Page 67 of Make You Stay

Dragging my sleeve across my face, I huff out a breath. Time to get it the fuck together. This isn’t the first time a man has knocked me on my ass, but I know one thing—itwillbe the last time.

There’s a great coffee shop near the doctor’s office, so I head into the decadent warmth and order a large latte. Then I slide into an empty booth and pull out my phone, emailing my realtor.

My new plan? Sell Betsey’s house as soon as possible and use the monies to buy a small home upstate. Then, I’ll get a damn dog and probably several cats to round out my childless collection.

The coffee warms my bones, but there’s nothing hot enough on this planet to thaw my heart.

Maybe I can live without that organ.

“Chloe, is that you?”

Looking up, my heart catches. Standing there, not three feet from me, are the boys I raised for five years. Henry and Jeff, their father right behind them.

“Look at you two. You’ve gotten so big.”

The boys dash over to me, engulfing me in a hug, their excitement evident.

“We missed you so much, Chloe.”

“I never thought we would see you again.”

You weren’t supposed to, boys.

Jeff, the more sensitive of the two, wipes away a tear on my cheek. “Are you sad, Chloe?”

His sweet heart always knew how I was feeling. It’s nice to know some things don’t change.

“No, I’m just sniffling from the cold. It’s freezing out there. How are you two?” I nod toward Charlie, hovering near the table and watching the scene play out with a great deal of interest. “Hi, Charlie.”

“Mind if we join you?” he asks, and I motion to the empty seats.

In a crazy turn of events, I spend the next thirty minutes with the man and boys I dedicated five years of my life to before Charlie whisked them away to a new one. Henry and Jeff are handsome, intelligent, and well-mannered.

I’d like to think I had something to do with that.

Charlie and his wife are divorcing—again. To hear him tell it, it was hell, almost from the beginning. I feel for them all. It’s hard when families fall apart.

“Would you like to have dinner?” Charlie asks, a hesitant smile on his mouth. “The boys really miss you. We all miss you.”

No matter how handsome Charlie is, I won’t tread that road again. He broke me once, but Aidan broke me worse.

I’ll never let another man break me again.

The rest of my life is going to focus on me… and my clowder of cats.

I wrap an arm around each boy, squeezing them tight. “Thanks for the offer, but I have to fly back to North Carolina.”

Is it the truth? Not exactly, although I will have to go back there at some point. However, it’s an easy way to get out of dinner without hurting Jeff and Henry. Charlie’s heart, I’m not worried about.

“You don’t live here anymore?” Henry asks.

“Right now, I live in both places, but I’m selling the North Carolina house.”

“You don’t like it down there?”

What is about children, asking the questions that rip apart the bandages holding your wounded heart together?

“I like it, but I don’t fit in down there.” I don’t divulge falling in love with a man who wouldn’t love me enough.

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