Furgie remained on her leash when we got to Remi’s a few minutes later; he wanted to see how she’d behave around his cat before giving her free rein of the space.He held the door for us to enter, Furgie’s nose investigating the smells on the air, and me in my joggers and a sweatshirt.The kitchen and the window I climbed through was to my right, and unlike my first time being in his space, I didn’t avoid taking in the details of his home.
It had the same dated interior and appliances as my half, with some improvements.Four pots hung over the sink from a simple rack, and the blinds were nicer than the cheapest option the store offered that were at my place.I recognized the quilt that his grandma made and gave him for his high school graduation, folded and hanging off the arm of the sofa.I wanted to run my fingers over it, to find the little stitch imperfections that I used to fidget with when it was draped across my lap.It was the coziest thing I’d ever “owned”—I’d never found another blanket to replace it despite how much I tried.
I was surprised how many photos hung in frames on the walls, most of them contained people that I recognized, his family and such.There was one of him and Owen—time had been good to that man—on the beach.There was a group photo of the staff at the vet clinic sitting on what I assumed was a bar patio.A string of warm-colored globe lights were strung overhead and lit their smiling faces.Hazel, who I remembered from Remi’s time in vet school, sat next to the receptionist, Nora.There was a second man sitting next to Remi who I couldn’t quite place.It didn’t matter anyway, because I was too busy taking in the light-hearted grin on Remi’s face.It was more than happiness alight in his expression.He was confident and completely at ease.
I didn’t ruin him.
With more than a little relief, I sighed.He was more thanokay.
“Lots of smells, huh, Furg?”He crouched to scratch her face in both of his large hands.
“I like your pictures,” I said.
“Yeah, thanks.I put a bunch up when I was in Pheonix—my therapist thought it’d make me feel more connected.When I moved I put them all back up and added some more over the years.”
“You have a therapist?”
It wasn’t an easy image to reconcile, the man I knew talking to a stranger, possibly crying in front of a them.He never would have when we were married, he hadn’t been willing when I’d asked.But then I’d waited too long to ask.The papers that sealed our fate, our division, clutched in my hands.
“Yes, but we stopped regular sessions a few months ago.”
I scoffed.“Great timing with me moving in next door and all of that.”
“Tell me about it.”He laughed.“No, I’m good.I’m surprised how good, actually.”
The comment was off handed; it wasn’t meant to inflict any pain.I was sure of it.But it did.I almost said a shitty comment about being happy he was so unaffected by me but stopped myself just in time.My reaction to cut him for an unintentional pain unsettled me.Especially, when there was truth to what he’d said, seeing him caused me so many feelings, most of them were confusing, but a great many of them were ...good.
“I’m surprised too.”Needing to look away, I spotted a photo of a young toddler on the fridge.“Is that Maisey?”
Reaching for the image, he plucked it from underneath the magnet.“Yeah.I took it when I visited for Christmas this year.”
He’d clearly caught her mid-giggling fit, the smile on her face was so big, I couldn’t help but smile back.She had big gray eyes, and blond curls ending around her jaw, and a onesie on that read,I’m Santa’s Favorite.
“She’s a cutie,” I said, not just because it was polite—she was actually cute.
The affection in his eyes and his little lopsided grin as he considered his niece almost didn’t hurt at all.I was almost entirely happy for him, which felt like progress.
“She is.She’s a little charmer.”Putting the photo back, he added, “She reminds me of you, actually.”
“Me?”
“She has that same effortless charm that you have, people just lean toward her when she’s in a room.”
My cheeks were beginning to warm, and it wasn’t from the embers dying in the woodburning stove.“She’s ababy, everyone is charmed by babies.”
“Not everyone.And yeah, I’m her uncle, and I think she’s the best baby to ever be a baby, but it’s more than that.She’s magnetic.She’s got this genuine soul.”
With my gaze dropping to the floor, I tucked my hair behind my ears.“Does her maturity level remind you of me too?”
He snorted.“No.She would never scream at a bird.”
“It was a good-sized bird.”
“Repeating that doesn’t make it true.”
“So now you’re the bird expert?”
“I kinda have a degree in it.”
