Page 124 of Hello Doctor

Lying with me in her room, curled together as her breaths slowed and evened.

With Maya in the bathroom, letting her experiment with makeup.

Stepping toward me on the front porch, wearing a stunning blue dress.

Telling me my mom would be proud of me.

She’d brought so much sunshine into my life, and now I felt caught in the dark.

So I got off the couch and took Graham with me to the truck. I started driving without knowing where I was going. I half expected to end up at the cemetery to see my mom. But instead, I parked in front of a white clapboard house, wild sunflowers waving from the flowerbeds, illuminated by the front porch light.

He was the first person I needed and the last one who’d want to see me.

But I couldn’t stop myself as I walked to the front door, Graham trailing at my heels. I pushed the doorbell, and a few moments later, Rhett pulled back the wooden door, looking at me through the screen door. He wore sweats and no shirt and ran his hand over his hair.

“Don’t you know it’s late?” he asked, his voice scratchy.

“I know you’re going to hate me. But Liv and I broke up, and I—” My voice broke. “I need you.”

He stared at me for a long moment. I half expected him to slam the door in my face. To come out and punch me. Instead, he reached out, pushing the screen door open for me, then walked to his small kitchen table. The one that used to be in his grandpa’s house.

“Sit,” he told me, going to the freezer. As I did, I watched him get a tube of cookie dough from the top shelf.

“I can’t eat,” I said, with my stomach still roiling.

“If my mom taught me anything, it’s that nothing fixes things like a chocolate chip cookie. She just didn’t know frozen dough is ten times easier and does the trick just fine.” He pulled out a knife and sliced through the packaging in silence. I watched as he lined a baking sheet with parchment paper and rows of cookies.

“Why did you let me in?” I asked, still waiting for him to blow up at me.

When he had the pan in the oven, he poured Graham a bowl of water. He set it on the linoleum floor and said, “When your mom was really sick, near the end, she asked to talk to me alone.”

My eyebrows rose. “What? You never told me about that.”

“Seemed like it was between her and me,” he said with a shrug, his back still to me, the scar still full of color. “She told me you would need a friend and asked me to be there for you, always. I promised her I would.”

My heart wrenched. Maybe I had come to Mom tonight without even knowing it. Because even beyond the grave, she was still there for me. And so was Rhett.

He went back to his fridge and got out a gallon of milk, poured me a glass in a mason jar.

“I think I need something stronger,” I muttered.

He shook his head. “Take it from someone who tried to drink away a girl. Some things are meant to be felt.”

I stared at my glass, then took a sip. “Go ahead. Tell me how stupid I am.”

“Seems like we both already know,” he replied. “But I gotta ask... What happened?”

“She wants to get married someday, and I...can’t. I just can’t.” I ran my hands over my face, wishing I could have stood up to Rhett in high school and dated Liv then, back when we didn’t have baggage like we do now. The only thing I wouldn’t change is Maya.

“Because of Regina?” Rhett asked.

“Because of me. You can’t take marriage vows twice, Rhett. They mean something.”

He drew his eyebrows together. “Didn’t Regina leave you?”

“What does that have to do with it?” I asked. “We promised forever, and last I checked, that’s a hell of a lot longer than eight years.”

Rhett said, “Because you would have stood by her your whole damn life even though youknewshe wasn’t the one. I know everyone talks about storybook endings, but the wedding vows don’t say you have to be madly, recklessly in love. Just that you’re there for that person no matter what. As far as I’m concerned, you can still stand by the promises you made to Regina, look out for her in sickness and health, richer and poorer, because you have to for Maya. But what you have with Liv...” He shook his head, ran his thumb over his bottom lip. “That’s fucking magic, Fletch. It’s once-in-a-lifetime kind of love, and you can’t make both of you lose out on it because of a mistake you made eight years ago. You have a chance to build a life, build a family with the best girl in the world. Are you really going to let it go because you can’t forgive yourself and turn over a new leaf?”

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