Page 80 of Anywhere with You
I remembered putting a ring on her finger and pulling her close to me, amazed that she said yes.
In my office, I wiped the tears from my face, but I was smiling, too, feeling lighter than I had in months.
All those memories that had felt tainted were returning now, bright and new, not because Bridget had left me the store, but because of what it meant. She hadn’t spent the last fourteen years lying to me. She had loved me. She’d wanted to be with me. Our marriage had been real and good and wonderful, for years and years.
Of course, I was still angry with her. She’d walked out on me.
But at least she’d done it fast, ripping-off-the-bandage fast. She hadn’t let me linger in hope, gone with me to therapy, let me try to make amends once she knew what she wanted.
The fact thatLorenzowas what she wanted still baffled me and probably always would.
But I could look at our shared past without flinching now, and that was something.
I did my best to dry my eyes with my sleeve and get back to the paperwork. I picked up the page, starting back at the top and skimming it again.
Bridget also…oh. I dropped the page. It fluttered to the floor, and I had to stoop to pick it up again.
She wanted to split the contents of all our accounts. Fifty-fifty.
I only ever dealt with the business account and our shared checking account, for bills. I’d known she was putting money in savings, but I’d never bothered to check how much. To be honest, I’d kind of forgotten it existed.
And now, now along with the store, I had twenty thousand dollars to help keep it running.
* * *
Once I was finished freaking out, I called Mom to check on Badger and let her know that I was back in town.
“Now,” she said, “I’m sure you’re worn out, so don’t worry about coming to get him right away. Are you at the store? I knew you would be. Go home and get some rest. You can pick Badger up in a day or two, once you’ve recovered from all that travel.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” I told her.
“Figures.”
It took me fifteen, but as soon as I pulled into the driveway, Mom opened the door, Badger in her arms.
I took him and buried my face in his fur as he yipped and licked me in my ear.
“Gross,” I said, kissing him. He was fine. He was healthy. It didn’t even seem like he’d lost an ounce of weight or fur from his ordeal in the onion patch. I squeezed him too tight as I walked inside, then set him down as Dad approached.
“Oh my Honey,” Dad said, squeezing me almost as tightly as I’d squeezed Badger. “I’m so glad you’re back. I’m glad you went, but your mother had to hide my keys when I saw your video about being stranded in the desert.”
“Yes, at that horrible little cottage next to those horrible hot springs,” Mom said, grinning.
“That Cara looks like she thinks the world of you,” Dad said. “She keeps looking at you like she thinks you’re Taylor Swift.”
“She’s sweet,” Mom said, in a tone like she was defending Cara from being called a fangirl. “I know I made a fuss, but it’s been wonderful, seeing you so happy. I was wrong, and I’m glad.”
I had honestly doubted that they’d kept watching the Mesmio reels, remembering that I’d avoided talking to them about our car trouble when we were on the phone. I was surprised that they hadn’t been calling every five minutes to offer to come get me.
Were they treating me like a real adult? Finally?
“The hot springs were beautiful, but I did feel so bad for you both when the car broke down before you got to the redwoods,” Mom said.
“She’s been obsessing over your Mesmio like it’s a soap opera,” Dad teased. “But in all seriousness, wewereworried. Are you okay?”
“I’m so traumatized that I may need another vacation.” I tried to joke, but with both of them here chattering, and Badger rolling against my ankles, every hard thing I’d faced in the last few days seemed to hit me all at once, and I felt my eyes start to fill.
I tried to swallow back the tears. I couldn’t have even said what I was crying about, and I probably would’ve stopped, but Mom noticed and put her arms around me.
