“Sorry about that,” Heather tells me, coming back inside.
“No problem.”
“My sister is getting married and a wrench got thrown into the plans, so she might have to delay.”
“Oh no. What’s wrong?”
“Apparently she got married in Vegas a few years back, and they told her they didn’t sign some paperwork so the marriage wasn’t legal. Turns out, they were wrong.”
“What?” That gets my attention.
“It was her college boyfriend. They were drunk off their asses and thought it would be funny, and they were told the paperwork wasn’t valid for some reason, but apparently whoever told them that was wrong. So now she’s trying to track down this guy to get a divorce before she gets married.”
My mouth is suddenly dry. “So she’s still married?”
“Yeah. But enough of that. What do you think of the house?”
“The house?”
She looks confused. “Come on. Let’s go see the bedrooms.”
Right. The house that we’re standing in that I’m hoping to buy. Heather leads me through the rest of the house, but I don’t see any of it. Refinished hardwood floorsin the main bedroom? Don’t even notice. Brand-new bathrooms? I can’t even look. The dark gray accent wall? Don’t care.
What if…what if that’s what happened with Marcus and me?
Over the past seven years, I can count on one hand the number of times I thought about him. Okay, fine…maybe two hands. He walked out on me, so why should I give him the time of day?
Except now that I’ve seen him again, it’s hard to push this thought out of my head. Why is this all happening right now?
I’m supposed to be thriving. Buying a house and enjoying a great career. Good friends that I love and a family that I can see when I visit California.
I have a good life.
So why is all of this happeningright now?
“You think you want to put in an offer?” Heather asks.
“Oh. Yes.”
Heather eyes me. “Are you sure? I don’t want to force you into anything if you don’t want it.”
“Can I get back to you tomorrow? Sorry. I’m a little overwhelmed with all of this, and a few days would help to think about everything.”
“Absolutely. Why don’t you get back to me on Monday? I think we’ll be okay.”
“And if not?”
She nods, tapping away on her phone. “I’ll give you a call, and if you want to get an offer together, we can make it happen.”
“Thanks, Heather. I appreciate it.”
“We still have a few more places to look at. Want to check them out?”
I shake my head. “Would you mind if we went nextweekend? I love this place and don’t think I need to see anything else.”
Heather gives me a bright smile. “Sure thing. Keep me posted, okay?”
“Will do.”
