“Nice seeing you, West.” Brandon extends his hand to West, turning his attention from me.
“Have a great day!” I wave to him as he’s already a handful of steps away.
“The fuck was that about?” West laughs.
I stare in Brandon’s direction. I wish he’d turn around and say something to me. I wish he’d just give me a reason to unleash on him. I don’t even need to know what happened with him and Demi to know it was his fault.
His piss-poor attitude toward me started well before they divorced, though. I wouldn’t be completely shocked if he knew about my crush on Demi, but it’s not like I ever acted on it while they were together. I’m not a fucking scumbag.
“Nothing,” I mutter. “Glad I got to see you, bro. Leah still making you look bad at family functions?”
“Always,” he says with a laugh and a shake of his head. “Let’s work out next time we can. Have a good day out there.”
We shake hands, and I head back down the hill where Ford and Nate are waiting. The tournament is about to start and I’m looking forward to my last golf day for a while.
“Hi, Mom.” I smile as I answer the phone.
I’ve been missing my parents a lot lately, and haven’t seen them since last Christmas when everything was going to shit.
“Hi, honey. How’d your move go?” My mother is fiery and straight forward, but she’s also soothing and so wise.
“I’m still getting some furniture delivered, but aside from that everything has been really smooth. It’s nice having my own place.”
“Well, you know we worry about you living on your own.”
“I have pepper spray and a mean right hook.”
“Ay Dios mío, Demetria,” she says with a soft sigh.
I can hear my dad in the background.
“What’s Dad up to?”
“Oh, your father.” She hums. “He’s doing okay, stubborn as ever still.”
My parents have been married for decades. She’s lively and he’s the one grumbling in the corner as she’s salsa dancing in the middle of a restaurant, but he never shies away from telling someone she’s his wife.
Telling them I was getting a divorce was probably one of the scariest things I’ve ever had to do. I’d expected them—specifically my mom—to talk me into staying. To see if we could work it out. Or even to tell me that maybe I should change my mind on certain things and give Brandon what he wanted.
But she didn’t.
She told me I could come home if I needed to. She asked what I wanted to do and if I wanted to stay with him. When I told her I had no intention of staying married to him, she smiled on FaceTime and simply said okay.
Truthfully, moving back to Arizona where I grew up was appealing. The weather, being close to my parents again, the amazing food, and close proximity to mountains if I was feeling athletic and wanted to take a hike, were all things that briefly—verybriefly—crossed my mind.
“But he’s doing good. I’m making some empanadas, and he’s in the other room watching a show.”
“Tell him hi.” I smile to myself.
“Oh, I meant to tell you, I saw MJ’s mother at the grocery store the other day. I think she’s going to be moving back to Phoenix. A bad breakup, apparently. You should text her. You two were so close growing up.”
MJ was my childhood friend. We were close as kids until her family moved, causing her school district to change and we kind of lost touch.
“Hmm, maybe I will.”
“It’s been so long…you should make sure she’s okay.”
My lips pucker as I breathe out. “Yeah, I’ll see if I still have her number,” I say, staring out my sliding glass door. The view here is so calming, even being downtown.
