Marin’s face brightened. “Exactly.”
“Remember that when you’re outside with her at three a.m., and you’re exhausted and frustrated. It’s all temporary, but the joy she brings into your life is something you’ll cherish forever.”
“Thank you,” Marin said, her expression soft. “That was just the pep talk I needed.”
“Anytime. Just tossing this out there, and feel free to say no, but I’d be happy to pack a few things and sleep on your pullout couch tonight if you think it would help. We had so much fun at our last slumber party.” She gave Marin a playful smile.
“That was a fun night,” Marin said, her expression fond. “And I’d love your help if you really mean that, but please don’t feel obligated. I’ll figure things out with her one way or the other. I mean ...” She chuckled. “I can’t imagine volunteering to help take a puppy out to potty in the middle of the night in Vermont in January.”
“Well, I never said I’d be the one to take her outside in the middle of the night,” Charlotte teased. “But honestly, I wouldn’t mind. For one night, it’s a fun adventure and a chance to help a friend. So ... sleepover part two?”
Marin’s expression was luminous. “Yes.”
Marin sat cross-legged in her bed with a puppy lying belly up across her knees, gnawing happily on a piece of cardboard. It was almost ten, and Marin was about to try putting Ember to bed in her crate for the first time. Marin was already exhausted after fewer than twelve hours of puppy wrangling and feeling somewhat apprehensive about the night to come.
Charlotte sat in Marin’s bed across from her, wearing flannel pajama pants and a blue hoodie. She was such a good friend. Marin had laughed so much tonight having Charlotte here, but there was nothing friendly about the way her pulse raced every time Charlotte’s hand bumped hers. Charlotte just looked soadorablein her pajamas.
Marin’s feelings for her were growing by the day. It was a good thing she’d had so many years of practice keeping her feelings to herself. Such a shame, though, that she was finally free to pursue arelationship with a woman, and she’d immediately gone and fallen for her straight friend. Fallen so hard that she was losing interest in the women she was messaging through the dating app. She and Laura were still chatting, but Marin didn’t feel the same fluttery excitement with Laura that she did when she got a text from Charlotte.
“Are you going to be a good puppy tonight, cutie?” Charlotte reached out and rubbed Ember’s tummy, and the little dog kicked her back feet happily. Marin tried not to notice how Charlotte’s blond hair brushed her arm as she rubbed Ember, but goose bumps rose on her skin regardless.
Sitting together in Marin’s bed this late at night felt unexpectedly intimate, and more than that, it hinted at the kind of domesticity Marin yearned for. How she wished she were sitting here with her girlfriend or wife, someone who’d share her bed forever ...
“Oh,” Charlotte said suddenly. “I meant to tell you, I called the Realtor who’s listing that house your academic friends told you about. Showings don’t officially start until Monday, but she said the owners might be willing to let you come out this weekend when I mentioned that you could make a cash offer. The current owners are moving due to an unexpected job transfer, and it sounds like they’re looking for a quick, easy sale.”
“That sounds promising. I’m not sure what I’d do with Ember, though.”
“We’ll figure it out if the showing comes through. I don’t want you to miss out on the house because of logistics. I’ll ask around and see if one of my coworkers might be willing to sit in the car with her while you walk through the house or something.”
“I’ll ask Ji-Yoon too. She seems eager to earn some pet-sitting cash ... or maybe just to play with a puppy. Maybe both.”
“Puppysitting would have been my dream job when I was a college student, so I can’t say I blame her,” Charlotte said.
The puppy in question wriggled out of Marin’s arms and leaped into Charlotte’s lap, then lunged up to lick Charlotte’s face. Charlottegiggled, rolling backward so she lay on the bed with the puppy on top of her. Marin felt sohappy. All those lonely years with Andrew, she never could have imagined the simple joy of this moment.
Charlotte lay on her back with a soft smile on her face, Ember sprawled across her stomach. “You look happy, Marin.”
“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing. I spent so many years beingunhappy, and now I’m just so glad to be here, building new friendships and playing with my puppy. So far, divorced life is exceeding expectations, that’s for sure.”
“What was your ex-husband like?” Charlotte asked quietly. “I mean, if you don’t mind talking about him. Is he supportive of your new life?”
“We’ve barely spoken since the divorce was finalized, so I doubt he knows much about my new life.” She looked down at her hands, then back at Charlotte. “He’s not the worst, by any means, but there’s no love lost between us. Our marriage was on the rocks long before my accident. We’d grown apart. Maybe he felt frustrated that I didn’t enjoy our sex life as much as he did, but eventually, he looked elsewhere. He slept with other women for years, and I turned a blind eye. Our divorce was long overdue.”
A wrinkle appeared between Charlotte’s eyes. “I’m sorry. How did he react to your accident?”
“Ironically, he was so caring and attentive during my recovery, and thank god for that because I needed his help whether I liked it or not. It’s part of the reason I stayed married to him for another eighteen months.”
“That’s totally understandable, and honestly I’m glad you had someone to help you through your recuperation. No one should go through something like that alone. Did you have any close friends you could lean on?”
“Not really.” Marin reached out to rub Ember, careful not to touch Charlotte in the process. “I think because I was hiding so much ofmyself, I found it hard to have close female friends. I felt like I was wearing a mask. I had a lot of casual friends, but no close friends.”
“What about your siblings? You have four, right?”
“I do, and we’re pretty close, although my relationship with them is a bit unconventional since they’re so much older than I am. We’ve become more like peers now that we’re all adults, but they’ve always considered me the baby of the family. I’m close with one of my nieces, too, Jen. In fact, I need to text her in the morning with puppy pictures because I know she’s waiting. I got so busy tonight I forgot.”
“And have you come out to them yet?”
“Not yet.” Marin blew out a breath. “I’ve been putting it off, but it’s on my to-do list for this year. I’ll be visiting each of my siblings to come out to them.”
