Page 119 of When the Stars Fall
“He loved you something fierce. Still does.”
“I don’t know... I don’t know how we could possibly make this work,” I admitted. “It feels like it’s too late.”
“It’s never too late for a second chance. After everything you both went through, you deserve happiness. And maybe it will help Brody too.”
“Help him? In what way?”
“I think he’s just waiting for you to set him free.”
Her words stunned me into silence for a few seconds. “But I never... what do you mean? He’s always been free.”
Kate squeezed my shoulder and gave me a little smile. “I know that but I’m not sure he does. He’s always been so worried about turning out like his parents. He doesn’t want to let you and Noah down.”
“He’s never let us down.”
“Maybe he needs to hear that from you. He acts tough but he needs a lot of reassurance.”
My heart was in my throat so all I could do was nod. Ever since Jude had returned, I’d been hit with all these emotions.
“Okay. Enough of this. Go home and get ready for your date. Noah will be just fine.”
After I hugged and kissed Noah goodbye, I left him on the porch with Kate and Patrick and drove home to get ready for my ‘hot date.’
“What are you wearing?” Sophie asked without preamble.
“I don’t know.” I rummaged around in my closet. “My ex-fiancé is taking me on a date. What exactly should I be wearing for that?” I tossed aside a few pairs of shorts and some tank tops then sat back on my heels, defeated. “I’ve got nothing.”
“Wear the green dress with the open back. You look hot in that.”
“That’s kind of dressy. I wore that to your engagement party.”
“Trust me. Wear it.”
“You don’t think it’s too much? We’re not into fancy restaurants. We’re more like the barbecue and six-pack kind of couple. Chances are we’ll be eating in the bed of his pickup truck.”
“Classy.”
“That’s how we roll.”
“Wear the dress anyway,” she ordered.
I set the phone on my dresser and switched her over to speaker so I could get dressed.
“So how’s Noah dealing with the whole dating thing?”
“We’re not really dating. I mean... this is.… He’s too young to understand.”
“If you say so but he probably understands a lot more than you’d like to think.”
She was right. He probably understood more than I did because right now I had no idea what I was doing. “Am I making a mistake?”
“It’s just a date.”
“Dinner with Dr. What’s-His-Name, the podiatrist, was just a date.”
“Goldbaum. And yeah, that was just to get you back on the horse. Like a starter date.”
“Like a non-starter date. I almost fell asleep halfway through his monologue which lasted the entire dinner.”
