She shook her head. “You would’ve been there in a heartbeat, if I called. Anyway, I’m sorry for hurting you.”
I hated bringing it up, but I needed to know. “Are you doing okay? I mean, I know you’re in counseling and all, but how are you really?”
“I’m getting there, I think,” she said. There was another long silence before Amelia admitted, “I never saw it coming, Pres,” she hesitated, “Michael, I mean. I never saw… he was so good to me, in the beginning. I didn’t see what everyone else did.” She put a hand on my leg and gave me a gentle squeeze. “I should have listened to you.”
I bit back theYes, you should haveand pulled her to me, hugging her tight. “You’re moving forward. That’s what matters. We’re all moving forward.”
Amelia’s phone began ringing and when she pulled it out, I instinctively knew who it was before she looked at me. “It’s Brad. Mind if I take it?”
“Not at all, go ahead.”
She walked off, Lady trailing faithfully behind her. My chest ached when I bent to scratch Quinn’s ears. He was ten now, which was admittedly kind of old in dog years. I knew he wouldn’t be around forever, but I wanted several more years with my sweet friend before I had to say goodbye.
When Amelia came back a few minutes later, she seemed sad.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. He just told me he needed to reschedule our plans. One of the officers on his team is moving to Orlando with his wife so they’re shorthanded.”
“Plans?” I asked, an eyebrow raised playfully.
She blushed “It’s nothing. We’re just friends. He’s been checking up on me a lot with everything that’s been going on.”
“Uh-huh,” I teased, hoping deep down she wasn’t looking to start anything with him. She wasn’t in the right place for a relationship yet.
“Ready for dinner?” she asked.
“Sure, let’s go.”
