I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
“I have a feeling whatever happened doesn’t actually have much to do with you and has more to do with him. Even if he doesn’t realize it.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Were you a therapist in a past life?”
Sutton chuckles. “Definitely not.”
“Well, in your non-expert opinion, what should I do?”
“What do you want to do?”
I bite my bottom lip, thinking about that. I don’t know what I want to do. All I know is that I want things to go back to how they were. I want to go back to when everything was happier. Maybe we were a ticking time bomb, but at least while it was ticking I was happy. Even if the explosion ends it all, I want to know I did everything I could to try and defuse it.
“I want to talk to him,” I say softly.
“Then you should. I bet he wants to talk to you too, but you both are just too stubborn to do anything about it.”
I glare at her. “Really? I’m stubborn? I remember you didn’t want to date either, Mrs. Married-to-the-man-you-insisted-you-couldn’t-be-friends-with.”
“Hey, this isn’t about me.”
“Fine, we can make it about Lily. Nowshe’sstubborn. I mean do we really think she’s serious about this new boyfriend of hers when she’s so clearly hung up on Parker.”
“Now, Iknowyou aren’t okay.” Sutton folds her arms across her chest.
“Why?”
“Because you’re talking a bunch, clearly as a diversion.” She glares at me. “Because you’re stubborn.”
I groan, rolling my eyes. “Fine, you’re welcome for your coffee.”
“Thank you.” She takes a sip, and when she lowers the cup from her mouth she looks at me softly. “Just talk to him. You’ll be mad if you don’t try. And it’s clear you’re both hurting.”
I deflate again. “I’ll try.”
“It’ll be okay,” Sutton tries to comfort.
Right on time, Jerry Lee inserts himself into the conversation, “Shut up, Vern! Jizz!”
“Way to ruin a moment, Jerry Lee.” Sutton shakes her head, and I leave before I’m subjected to any more of the bird’s—or my friend’s—wisdom.
The rest of my work day goes by as normal, but I’m distracted thinking about Wes and the best way to try and talk to him. Thefact that he hasn’t been going to Jameson’s is concerning. I wonder if he’s been going to the animal shelter. After I close, I head over there to check.
I walk in, and am immediately greeted by Gloria, the friendly woman from before. “Hi Bailey, it’s nice to see you again. How’s Sadie?”
“Oh, she’s great. I’m so glad I found her. I’m actually here to ask if you’ve seen Wes lately?”
Her face drops, smile dimming. “I actually haven’t. Not since I told him I gave him adoption paperwork for Bruno instead of foster paperwork. He may be a bit upset about that.”
“Wait, what?” I sputter.
“Oh, did he not tell you? He came in here about a week ago saying he couldn’t foster Bruno anymore, and I had to break the news to him that he never actually was.” She shrugs. “I saw how he was with that dog and I really assumed he would come around to keeping him.”
“Me too,” I admit softly. Then, I think about how many times I’ve heard him in the backyard since then. “He didn’t leave him here, did he?”
“No, he didn’t. But he didn’t seem happy about it. He hasn’t been back since.”
I sigh, thanking her for her time before leaving. Knowing he hasn’t been to Jameson’s or the shelter has me even more concerned about where he’s been going, and what he has or hasn’t been doing.
