Page 17 of Breathing Wisteria
“Ugh, okay, let me see.” I start checking their questions off on my fingers. “No, I never saw him again. He moved to LA and I moved here. I actually have no idea. Like I said, we’re from a small town and we protect our own. I don’t see anyone from home spilling our secrets. Plus, I’m sure they all assumed we got divorced. We never got divorced because, well, I didn’t file because I couldn’t face him, or what had happened, I suppose. I have no idea why he never did it.” A shrug of my shoulders. “He came to see me because he heard I wasn’t doing well. A friend of ours suggested he come, and we talk things through, finally try and make peace with each other.” My heart drops at the next question. “No, we won’t be getting back together. He left early this morning to go back home.” I do my best to ignore the sense of loss I felt when I woke to an empty bed this morning, instead plastering on a cheeky grin. “And, it’s big. Like, big, big.” I hold my hands apart to give them a visual.
Skye loses it, giggling in embarrassment while Cassidy’s eyes widen.
“Well, damn.”
“Can I ask you something?” Skye’s soft voice asks when we have all recovered.
“Sure, ask away.”
“You said you weren’t doing well? Why didn’t you come to us?” I don’t miss the hurt in her voice and I consider how to answer her.
“When I first met you, it was all still too raw. Moving here, while allowing me a fresh start, it also gave me the perfect opportunity to pretend it had never happened. I was so broken, but it felt good to be around people who had no idea.” I shrug, helplessly. “By the time I realized I was stuck with the two of you, it was too late. The more time that went by, the harder it seemed. It just seemed easier to leave it in the past.”
“Okay, Red, you’re forgiven.”
I glance over at Cassidy in surprise, watching as she nonchalantly sips her ridiculously sweet drink.
“That’s it?” I don’t even bother trying to disguise the surprise in my voice.
“That’s it,” Skye confirms firmly. “It was your story to tell whenever you were ready.” Her hand finds mine and squeezes comfortingly. “Thank you for trusting us.” She leans back in her seat, pulling her legs up and crossing them. “I do wish you and Flynn had a different ending though. That would be an incredible story.”
I ignore the shot of pain that tears through me at her words. Try to forget the sensation of coming home that overwhelmed me last night. He’s gone and it’s for the best.
“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint, but that story is well and truly finished. There’s no happily ever after in my future, babes. You’ll just have to settle for your own.”
Skye opens her mouth to say something but is cut off when my phone lights up and starts jumping around on the table between us. The name Flynn and a picture of us lying in bed last night, lighting up the screen.
Cassidy raises an eyebrow.
“You were saying?”
