“I don’t know.” She shrugs, clearly a little sad her joke didn’t land. “Are we going incognito or something? Should we be hiding from the paparazzi?”

Frowning at her, I take a sip of my latte because, in typical Trina fashion, even though she asked me to meet here, she was late. “I’ve never been famous enough to be followed by paparazzi.”

She sighs and droops her head so low that it almost hits the table. “I’m just trying to keep this lighthearted, Scarlett.”

“Why?”

“Ohmygod.” She groans it all as one word, her face now tipping upward. “I don’t know. This is kind of uncharted territory for me.”

“Because I stuck around this time?” I ask plainly. While I may have tried to hide how much Charles’s last insult hurt me, his words buried themselves deep and pulled me right back down to a dark place I haven’t inhabited in a while. Even in this coffee shop, nothing feels right or looks right. Everything is just a bit too loud, too bright, and I can’t quite make sense of what I’m seeing. It’s like I’m living in a movie of my own life when I want to hide in my apartment under a blanket and never come out.

Which I’m sure is exactly why Trina insisted we meet here instead of just coming over.

She covers my hand with hers and squeezes. “Honey, no. I got a little worried there when you went all statue on me in that meeting, and I’m glad you’re still here, but I know all the work you’ve done. I didn’t doubt for one second things would be different this time. I’m proud of you.”

A sudden ache blooms in my chest, and it pushes a knot of emotion up into my throat. I swallow hard and try to blink it all away, but the damn thing sticks there. I’m not used to experiencing this many feelings in such rapid succession. I wish they’d all just go away and leave me to wallow in peace.

But between Ryan’s unconditional forgiveness yesterday and Trina’s pride today, I’m starting to realize I’ve buried some things pretty far down. Suddenly, a lot of Dianne’s mantras are starting to make sense. Emotion needs motion. Name the beast. You can’t heal until you face your demons. So many clichés I had passed off as lines she had pulled from various therapist textbooks and regurgitated at me. But she has always been convinced that my depression has been triggered by a need to bury my true feelings and hide from them, that I wouldn’t find real healing until I faced my issues head-on.