I bit my bottom lip and shook my head. Then I burst into tears. Lorraine bundled me into her arms and held me as I gave up on holding myself together. I let myself feel every ounce of hurt and pain, let myself grieve for my own parents who I couldn’t turn to anymore when things got tough. I hadn’t really grieved them yet, not properly. At first, I’d been numb. And then I had Huey. And I couldn’t let myself feel sadness for my father—the man who’d loved me unconditionally for as long as I could remember—when I was in deep with the men who hated him.

So I cried on the shoulder of this stranger, letting her comfort wash over me. She held me and told me that eventually, everything would feel right in the world again. That I would be the most brilliant mother, and I’d have a wonderful partner who would make sure I was never alone. She said all the things you’d want a mother to say, and not once did she mention any future with Rigby. She didn’t put any pressure on me, the woman who’d broken her son’s heart, to get back together with him.

Instead, she told me that only I knew what was best for me. Rocking me softly, she let me sob my little heart out until her shoulder was soaked with my tears. “Did you love them, sweet girl?”

I nodded. I wouldn’t hurt like this if I hadn’t loved them. It was ridiculous, and problematic, but my heart didn’t care. “I refuse to make them choose between the careers they love and me.”

Lorraine pulled back a little, wiping the tears from my cheeks. “But would you make them choose? Would you go back with the ultimatum that they had to choose between you and hockey?”

I frowned. “Of course not.”

“Then you aren’t the one making their life difficult, Nova Stone. You aren’t the one making them choose between love and their careers. That’s on Monderra and the NHL. That’s on those shitty human beings who masquerade as reporters. You just have to decide if loving them is worth the scrutiny and the ill feelings you’ll inevitably get from the world. You have to decide if you’re strong enough to stand beside them and tell the world to go to Hell if they don’t like it. You don’t have to sacrifice your happiness for theirs, because in the end, no one is happy at all.”