Jennie winks. “Oh, I know so, son. Sometimes what’s missing when it comes to forgiveness is love.” Before I can reply, she laughs. “Or it could be that you can’t cook worth a shit and need someone else to make the food.”

Jack and I both chuckle. “Well, we’re glad we can always come here,” Jack says as he digs into his eggs.

“Always, and who knows, sometimes you find what you need even when you aren’t looking.” She leaves, and I’m sitting here, a little off balance for the first time in four years. Not since the day Amelia was placed in my arms as Yvonne ran out the door to catch a flight to France.

“Breakfast and life advice,” Jack muses. “I need to tip her more.”

“It’s not that easy . . . what she said.”

“You cooking? Oh, I know, I’ve eaten the crap you try to pass off as food.”

I roll my eyes. “The forgiveness.”

Jack leans back, his fork resting on the plate. “And what is holding on to all that shit doing to you, Gray? Nothing. It’s making you live in this constant state of pissed off.”

“You know why I’m pissed—and it’s not constant.”

For the most part, I just deal with it. Sure, the two women I loved left me. Sure, I basically refuse to date and have been close to monk status for a few years. Sure, I’m raising my daughter on my own and have nothing other than her and work. It’s fine.

It’s all fine.

“Yeah, and I get it. But you have Amelia and”—he lifts the fork, pointing it at me—“if you ask me, you were given a gift, my friend. Yvonne wanted your money, connections, and whatever she could take. Her leaving was rough, but she did you a favor by being a selfish bitch and not sticking around.”

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this. My friends, siblings—hell, even her own family said it. We would’ve made each other miserable, but I didn’t see that at the time . . . or care. I wanted what I lost with Jess, and I fell for her lies.

“Maybe she did, but you tell Amelia that when she asks why she doesn’t have a mom.”

Jack loves my daughter, everyone does. She’s smart, funny, tenacious, and has an ability to make everyone smile. Equally, she can break your heart when she cries.

“Yeah right, I’ll never be the one to hurt her. One day, though, she’ll see it for herself. Your ex wasn’t worth your time, and she never was the right girl for you.”

I release a deep, slow breath. “They said the same about another person too.”

Jessica. My mother couldn’t have been happier when we ended things.