“No. I have you all right. The problem is you don’t know what kind of person you are. Sifting through some old journals is not going to bring back the missing pieces of you. The you that you are, is sitting at this table. Zelda gets to go to bed tonight and sleep next to that good guy. I, on the other hand, keep picking up my phone feeling like a dumbass because I want to call your brother. I cried myself to sleep last night in preparation of him showing up and dumping me because my baggage is a going to be a pain in his ass and he is not going to want to deal with me after he has spent his entire adult life dealing with your shit. That why I say no more Zelda.”

“Pip, I am having a hard time here. I can’t just dismiss my past and move on like it never happened,” Zelda said leaning closer.

“Yes, you fucking can! Women do it all the time. Bad shit happens to women every day. Some wallow in it going poor me, waiting for others to come wipe their noses or their spoiled little asses. Others get counseling, learn to heal and move forward. When you move forward, the two men who love you the most can move forward as well. I can move forward with Michael as soon as he falls out of his twisted love affair with you.”

“Michael is moving forward, with you,” Zelda persisted, dismissing the last part of Pip’s comment. Addressing it at this point would lead to a fight and she didn’t want to fight with Pip.

“Your brother can’t have a relationship with me because he is still in one with you. Let him go, Zelda,” she said softly. “Let go and love Scott so that Michael can love me.”

“Pip?”

“Yes, Zelda?’

“You get on my damned nerves, but that’s why I love you,” Zelda said.

“Girl, you’d better,” she said. “Now, let’s leave these men here and go get some drinking done so I can feel better about myself.”