“You’re not a whore,” Becca says. “Stop slut shaming yourself just because you had sex with a guy you met.”

“Why did you let me go home with him?”

“Oh, no. No way. You are not pinning this one on me. I asked you what you wanted to do. I said, ‘Are you sure you want to go home with him?’ and you said, ‘I want to ride him like a bronco.’ Then I said—”

“Okay, I get it. It’s not your fault.” I let my head fall against the window. “I have sex with the hottest man I’ll ever get and I can’t even remember it. Figures.”

“Sex!” Mia shouts. Her brother, William, pipes in and then the both of them chant, “Sex! Sex! Sex!”

“Great,” Becca says. “You’ve turned my kids into whores too.”

“Isn’t that why you made me godmother?”

She giggles. “You’re going to be fine, Rae. I know this was out of character for you, but you’re allowed to unravel a little after everything you’ve been through. You were wound so tight with Andrew. Figure out who you are now. Do what makes you happy and forget about everything else.”

“How did I get here?” I ask, more to myself than to Becca.

Becca takes a deep breath and blows it out through her lips before answering. “You did what we all do in a marriage. We want to please our husbands. We want to give them everything because we love them and we want them to be happy with us. But our husbands are supposed to give back. It’s supposed to be an equal exchange of give and take.” She shakes her head. “Some husbands don’t know how to do that.”

“You sound like you’re talking from experience. Is everything okay between you and Jared?”

She hikes a shoulder. “You getting divorced has been an eye-opener for me.”

“How so?”

“You stood up for yourself. You were unhappy and you changed your situation. I don’t think I could be that strong. I don’t know if I could open my mouth and say all the things I feel inside.” She glances at me before turning her attention back to the road. “I admire you for that.”

“Telling Andrew how unhappy I was … that was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I still don’t know how the words came out.” I place my hand on her arm and squeeze. “You have that strength inside you. You don’t think you have it, but it’s in there.”

She swipes a fallen tear and smiles at her kids in the rear-view mirror. “He gave me two beautiful babies and that’s all I can ask for.”

We’re silent for the remainder of the ride until Becca’s car comes to a stop in front of my mom’s house.

I swing my legs out of the car. “By the way, I’m telling Mom I slept at your house last night.”

“You’re thirty-years old. You don’t have to tell her anything.”