Page 95 of Finding You
“Oooh.” Nora shoved Cece. “Spill, girl.”
“Liam says he’s miserable. Totally miserable and can’t function. He and Callum staged an intervention, and he’s just moping around depressed about losing Astrid.”
That pissed me off. He didn’t get to mope around being sad. He pushed me away. “Then why did he tell me to come back here and go back to my law firm?”
“You can’t go back to your firm!” Emily shouted. “After what they did to you? You should be suing their asses into next year.”
“I know. Trust me. It’s complicated. I went last Thursday just to fill out some paperwork and I got sick. I threw up in a trash can. It was terrible. I don’t want that life anymore.” I took another sip of mimosa. “You have all shown me there is so much more out there for me. And Declan”—I sighed—“Declan taught me a lot too.”
Nora wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. I dried my tears. “Everything is shit right now, guys. My career is effectively over, and I’m not even that upset about it. I think the love of my life doesn’t want me. And I can’t even manage to shower regularly. I’m a mess.” Tears rolled freely down my cheeks as I took in the sympathetic faces around me.
“Hey,” Maggie said gently. “There is nothing wrong with being a mess. We are all messes in our own ways. It’s part of the human condition. You just have to get up every day and try your best.”
“Yeah,” Cecelia said. “Liam and I are fighting. He wants to get married yesterday, and I want to take my time and plan a wedding. It feels like we’re not on the same page about anything right now, and it’s making me nervous to be married to him.”
“And I don’t think Josh and I are going to reconcile,” Maggie said softly.
Nora reached out and grabbed her hand. “I’m so sorry, Mags.”
Maggie gently wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’ll be fine.”
“And I spend every waking moment of my life feeling like I’m failing and I’m a terrible mother,” Emily said. She gestured to her four-year-old. “I think that iPad is going to be fused into his hands. It’s the only way to keep him quiet sometimes.”
“You’re not a bad mom,” Cece said.
“And me?” Nora said. “I’m perpetually single and will die alone.”
I smiled. I loved these women. They really got me. “Okay, okay,” I said. “I get it now, we all have our shit.”
“Which is why we have the coven. We call each other out. We don’t allow self-pity or any negative self-talk,” Emily said.
“Ha. I told you the coven was going to catch on,” Nora shouted. Emily shrugged.
“Astrid, you are a beautiful, brilliant queen who is going to go out into this world and slay whatever you want,” Cece said.
Nora cheered. “And you are going to start with that grumpy fisherman. He messed up. He tried to be noble and made everything worse.” Part of me knew that. Knew that he wanted to protect me and support me. But part of me was pissed. I was no one’s doormat, and I made my own decisions, thank you very much.
“But he thinks he can tell me what to do,” I protested.
“Yes, that’s a problem,” Maggie added. “But I’m confident you can set him straight.”
“Of course I can.” As the words left my mouth, I knew they were true. Thinking back, I could have been honest with him from the start. I could have explained that I didn’t want to go back to the firm regardless of what happened. But I had been so confused and unsure of myself. Walking away from my career was unthinkable just a few months ago, and now I was ready for it. He didn’t know that. I had never told him. So as pissed as I was at him, I could recognize the part I played in the confusion.
“So now we need a plan,” Emily said, rubbing her hands together.
I made a time out signal with my hands. “Wait. Wait. Why do I have to do anything? He broke up with me. He should be groveling right now.”
“But he did. Or at least he tried,” Cece said.
Maggie nodded. “Yes. You said yourself you wouldn’t speak to him or respond to his texts.”
“And there will be plenty of time for him to grovel. But you have to go see him and force the conversation. Lay down the law and tell him to cut the shit,” Nora added.
“The Quinn boys are incapable of properly expressing their feelings. Trust me on this one. Especially Declan. He isn’t exactly a talker,” Emily mused, while turning down the volume on Jacob’s iPad.
“I don’t see how this is my job,” I argued.
“Because you are smarter and more evolved. Plus you have us,” Cece said.
