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Of course, she did. I laugh and point to the screen.
“Well, I was hoping we could talk so you think you could pause your favorite movie?”
She nods, grabbing the remote and pausing it just as Jack steps up behind Rose on the bow of the boat. “Yes, let’s talk because I’ve been dying to ask you about Chance.”
I want to object but don’t. My relationship with Chance is probably a pretty good way to start this conversation. I don’t want to just dive right into the heavy stuff and upset her.
“Okay, what do you want to know?”
Her eyes widen. “Everything. When did you meet him?”
“Um… you remember when we had lunch like six weeks ago – when you first told me about Julian?”
She nods. “Yeah.”
“I met him the day before that.”
“And?” she questions, desperate for more. I laugh.
“And nothing. I was not interested in anything more than hooking up…”
“As usual,” she grumbles, rolling her eyes.
“Shut up,” I say, shoving her playfully. “Anyway, that’s what we started out as, but Chance wasn’t really having that. He kept pushing me and knocking down all my walls.”
“Brute force,” she muses. “I like it.”
As soon as the words leave her mouth, her face changes and she almost seems to shrink in on herself. I suck in a breath as tears sting my eyes.
“What happened to you over there, Vi?”
She shakes her head as a single tear streaks down her cheek. “It was hell, Car.”
My heart aches as I reach over and pull her into my arms, hugging her tightly as she cries into my shirt.
“It didn’t start like that, you know?” she asks, her voice shaking and I nod.
“I know, sweetie.”
Pulling back, she wipes her eyes and wraps her arms around her knees again.
“In the beginning, I was so happy. I thought I had fallen in love with the perfect guy but somewhere along the way, it had changed. I didn’t even realize it then, but he was breaking away pieces of me. They seemed so small, you know? But by the time I realized what was happening, I was too broken to do anything.”
“You’re not broken, Vi. I know it feels like that now but believe me when I say that you’re not.”
She meets my eyes and the pain in her gaze makes my heart wrench as my blood boils.
“Yes, I am. He played me for a fool and when I saw the real him, it almost destroyed me. You of all people should know I’ll never be the same.”
“You’re right,” I whisper, grabbing her hand. “You will never be the same, but it doesn’t mean you’re broken. Please believe me because it’s something that took me a really long time to learn.”
“I don’t know if I can believe it.”
I nod. “That’s okay. We take this one day at a time and any time you forget, I’ll be here to remind you.”
“I really thought I was going to die in that house,” she admits, her voice cracking again and my breath stutters. I shake my head and pull her into my arms.
“I wasn’t going to let that happen.”
