“I have something to tell you, and I know you’re going to be angry, hate me, probably never want to see or speak to me again, and I don’t blame you. But I have something else to say before I drop this bomb, since afterward I don’t think we’ll be on speaking terms.”

Her eyes narrowed, the crank turning slowly. “You’re scaring me.” Her words came out a whisper, and I wouldn’t blame her imagination for jumping to worst-case scenarios. This was definitely worst-case territory.

“You’ve been the one person who I could turn to for anything, Robin. You’ve never judged me for my pill addiction and never made me feel like I was unfixable. No matter how many times I screwed up, you were always there to help me stand back up. I owe you my life, because without you I would probably be dead by now.”

Her hand reached for mine, resting on it with comforting softness. “I’ll always be there for you, Lil. That’s what best friends are for.”

“Which is why I’m moving to California.”

Her hand flew to her mouth. Cold, empty air replaced the spot where she had touched. “What? That’s ridiculous. Everything that matters to you is here in Pennsylvania. Your whole life is here.”

“Was. Everything that mattered was here. But not anymore.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Tony and I are making the divorce official. He’s marrying someone else, and he deserves happiness. Being married to an addict isn’t easy, and it’s time he moved forward and found something better. As for Workout Wonder, I’m going to take the company with me and rebuild. It won’t be hard—you know how bullheaded I am about making things happen. But you, Robin, you’re the hardest for me to leave behind because you’re, well, family.”

Her lips opened to speak, to protest where we both knew this was heading—it was good-bye. I held up a silencing palm.

“I did something unforgivable.”

I hesitated. Once I said it, it was out there forever, words spinning in space, crashing into her life. “I slept with Grant—once. It was selfish and mostly my fault, because I was lonely and messed up and needy. So please forgive him. Please work things out. I’m leaving because you two need to fix things, and you can’t do that with me here. I know you two can work it out because he’s crazy about you, Robin. It was never love for us. I filled a temporary need that you didn’t. I’m not justifying it, but that’s the truth. So there—you have the truth. I’m sorry, and I hope you two will do what’s best for your beautiful family; a life that I wish I could have, a life worth fighting for.”