Page 54 of Best Friend Burden

But she wasn't just one in eight billion. Out of all the people in the world, she was the only one who happened to be her. Jackson had to have understood that, but I couldn't spell it out for him. I didn't have the language to explain it to him.

“You don't believe me,” he said. “I get it, but you'll realize it one day.”

“Come on, man,” I said. He was my younger brother. I didn't need this condescension from me.

“No, you come on,” he said. “I learned this from you. How many times have I told you I met this girl, and you rolled your eyes even as I told you she's the one and all that?”

“Every time.”

“And you didn't say it, but I knew what you were thinking.”

“And what's that?” I asked.

“You were thinking that I shouldn't get my hopes up too high because any of a million things could happen and, when they invariably did, you knew I'd get back on my feet and find someone else.”

Couldn't argue with that.

“And I say look on the bright side of things,” he said.

"There is no bright side,” I said. “It just sucks.”

“You managed to find someone else,” he said. “Someone who isn't...” he paused and whispered the name. “...Wendy.”

Dammit, he was right. It wasn't that I hadn't thought about her — she was constantly on my mind — but for the longest time I worried that I was broken and would never love again. Melody proved that I was at least capable of it.

And Melody wasn't gone gone. Not like Wendy was. “Maybe she'll realize her mistake,” I said, brushing aside Jackson's comment and pretending he didn't say it.

“Maybe,” he said. “But you've got to let her realize that on her own. If it's meant to be, she'll come back to you. Until that day, you've just got to accept she's gone and work on moving on.”

He was talking sense. And I didn't like it.

“You know you'd be telling me the same thing if I was in your shoes.”

He had a point.

“Yeah,” I said meekly, “you might be right.”

“I know I'm right,” he said. “And I think you know it, too.”

That was when the server came by to take our order. It was for the best. The conversation wasn't going anywhere further than that. Just like I had to accept Wendy's death, I had to accept that Melody was gone. And while there was always a little bit of hope left in the box, the best thing for me to do was seal that hope and stash it away somewhere where nobody would find it.

CHAPTER23

***MELODY***

As time went by, and I finally allowed myself a day off. What did I do during that day off? Move into my new apartment. By taking care of the background check paperwork as soon as possible and begging the supervisor, I managed to move things along very quickly. It wasn't an extravagant place, but it got the job done and while the bedroom wasn't huge, the kitchen more than made up for it. There was plenty of counter space and even an island to work on. I'd have room to experiment and make meals without having to juggle pots and pans.

And I wouldn't need to deal with the side-eye when I didn't clean things right away from a certain someone who I was trying not to think about.

Of course, it was impossible not to think of him. As the men delivered the bed and put it together, it was hard not to consider how lonely it would continue to be sleeping alone at night.

I shook the idea out of my head.

The fact was that life had been going great for me. The Vegan Vaquero was an outright success, and the financiers were happy with the results thus far. True, it hadn't been much time, but that was what made things even more impressive. Customer satisfaction was through the roof — we were already starting to have regulars.

Things didn't take too long to move in, and Chelsea came by to welcome me to my new place.

“This is nice,” she said as she came inside. I think she was being generous, but it was nice to hear regardless. We sat down across from each other on a couch I'd picked up from someone who had listed it for free online. It was a bit soft from use, but otherwise not too bad. There weren't any unusual stains or smells, so I took that as a win.

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