28
Ihad no idea how fast Sierra drove or if she had already been in her car and on her way home when I called, but she showed up an hour later with chocolate, pizza, and a mysterious black box.
"What's in the box?" I asked her, sniffling from my second bout of crying since I called her.
"A head," she replied.
"How verySevenof you."
She carried everything into the kitchen and pulled a six-pack of Dr. Pepper from the box. There was no telling why she decided to carry it in there.
"Tell me what happened."
I explained everything, not just what Brody said but what I thought too. That he didn't want to take a break, but end things completely. She listened without speaking, though her face grew darker with each sentence.
When I finished, she shook her head. "I can't believe he did this."
I went to the pantry and found the paper plates I kept for the nights I didn't feel like doing dishes. Which was pretty much every night. "I don't know why, but neither can I."
"He's completely into you. When you're in the room, no other woman exists."
"I feel like there's more to this story," I admitted.
"Want me to find out?" Sierra asked.
God, was that tempting. Sierra could find out just about anything if she wanted to. Most of the time through pure research. And the rest of the time through a little creative computer work. I didn't ask and she didn't tell.
I closed my eyes and shook my head. As confused and hurt as I was, I couldn't invade Brody's privacy like that.
"Well, if you change your mind, let me know. We can get to the bottom of this."
"What am I going to do?" I asked her. "I'll have to see him. He comes to my parents' place every Sunday for lunch and he brings Jacks into the shop. I don't want him to stop doing that because I don't want to hurt Jacks. She's too young. She won't understand why I'm suddenly not there."
"Right now, you're going to eat junk food and let me cheer you up. Then, eventually, you're going to get through it. And Brody is going to realize that he's an idiot and kick himself in the ass. Repeatedly."
"You think?"
I put pizza on plates while Sierra popped open a couple of cans of Dr. Pepper. She handed one to me and then tapped her can against mine. "I know," she answered.
We spent the rest of the night eating pizza and chocolate, drinking soda, and watching Food Network. It was easy and soothing, junk food and television with my best friend.
It helped. A little.
After we cleaned up and went to bed, I lay under the covers and stared at the ceiling. When had everything gone wrong?
Just this morning, he'd dropped everything to come riding to my rescue, even though I hadn't necessarily needed it. Even if Jacks was struggling with our relationship, there were ways for us to be together without rubbing her face in it.
No, there had to be more to it than that.
But did it matter? Brody had made his decision without talking to me. Whatever the problem was, he didn't want my help dealing with it.
I turned over on my side as tears welled in my eyes. I didn't know what hurt the worst: that he left me or that he didn't think I could handle whatever made him feel like that was his only option.
Or maybe Brody hadn't truly been in love with me after all.
I grimaced and closed my eyes, the tears trickling down the side of my face. None of this mattered. It was done.
Wewere done.
