Page 71 of Love, Morgan

“It is.”

She nodded. “Then I support you. But, Morgan, if it all comes crashing down, and you need a friend. I’m here, okay?”

I nodded, working hard to force back the emotions welling up inside me. “You better be. I hid in a bush for you.”

“Oh my god,” she laughed. “Are you ever going to let me live that down?”

“Nope,” I said, the sound still a little too sniffly.

The door chimed and I quickly moved to scrub my hand across my teary face.

Harlow appeared before us, Briar strapped to her chest and sleeping soundly. “Jesus. You look like shit,” she said, looking me over.

“I’d be more offended if the idea of you using language like that with a baby strapped to you wasn’t quite so amusing,” I said. “You’ll have them all clutching their pearls.”

She laughed, setting down the massive box of doughnuts she’d arrived with. “As if they didn’t do worse around their own kids,” she replied, neither of us feeling a need to define whotheywere exactly.

She moved to give me an awkward welcome-home hug, and I found myself jealous of Briar, sleeping so peacefully, still no clue of the heartbreak that existed out in the world. I hoped it wouldn’t find her too soon.

“Iona really did a number on you, huh?” Harlow asked as she settled into the chair Ripley brought out for her.

I scowled at her. “I remember you being a lot more agreeable before I left.”

She laughed. “I remember you being the champion of getting people together.”

I rolled my eyes. “I was the champion of getting Ripley and Alicia back together. Mostly because I’d spent eight years with Ripley and her pining, and everyone in the world could see they belonged together.”

“And you’re going to tell me the person you’ve been pining after online all year isn’t someone you want to be with? When you look this bad, you expect me to believe that?”

“I look amazing,” I replied, the sentiment rough and wobbly. “And we have our reasons. A whole host of them that make a lot of sense. I just need to get through this part, then everything will be fine.”

She shared a look with Ripley and seemed to get the gravity of the situation, even if she didn’t fully understand it.

“Okay,” she said slowly. “If what you need right now is doughnuts and denial, you got it.”

Something tight in my chest relaxed a little. I resented her implying I was in denial, but, well, maybe I was in denial… just a little. Soon, I wouldn’t be, and everything would be normal again.

I smiled weakly. “Yes. Doughnuts. Gimme.”

She laughed, handing the box over. “Uh, I do warn you, though, if you’re planning to go to bridge, it might not be so easy to avoid the topic there.”

I groaned, sliding down in the chair. “Why not?”

She shared a look with Ripley that told me it should be obvious. Great.

Eventually, she just shrugged. “Well, because you have talked a lot about Iona, so, when they found out you were on vacation with her… well, my mom says they’ve all been wondering when they’re going to get to meet her and stuff. You know, she is kind of a celebrity, and everyone was just so excited that you were finally interested in someone.”

I hated small towns. I hated places where everyone knew you, and everyone wanted in on your business. I hated Iona. I hated wanting her.

And I didn’t hate her at all.

“Great,” I spat.

It was all my fault. Ihadtalked about her a lot. I knew how the bridge group was and I’d still talked about her constantly. And, when I’d found her in the bungalow next to me, I hadn’t told Ripley, Harlow, or Alicia to keep it quiet. I should have known news like that would travel fast.

I’d been relying on bridge to be an escape from everything, something to keep my mind busy and off of Iona. Now, it was just another place I’d be forced to think about her, to explain her, to explain the complexities of both our lives. Another place that was suddenly filled with her.

I hated how I was never getting rid of her. And I hated the idea that someday I might.

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