“So you’re indecisive, and that makes sense. You’re married. You love him. But you’re hurt.” Maddie cuts through all the silence and unease like it’s so simple and easy to comprehend. But it’s not. There’s a raging war of emotions inside of me. I don’t know that I can trust my husband, and that alone is enough to end it and what pushed me to kick him out this morning.

Rather than confess about my lack of trust, I offer a partial truth. “I slept with him last night and then kicked him out this morning.” I shake my head realizing how awful that sounds, how crazy it seems.

“Sounds like a divorce to me,” Sue says and then fills her glass again. “I did it for years, Kat. Years of back and forth. Forgiving but not forgetting.” Her slender fingers play on the stem of the glass. “Wish I had those years back.”

The need to defend Evan overrides my common sense. “I don’t know what I did that pushed him away.” Even as I say the words, I know that’s not true. I let distance grow between us. I ignored him in favor of my career.

“Nothing, it’s not you. It’s not your fault.” Sue’s words are hard, with no negotiation allowed. So I don’t correct her.

Maddie adds in, ever comforting, “It’s not your fault in the least. Don’t let him make you feel that way.”

They don’t understand. They just don’t get it.

“What if—”

Sue cuts me off to say, “If you want to sleep with him, do it. Want to kick him out, do it. Want to hurl something at his head … maybe don’t because that’s assault.” Her joke forces a bark of a laugh from me and a snicker from Jules. Her glass setting down on the counter offers a clink and she adds, “Yes please, for the love of all things holy don’t make us come bail you out.”

“You would, though,” I say and cock a brow, knowing any of the three of these women would bail me out in a heartbeat.

“It’s whatever you want,” Maddie continues and Jules and Sue both nod. “You can be friends with benefits if that’s what you want, fuck buddies, you can use him for revenge sex. I don’t think any of us have any answers other than we’re here for you.” She side-eyes Sue and adds, “Although Sue is cockblocking our girls’ trip.”

“Oh my Lord, someone … get her,” Sue groans and Jules and I laugh while Maddie purses her lips and tosses a balled-up bit of paper at Sue’s back. It doesn’t reach, but the comic relief helps to calm all the nerves I’ve been feeling. Most of them, anyway. There’s still a little flutter in the pit of my stomach.