Debra exhaled and lowered herself into the armchair opposite. “I…stayed at Billie’s last night.”
“You stayed?” Maeve’s eyes widened, delighted and startled all at once. “Debra, that’s…this ishuge.”
“Oh, I’m well aware.”
“Did you, you know?—”
Debra shot her a look.
“Right. Sorry.” Maeve cleared her throat. “This is amazing news.”
The way Maeve said that just reminded Debra how important and huge this actually was. Because Maeve had seen all of it. The lonely marriage and the divorce that followed. The years of Debra diminishing herself until she fit into a life that had never really felt like hers.
But most of all, Debra knew that Maevedesperatelywanted this for her.
Debra swallowed. “I’ve never felt that way before. The way I felt last night, I mean. She just…I can’t explain it. We both felt…safe.”
Maeve stilled. “Safe?”
“Yes. Safe.”
Maeve watched her carefully from across the room. “And how does Billie seem now that you’re moving forward with one another?”
Debra smiled. God, that was the easiest answer in all of this today. “Happy.”
“Billie Brown…” Maeve blinked repeatedly. “Happy?”
“I know. It feels ridiculous. I’m in my fifties for the love of God.” Debra ran her hands down her thighs and took a breath. “But she’s different now. She’s…lighter.”
“Right.”
“She’s not perfect, none of us are, and she’s still her in so many different ways, but she’s trying.”
Maeve leaned in, her elbows braced on her knees. “And what about you?”
“I, um…” Debra laughed and shook her head. “I think I’m dating her.”
Maeve went completely still. “Debra…”
“I don’t want to get carried away.” Debra held up a hand, stopping Maeve before she could start. “I know what’shappening, but I’m not getting my hopes up just yet. Billie has a lot to work through, and I’m expecting wobbles here and there.”
“No,” Maeve said firmly. “Debra, stop it. Stop trying to talk yourself down. You deserve to be carried away for once.”
Debra swallowed and nodded slowly. “I’m trying.”
“Do you feel like it’s real? Like it’s not just…the intensity?”
Debra thought about Billie’s hands clinging to her this morning and the way she’d looked at her like she couldn’t quite believe Debra had stayed. “It’s real,” Debra said with certainty. “It’s not just sex. She wants me in her life. And I want her in mine.”
“Then that’s it, isn’t it?”
Debra frowned. “It’s…what?”
“That’s the answer.” Maeve shrugged. “That’s what you’ve been missing. Not someone perfect. Not someone uncomplicated. Just…someone youwantto come home to.”
Debra swallowed down the lump in her throat. “I’m scared.”
“Of course you are.” Maeve leaned across the coffee table and squeezed Debra’s hand. “You’re only human. It’s perfectly fine to be scared.”
