Page 84 of Call It Home

He hesitated. “You know Em and I had to overcome a lot of struggles and obstacles. Maybe things will work out for you two yet.”

I sniffled and shook my head. “I doubt it, but I appreciate the sentiment.”

Em watched me carefully until he was gone. “All right, girl. Spill it. Tell me everything.”

Over two more glasses of wine and a large bowl of chocolate ice cream that I scooped and ate with cookies instead of a spoon, I told her everything.

“So, he’s moving, and that’s that.” I shoveled another ice cream-ladened cookie piece into my mouth.

“But not right away,” she clarified.

I shrugged and ate another bite. “It doesn’t matter when.” I slurped up the last of the ice cream that had melted in my bowl. “Hey!” I protested when Em pulled the bowl away from me.

“You’re going to put yourself into a sugar coma if you keep that up,” she replied, then rolled her eyes when I refilled my wine glass instead.

I defiantly ate another cookie, then took a long sip from my glass, earning a glare when I hiccupped.

“Look, he wasn’t upfront with you. That was definitely wrong.”

“Yup.” I burped. “S’cuse me.”

“But he definitely has genuine feelings for you. Sounds like he’s torn between his loyalty to his brother and his love for you.”

“If he really loved me,” I said, swaying slightly as I reached again for my glass, “it wouldn’t be so hard of a choice.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Really? He should turn his back on the man who sacrificed everything for him?”

“No. Of course not.” I slumped in my chair.

“He knows you have a support system in place. His brother has no one. What do you want him to do?”

I glared at her over the rim of my glass. “Don’t make me feel sorry for him. He could find a job for his brother and still stay here.”

Her lips flattened. “As someone who’s been in this situation before, it’s not always that easy. Sounds like, at least for now, he needs to be in Virginia for his brother. Of course, you could always move with him.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

She raised her eyebrows at me. “So, by applying your logic, that means you don’t love him enough.”

“No, that’s not…” I scowled at her. “I see what you’re doing. You’re saying I’m expecting him to make sacrifices, but I’m not willing to do it myself.”

“If the shoe fits…”

“Ugh.” I sighed and cradled my head in my hands. “Why does love always have to be so complicated? Why can’t it just be boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl get married and live happily ever after?”

Her lips twitched. “It happens that way for some people. Maybe they’re lucky. Or maybe they don’t know what it is to fight for love and end up having problems down the road. But we’re not talking about another couple. The question is, what areyougoing to do?”

“What do you think I should do? I’m still mad at him. He kept something major from me.”

She nodded. “There is that. He should have talked to you because in any relationship, communication is key. And you should be angry about that. But maybe, when you’re ready, you could consider that he’s trying to balance a lot on his shoulders, and he didn’t want to burden you with more.”

“Not anymore. I removed myself from the equation. It should make things easier.”

She drummed her fingers across the table. “Yeah? You really believe he’s at home breathing a sigh of relief?”

I remembered seeing the look of pain in his eyes as he finally got out of my car. “No,” I answered quietly.

She carried our empty ice cream bowls to the dishwasher. “Obviously, I don’t have an answer for you. You’re both hurting over a situation you both feel is out of your control.”

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