I held her tighter, thinking of how hard it was going to be to leave her and Fiona; they were going to be devastated. But I needed a new life where my phone didn’t constantly ring, bringing me to a place that was slowly sucking everything out of me.

So many changes.

She pulled away and said, “You’re off for the next three days?”

“Four.” And I had no intentions of picking up any overtime during the break. Caleb and I were still working on my finances and were in the process of consolidating my loans to make my payments easier to handle. That meant I would soon be able to cut down on the extra hours. “Call me if you want to grab lunch.”

“You know I will.”

I waved good-bye as we walked through the door, and I made my way onto the sidewalk, checking the line of cars out front. There were several vehicles along the curb, but none were his. He’d probably assumed I would be running late even though I’d gotten out a few minutes early; plus, the traffic was horrible at this hour.

While I waited, I took out my phone to see if I’d missed a text from him. There wasn’t one, so I clicked on Emily’s last message and began to type.

Me: Caleb apologized late last night. We ended up talking at work, and he felt terrible for the way he’d treated me.

Emily: You survived your first fight. Did you make him grovel?

Me: I told him he was a dick.

Emily: Of course you did, my Vermont angel. Where I would have gone all Boston on him before making him get on his knees and start licking. Proud of you. VERY proud of Caleb.

Me: He’s picking me up, and we’re going to breakfast. There will be licking when we get home. ;)

Emily: That’s my girl.

My phone started ringing, showing Fiona’s name on the screen, and I stared at it for a few seconds. There were times when the emergency department was in a pinch, and I would fill in for one of the nurses. I didn’t even want to have that conversation with her right now. I was too tired. As much as it pained me to do this, I sent her to voice mail and went back to Emily’s message.

Me: Thank you for being the best bestie last night and talking me off the ledge.

Emily: I know you’re not thanking me for that. Hello, it’s in my job description.

Me: I know, but it still makes me feel better to say it. Hey, what are you doing Saturday night?

I glanced up, checking the curb. The same cars were still parked there, and the few new ones weren’t Caleb’s.

Emily: No plans. Whatcha got cooking?