Page 22 of Nothing Less than Magic
“Yep. But no worries, I’ll be back tomorrow to work on your roof.”
“What about the book?”
“It can wait. More rain will be here before you know it.”
That’s probably true, and it will give me peace of mind to batten down the hatches, so to speak. Then, apropos of nothing, I say, “Let me ask you something. What about my TED Talk did you find unhelpful?”
“All of it,” Knox says without hesitation.
“Wow.” He couldn’t even candy-coat it just a little.
“Some relationships just aren’t worth saving,” he says.
The kettle begins to whistle, and Knox gets up to make our tea.
“But you must’ve thought yours was, or you wouldn’t have watched my TED Talk in the first place.”
He returns to the table with the two mugs and takes the chair across from me. “Let’s just call it a last-ditch effort, even though deep down inside, I knew it was over.”
“So there wasn’t anything at all you could glean from my message that was worth trying?”
He shakes his head, then looks deep into my eyes. “Where’s this all coming from?”
I start to tell him about my conversation with Sadie at Flower Power and stop. Even though I’m not her therapist, I don’t want to divulge anything she may have told me in confidence. “I’m starting to think I’m not very good at this.”
“I don’t know about that. All I know is that it didn’t help me. Anyway, isn’t the whole inspirational industry a bit of a crock? Smoke and mirrors to separate consumers from their money?”
I should be offended, but a part of me has asked myself the same thing. At least at his comment about it being a crock. There is no magic bullet, and yet a lot of my marriage advice hinges on the generic. “There’s no smoke and mirrors about what I do. I’m using sound psychological theory.”
He pins me with a look. “You’re the one doubting yourself. If it makes you feel better, consider me an outlier.”
I sip my tea and cross my arms over my chest. “Who was she, and what happened?”
“She was my fiancée, and she dumped me for my best friend. There, are you happy?”
“No, of course not. I’m sorry, Knox.”
“Don’t worry about it. Like I said before, it was probably for the best.”
“Why is that?” I add a teaspoon of sugar to my tea and give it a good stir.
He gives a half-hearted shrug. “It wouldn’t have worked out anyway. We were too different. Opposites may attract, but they don’t stick.”
“What about the best friend?” I raise a brow in question.
“Yeah, him. Let’s just say we’re no longer acquainted.”
“How long ago was this?”
“About a year. They’re married now. Probably have a kid on the way.”
I don’t detect any bitterness, but some people are better at hiding it than others. “I told you that my ex is engaged, right? He met her after he left me. Or at least that’s what he says.”
“You think he was seeing her while you two were still together?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never known Austin to be a liar, but it seems awfully pat, don’t you think? Out of the blue, he says he doesn’t want to be married anymore, and next thing you know he’s met the love of his life.”
“Stranger things have happened.”
