Page 104 of The Truths We Seek

I find Tina sitting on the front steps, crying on the phone. Frowning, Bruno takes my bags from me and nods toward her. “Thank you,” I mouth to him and move to sit by my friend, who leans her head on my shoulder while she finishes her call.

Once she hangs up, she quietly cries beside me, so I sit with her, arm wrapped around her, for as long as she needs.

“Sorry,” she hiccups as she sits up and wipes at her face. “That was James. It’s over.”

“He ended it over the phone?” I swear to God, that man better hope I don’t see him any time soon. He’s an ass and Tina deserves way better than him, but she’s also my friend, so I’ve been here for her through their whole eighteen month, on again, off again, maybe is, maybe isn’t relationship.

“It’s for the best,” she says before letting out a deep sigh. “He’s a great guy underneath all his pain, he’s just not a great guy for me. I can see that now. And whether he realizes it or not, and no matter how much it hurts right now, I know that this is the best thing for me. He says I deserve better, and he’s right. Maybe if he’d actually taken the time to work on his shit like I have been doing, like I encouraged him to, things would be different, but he wasn’t ready. And that’s okay. I think it’s going to be good for me to be alone for a while, focus on me.”

I wrap my friend in a tight hug. “I am so freaking proud of you.” Not one lie falls from my lips. I know how hard it is to come to that realization, to understand that the hurt is only temporary, but also necessary.

“Everything okay out here?” Turning, I find Meyer standing in the doorway, concern written all over his handsome face. The salt and pepper in his hair really does suit him, even if I tease him about it every now and then.

“Just fine,” I tell him, smiling wide at him.

“I should go,” Tina says, releasing me before standing. “Thank you for today, it was great. Tell Shae and Rosie I said bye?”

“I will,” I nod to her, noticing O’Connor hovering in the distance. I wave to him as I stand and he strides across the front yard, keys in hand, and Tina moves to him before they walk to his car.

Hmmmm, I wonder.

“Don’t you start matchmaking,” Meyer murmurs as he wraps his arms around me from behind. “Today has me thinking we should keep trying for the small humans.”

I let out a laugh as his stubble grazes my cheek while he kisses the edge of my jaw. “I thought we’d agreed no small humans?”

“We did, but maybe we should talk it out again? Family meeting?” His arms tighten as I lean my head back against his shoulder.

“Family meeting,” I agree, my heart full of joy. We talked about it before, but we weren’t all ready. One thing we did decide... if we decided to go ahead, if we had a boy, his name would be Tommy. A girl would be Kate. And yes, I cried for at least a whole day.

Maybe now is a better time. Who knows?

All I know for sure, is that this life is full of surprises and you never really know what’s in your next chapter.

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