Good men exist.
And I will never have one.
Even if I’ve found the one I’d want if I were willing to take one more chance.
TJ and Max and I watch TV together for a few hours.
Grady and Annika show up with the kids, and we all watch more TV—the kid-friendly kind this round—and eat the pizza they’ve brought from Anchovies, the local Rock-family-owned pizza place.
And eventually, they leave.
And Peggy and I are all alone.
In my house.
“I’m safe here,” I say in the stillness.
The heater kicks on, and I jump.
The fridge kicks on, and I jump again.
I still have the number Davis gave me. I could text him. Ask him if he’d come over. Just once. Just this last time.
Before we get fake-married tomorrow.
Giselle’s officiating.
I’m wearing a pink dress.
Tillie Jean and Annika are re-wearing their bridesmaid dresses from last week’s wedding.
Some of the Bro Code guys might show up.
TJ confirmed that the winery’s ready, and Grady reported that his afternoon baker has all of our wedding cookies ready to go.
And also that he had no intention of putting together a bill for them, but someone left a tip in his tip jar that would’ve covered three times as many cookies.
The three Rock siblings still have to figure out what to say to who about the treasure and the real history of Shipwreck and Sarcasm, but they’ll get there.
Hard to expect them to immediately know what to do after this many years of believing one thing about their heritage, only to be presented with evidence that it’s a two-hundred-plus-year-old lie.
I look around my living room again.
Repeat out loud that I’m safe.
That I can go to bed.
That all is well.
And then I flip the TV back on.
Peggy gives me the stink eye.
And finally, well after midnight, which is entirely too late after the week I’ve had, when I’ve streamed as much of “In The Weeds” as I can stomach for one night—this was a terrible choice, it really was—I make myself turn off the television, then turn off my lights like I always do.
I make myself prep my coffee for morning with an upgraded version of my coffeepot and a fresh, unopened bag of my favorite beans from the Muted Parrot that I find in the kitchen.
I triple-check that the new house alarm is set with the instructions that were left for me. And it’s the same style alarm that Cooper has, and that Max insisted he and Tillie Jean get when they moved back to Shipwreck for his peace of mind, so I had plenty of help before my friends left with fully understanding the whole thing.
