“He works a lot, you know? He’s always been like that, so a part of me told myself he’s just dedicated to his job. Or that his clients were demanding. But I don’t know. Lately, though, something just felt a little off. It’s like we were in two different places. I was right. He was apparently in other women’s beds, and I was ... well, I was ready to start a future with him. Maybe even a family one day.”
Her voice breaks when she saysfamily, and I wrap my arm around her shoulders, hugging her close.
“I’m so sorry, Iz.”
“Me too. But I guess it’s better to know now than walk down the aisle and find out later. That would’ve been an awfully expensive mistake, and you would know.”
I chuckle lightly. Iwouldknow. I had the same feeling that Izzy did before I married Chelsea, but I told myself it was just nerves. I said to myself that we were meant to be, and I was just making a big deal out of nothing.
I was right, though. We wanted different things. She wanted a life of glitz and glamour and parties and keeping up with the Joneses. I just wanted to play hockey and go home to my girl afterward.
Sometimes I wonder how much heartache I would have saved myself if I had listened to my heart back then, but then I guess I wouldn’t be where I am now. I wouldn’t have that comparison. I wouldn’t know what I had with Chelsea is so vastly different from what I had with Odette.
I wouldn’t know that I am hopelessly in love with the woman.
“You said earlier you weren’t mad about me and Odette. Does that mean you’re happy about it?”
“Uh, yes, because two people I love are in love.”
“Love? You think Odette is in love with me?”
“Iknowshe is. Has been since she was, what, like sixteen?” She laughs. “God, she wassoobsessed with you back then. So much so that I had to tell her that I didn’t want to hear any more about it, I couldn’tstomach it. I thought maybe she grew out of it, but I guess not. She was just biding her time, apparently.”
She’s wrong. Odette couldn’t have loved me all that time. She had so much other stuff going on in her life, like graduating from college and starting her business. She wasn’t thinking about me at all.
“Stop it,” Izzy says.
“Stop what?”
“That.” She points at my face. “Stop thinking you’re not enough.”
“I wasn’t . . .”
But the rest of the denial never comes.
“Look, do you remember when you came back that one offseason when we all went camping?”
“Yeah, that’s what started Mom and Dad on their whole ‘let’s get an RV and travel the country’ thing. Why?”
“Because I knew then that you and Chelsea would get divorced. Or at least I hoped you would.”
“Gosh, thanks for that, Iz.”
“Can you really blame me? You were unhappy as hell.”
I remember that summer. Iwasunhappy. Even though I told her six times what our plans were with my family, she threw a fit when we loaded up the cars and RV. Then she proceeded to tell me I was doing everything wrong, even though out of the two of us, I was the one who had been camping before.
“I hated that for you, you know,” Izzy says. “I wanted you with someone who made you laugh and made you smile and understood you. Not someone who nitpicked your every move. Chelsea was ... fine. But it just never seemed like you were enough for her, something I’ll never understand, because you’re an amazing man, Noah. But I’m not just saying that because you’re my big brother and I love you to death. Heck, that’s why you should believe me even more. I’ve never lied to you about anything. Like remember that one time you wore that hideous tan suit with the hot-pink tie?”
I chuckle. “Oh, I remember. And the twenty texts you sent me while I was on the ice. Those GIFs you sent were brutal. One message was just a hundred puke emojis, and I’d know because I counted.”
She looks completely unapologetic about it. “Right. I saved you from ever wearing that ugly thing again. I was the only one who was honest with you, because clearly your tailor wasn’t. They took your money and ran. But that’s beside the point.” She waves her hand. “What I’m saying is, I would never lie to you. I would never sit here and tell you you’re enough when you’re not. And you are, Noah. Youareenough. You’re enough for Odette. Just because I didn’t get my happily ever after doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get one either. Talk to her. Tell her how you feel. If she still says no, that’s on her, but at least you won’t live with the regret of never having tried in the first place.”
She’s right. I do need to talk to Odette and tell her how I feel. It might not turn out how I want it to, but then I couldn’t say I didn’t try.
“For what it’s worth, I don’t think she’ll say no.”
“No?”
