BooksBarbecue
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Chapters (23)
  1. Chapter 1
  2. Chapter 2
  3. Chapter 3
  4. Chapter 4
  5. Chapter 5
  6. Chapter 6
  7. PART TWO – THE PRESENT
  8. Chapter 7
  9. Chapter 8
  10. Chapter 9
  11. Chapter 10
  12. Chapter 11
  13. Chapter 12
  14. Chapter 13
  15. Chapter 14
  16. Chapter 15
  17. Chapter 16
  18. Chapter 17
  19. Chapter 18
  20. Chapter 19
  21. Chapter 20
  22. Chapter 21
  23. Epilogue

I couldn’t stop. I just kept saying the number nine. Over and over. Dru didn’t stop me either. She sat there, and waited for me to run out of nines. And finally, I did. Or maybe I didn’t, maybe there had been nines in me, but I was too exhausted to continue.

There was nothing left inside of me except for nines and sorrow. But still, I managed to raise my eyes and look at my best friend. She sat in the same position that she was in when she’d handed me this news. Only one thing had changed — there were tears trekking down her cheeks.

I tilted my head and thought about how my best friend and I were always in sync. Because the tears she had matched mine exactly.

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

With the remote, Dru parted the slow-opening gates, then just as slowly, she rolled up my driveway. She eased the car to a stop, turned off the ignition, then twisted in her seat and faced me.

“Thank you for driving me home,” I said.

“This is what we do.”

I nodded. Dru was right; I would do anything for her, but she had never had this kind of drama in her life. “I’ll pay for the Uber for you to go back to get your car.”

“You pay me well enough; I can afford it.”

She smiled, or at least she tried to. But it was hard through the tears in her eyes. Again, my best friend and I were in sync.

When I turned my attention to the palatial home where Jeremy and I had lived for the last nine years, I sighed. “I loved this house, I loved this neighborhood.”

“You’re speaking in past tense. You still love your home,” she said. “You still love your neighborhood.”

I nodded.

She asked, “So what now?”

I shook my head because the thoughts that came with the answer to that question took my breath away.

“Remember what your mother said about giving yourself time to make the right decision?”

It took a bit of effort, but words finally croaked out of me. “This is not about a decision. Not yet. First, I have to speak to Jeremy. And from there, I’ll figure it out.”

I was grateful when Dru said nothing and just allowed a few moments of silence to sit between us. That was easiest for me right now. Easier not to have to speak when my head pounded even harder than my heart.