Page 85 of When the Stars Fall
I’m sorry. For everything. But I know you’re going to be okay. When the chips are down, you always come back fighting. I don’t believe in much of anything anymore, but I still believe in you. I will always believe in you.
Love always,
Jude
Part III
Chapter Thirty-Two
Lila
Six YearsLater
“I found someone for you.”Sophie’s voice came from the Bluetooth speakers as I drove, sunglasses shielding my eyes from the glare of the spring sunshine. “He’s hot. Divorced. No kids. And he—”
“Not interested.”
She sighed impatiently. “What is wrong with you? You need to get back out there. Is it because of Brody?”
“Is what because of Brody?” I flicked on my signal and waited for a car to pass before I turned into the Sunrise Pre-School parking lot.
“The reason you’re not dating.”
“It has nothing to do with Brody.” I was early, so I pulled into a spot at the far end of the lot under the shade of a leafy oak and cut the engine but I left Sophie on speaker.
“Good. Not for nothing but he hooks up with women left, right and center so if he’s trying to stop you from meeting someone, I’d be pissed.”
Her intentions were good but this wasn’t the first time we’d had this conversation. Sophie was in charge of marketing and events at her family’s vineyard, Sadler’s Creek, and she sent a lot of business our way. Unfortunately, she’d also taken it upon herself to play matchmaker.
Thanks to Sophie, I’d had a lot of crappy dates over the years. I was officially done with dating.
I rolled down my window to get some fresh air and leaned my head against the headrest.
“Let’s go out this weekend. We’ll pick up a hot guy.”
“You’re engaged.”
“Not for me. For you. You’re young, you’re hot, and there’s no reason for you to be single.”
“I like being single.”
“Yeah, well, being single is great when you’re getting steady sex. Which clearly you are not.”
“I don’t tell you every little detail of my life. For all you know, I’m getting sex on the regular.”
She laughed like that was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. I rolled my eyes. “It wasn’t that funny.”
Her laughter faded. “You need to let him go,” she said, the concern in her voice genuine.
I knew who she was talking about. Of course I did. The funny part was that Sophie didn’t even know him. Not really. The guy she’d met was not the same one I’d fallen in love with.
“I have let him go. I’ve moved on.” I had moved on but he was always there. In my heart. In my head. In all my best memories and some of my worst ones.Hewas the reason I was single.Hewas the reason I never got past a second or third date.
“Sure you have. When’s the last time you got laid?”
I grabbed my phone and took it off speaker, holding it to my ear. In retrospect, talking to Sophie on speaker phone was never a good idea. “Have you been day drinking again?”
“I live on a vineyard. What do you expect?”
