“Noooo.” Julia’s pretty mouth turned down at the corners. “You’re just reacting, that’s all. And it’s understandable. Austin acted like a pig, but this is your home. Your friends are here. Your life is here. Your mother’s only forty-five-minutes away!”

Biting her lip, Molly waited until Julia sputtered into silence. Then she said, “My life as I knew it is over. It was slowly smothering me anyway, and I want it to be over. I’m not flying off the handle or doing anything impulsive. I just can’t imagine staying.”

With a tiny lunge forward, Julia grabbed her hand again. Julia touched people. Molly had seen her do the same thing a dozen times before.

“That’s just how you feel today,” Julia insisted. “Everything has got to be feeling off right now.”

Not wanting to argue further, Molly nodded. “You have a point. In my mind, Atlanta has this huge cloud of unhappiness hanging over it. Eventually I’ll figure out what I need to do. It just may not be here, that’s all.”

“I find this totally unacceptable,” Julia declared while tears sprang to her eyes.

Molly caught their waitress’s eye and tapped the rim of her glass. The waitress smiled and nodded.

Halfway through their second lemon drop, Julia said bitterly, “You’re going to go off and find yourself and leave me here to be a corporate law partner’s wife without you. I’ll bet you’re going to eat all the calories you want and stop shaving your legs and wearing a bra, and you’re probably going to have one-night stands with sweaty mechanics in small towns.”

Despite herself, Molly burst out laughing. “You never know, I might.”

She had a doctor’s appointment after lunch, so she said goodbye to Julia and went in for her checkup. And since she had no idea how often Austin had cheated on her or with whom, she had her doctor run tests for HIV and STDs. Again.

Then she spent the afternoon shopping for the various items she needed. She could have gone back to the house to pick up her own things, but the thought of possibly running into Austin made her feel nauseated and furious. Tiny sparks appeared again at the corner of her vision, and she thought she might stroke out.

Eventually she would have to go back to the house. Probably.

She could technically survive without ever going back, but later on she would regret not picking up the box of childhood mementos and the photos of her late father.

Maybe Julia would go with her and help run interference, or even go in her stead to gather up everything Molly wanted to keep. She hated to involve someone else in her personal drama, but she didn’t think the other woman would mind.