Page 98 of Meant to be Falling
“Can you do something for me?”
“Anything, Dream Girl.”
“Will you go and talk to someone? A lot we can handle but?—”
“It’s a lot.”
She nods. “It is, and I know you’ve done this before, but I think your past deserves some resolution while we write this new chapter together.”
“Will you go with me? Not for all of it but for some? I don’t…” I swallow hard, not ashamed of how I got here but already too tired to rehash it more than once.
“I promise.”
Her words come before I’ve managed to finish mine, her willingness to be what I need when I’m not even sure myself. There’s a lesson in that, about trust and love and finding the person you’re meant to spend the rest of your life with.
And Lana Richards is mine.
44
LANA
ONE MONTH LATER - JULY
LANA: I need your help.
ELLISON: Who’s got the shovels?
CAL: I have the tarps and the lime.
BEA: Crap, I have the shovels
Isnort as I type out a text.
LANA: That’s not what I meant, but you guys are amazing.
A bunchof heart emoji follow. And my grin grows wider. Because undoubtedly, none of them are kidding.
ARDEN: So what do you need help with?
LANA: Mason has been so amazing, and I really want to do something special for him to thank him. He’s gone above and beyond for me and the kids, and we just really want to show him how much that means to us.
The last monthhad been hard on all of us. Jacob had been mandated to attend anger management and his visitation had been suspended, pending the successful completion of the course and a reevaluation of our case.
The judge hadn’t let him off easy, and I was hopeful the intervention would help salvage Jacob’s relationship with Holland and Beck in the future.
Mason had gotten in to see a therapist, and I’d attended more than one session with him, using a fair number of tissues each time. But he was making progress.
We both were.
ELLISON: (heart emoji)
CAL: that is literally the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. I think I may puke.
BEA: oh shut your mouth, you will not.
CAL: you don’t know that
BEA: yes I do.
