“Kelce, it’s not like that?—”
A notification buzzed on her phone and grabbed her attention. She shifted and closed her eyes. “Seriously.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “This wasn’t a surprise. It wasn’t as if we married for love. We married because of Aaron.”
“It doesn’t matter. Promises were made.”
“Having a child takes a lot of wind out of a marriage.”
“Kelcie, stop.” I held up a hand.
“And it wasn’t like we had a strong marriage to begin with…”
“He was wrong to?—”
She turned around, finished what was left in her wine glass, and began to text someone. She said under her breath, “Yeah, well. I wasn’t exactly easy to live with?—”
“That’s it.” I knowingly let her make the mistake of marrying him years ago under the assumption that this was the best thing for everyone. Now, I was hearing about the way her life really was and how she accepted his cheating as inevitable. No.
Once she finished her text, I asked, “Is everything okay with Aaron?”
Bemused, she said, “Yeah. This isn’t about him. Don’t worry about it. I just need to take care of something that is time-sensitive.”
“Are you done?”
“For now.”
I grasped her hand and began pulling her toward the back. As we passed Grace, I slid Kelcie’s phone from her hand and passed it to Grace.
“Hey! I need that,” she protested. “I’m expecting a call!”
“Grace, watch her phone. We’ll be outside,” I said over my shoulder.
She grabbed the door frame before we made it through and called out, “Grace, if it rings, answer it and bring it to me, no matter what.”
“Come with me.” During the summer, a small patio was set up outside with string lights and picnic tables. Luckily, it was pretty empty, and I found a quiet corner where I could turn my back for some privacy. She needed to hear what I had to say, and I didn’t want to compete with bar noise.
She pulled out of my arm. “Will you please stop manhandling me? I’m fine.”
I put my hands up in defense. “Fine. You’re fine.”
“Yes, I am. This isn’t a big deal.” She walked past me and over to lean against the table, crossing her arms over her chest. “Aren’t you supposed to be in LA or something?”
Staring up at the heavens, I prayed for patience, trying to remember how to deal with obstinate Kelcie. I was a little out of practice. I narrowed my eyes, mimicked her words, and growled, “I’m fine.”
“You’re impossible,” she said, but the fight had left her tone. She punctuated her words with a slap on my shoulder, and we were back on solid ground.
I stepped toward her. “I didn’t come here to upset you.” She stiffened, and I stopped. “I didn’t come here because I thought you were breaking down.” She tilted her head up to prove she was made of stronger stuff.
I slipped my hands in my pockets and rocked back on my heels. “I came here because you were—are—my friend. No matter how much time has gone by or how things were left, you’re important to me, and I wanted to see you with my own eyes. I needed to see—” I bent my head to stare down at her. “I wanted to see you, okay?”
She studied me, not giving away anything.
“And if there was a possibility of James’s ass being handed to him, literally or figuratively—whether it’s done by you, me, Wyatt, or a combination of all of us—I didn’t want to miss it.”
“Shaw—”
I quirked one side of my lips. “I’m kidding.” I stepped into her space, slowly putting my hand on her shoulder, pulling ever so slightly to see if she would take the cue and move closer to me. It was a dance we used to do with each other.
One of us would be angry, vent to each other about what angered us, or rage against the universe to blow off steam. The other would listen to a point and then tell them to move on. It always ended with a hug.
