”

A quick jerk of her chin in affirmation and she was back to the pacing. “I’ll become a nun.”

“Ahhh…I’m not sure you’re allowed to have sex when you take an oath to be married to God.”

She frowned. “You’re right. Maybe I’ll invest in myself. You know, I was listening to this podcast the other day, and the lady was going on and on about making yourself a priority. Now that I won’t be saving the lives of children, maybe I should start taking better care of myself.”

I leaned back in my chair, settling in for what I was sure was going to be an entertaining time of Piper going off the rails. “Investing in yourself, huh?”

She didn’t disappoint as she immediately began bobbing her head. “Yep. First things first, no more Thai food.”

I squinted at her, not understanding her logic, but didn’t have a chance to ask her why she was swearing off basic food groups.

“And then, I’ll hike the Appalachian Trail. What’s that called again?”

“I believe the word you’re looking for is torture.”

She pivoted on the ball of her foot. “Nope. It will be eye-opening. Mind-blowing. Life-changing.”

I nodded. “Life-changing for sure. As in, your life will be changed because you’ll be dead the first day.” I pushed out of my chair and stopped in front of her, gripping her shoulders to keep her from sprinting away. “You almost had a heart attack when a frog jumped on your foot the last time we went camping. And you think you can survive hiking, in the mountains, for thousands of miles?”

She waved a hand. “I was a kid when that happened. I like frogs now.”

I shook my head. “No, you don’t.”

Her face fell. “Okay, so hiking is out.” She stepped out of my grip and jabbed a finger in my chest.

“You keep shooting my ideas down. What do you think I should do?”

She poked my chest once more, but this time I grabbed her hand and pulled her close.

“For starters, you could stop trying to drill your finger into my heart.” I smiled at her but was met with an eye roll, so I finished. “You could quit freaking out and take it one day at a time.”

“I’m not freaking out. Just weighing my options here. And I have plenty of options, you know.”

“Yes, you do.”

“I could do anything I wanted. I’m smart. I’m healthy. I’m capable.”

“Yes, you are.”

Her voice cracked. “So, why does it feel like my life is over?”

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