“I know what I saw.” My voice cracks.
She steps forward, her hands gripping my shoulders. “Casey saw my Instagram stories. I stupidly tagged the wedding venue, and shefollowedMax home.”
“What?” The word comes out as barely a whisper.
“She tracked him down like some unhinged stalker. You caught him trying to getridof her, not reconciling with her.”
I stare at her, my brain working overtime to process. “That can’t be right… her hands were on him. He was holding her wrists…”
“Because she was grabbing him and he was trying to get her off!” Her voice rises. “For crying out loud, Gem. He chased after you, you know? He rang me as soon as he got Casey escorted from the building.”
My eyes widen. “Escorted?”
Anna nods fervently. “She followed him home from the wedding, Gem. She’d been trying to contact him for weeks—messagingme, calling him from new numbers when he blocked her. The doorman had to call the police when she refused to leave. She’s been given a formal warning to stay away or face stalking charges. She’s gone, Gem.”
“Oh my God,” I say, my hand flying to my mouth.
I drop my gaze to the floor, unable to speak. Afraid to believe that maybe I got it all wrong.
“He called me at two in the morning, totally distraught.” She pauses. “In all my life as Max’s little sister, I’ve never heard or seen him so cut up about anyone.”
Tears burn behind my eyes. “Anna…”
“He lovesyou,” she says softly.
“I can’t…”
“Youcan, Gem.” She drops her hands, her eyes flicking to the empty ice-cream box on my bedside. She sighs. “Look, I’ll support you with whatever you decide to do, but you can either come with me or stay here and cry into your empty ice-cream tub.”
I look up at her. “I’ve screwed this up pretty badly, haven’t I?”
“A little.” She smirks. “But we can fix this. You’re going to put on some clothes, wash that raccoon makeup off your face, and get your arse out that door.”
“Where are we going?”
Anna’s responding smile is pure mischief. “The airport.”
“Ouch!” I say, slipping a foot out of my shoe and rubbing it.
“That’s what you get for wearing two right shoes, you tit,” Anna says.
I huff in irritation. “What if he doesn’t want me anymore? What if this is a bad idea?” I flip down the sun visor and pinch my cheeks, desperate to add color to my death-warmed-up complexion.
Anna side-eyes me as she weaves through traffic. “Who are you and what have you done with Gemma Clarke? Since when do you not have any confidence?”
I throw my hands up in exasperation. “I know! This is exactly the issue! This is why I’ve only ever felt with my vagina for years—love is disgusting!”
She snorts. “No, it isn’t, and I say that with my whole incredible double-D chest—love is beautiful. Even when it breaks you.”
I’m taken aback. How can she sit here, after she and her husband agreed to divorce, and still tell me that love is beautiful?
“You really believe that?” I ask. “Even now?”
She laughs, but there’s something raw in it. “Surprisingly, yes.” She glances at me. “Don’t you think that’s what life is really about? Being completely wrecked by the things that happen to you—the goodandthe brutal? That’s what makes us human, Gem. Wefeeleverything so intensely.”
Her expression softens. “I’m going to be real with you right now.”
I lift my brows, bracing myself.
