“And?”
“It’s kind of frightening. I wish I hadn’t asked. How are you coping?”
“By pretending it’s not an issue and just moving forward with our plans. And before you ask, I’m not in denial. I understand the odds aren’t in Wyatt’s favor, which is why we’re trying to live in the moment as much as we can. That’s all we can do.”
“You’re so brave, Dee. I’ve always thought so, but never more so than I do now.”
“You’ve always thought I was brave? Seriously?”
“Hell yes. You picked up and moved to the biggest city in the country. I was so envious of you for that. I couldn’t imagine leaving my safety net here to do something like that.”
“You could’ve done it.”
She shakes her head. “I couldn’t have, especially after I lost Tony. I needed the support of my people to keep moving forward. I wouldn’t have done well somewhere else.”
“You’re the brave one. You survived something that would’ve killed a lesser person.”
“I survived because I had no choice, and you will, too, if the worst thing happens.”
“I hope so.” I refuse to let thoughts of that possibility into a day so full of promise.
“Enough about that. Where will you live?”
“I want a house with a yard and maybe a pool. Where should we look?”
“I saw something for sale on the way to Maria’s the other day.” She pulls out her phone, calls up Zillow and, in a matter of minutes, has me booked to tour a three-bedroom, three-bathroom house tomorrow afternoon.
I laugh at her quick work. “You don’t mess around, woman.”
“You’re the one who said there’s no time to waste, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Here’s another one close to Maria’s. You can look at both tomorrow before work.”
I blow out a deep breath. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Believe it. You deserve it after, you know…”
She doesn’t want to say Marcus’s name. “Have you heard anything about how he’s doing?”
“Just that he’s in rehab, but you know that.”
“I can’t believe I had no idea he was an alcoholic. How did I miss that?”
“You didn’t miss it. He just did an excellent job of hiding it from you.” She pauses before she adds, “You might be blaming yourself for staying in New York and putting that strain on your relationship. But I was thinking about that last night, and it occurred to me if you hadn’t done that, it probably would’ve blown up much sooner because you would’ve realized he had a problem with drinking. You would’ve been here to see it.”
“Part of me feels like I should’ve been here with him.”
“No, that’s not true. You wanted that time for yourself before you made a permanent commitment to him. You have no reason to feel guilty about that. He also had a choice to continue or not continue your relationship after you decided to stay. He chose to come back to you after the time you spent apart, which makes what he did that much worse, in my opinion.”
“It’s all so hard to fathom. Even after all this time.”
“Bianca told Maria he’s still determined to fix things with you.”
I’m shocked by that information. “What does he think there is to fix after he married someone else?”
“No idea, but apparently, that’s his only goal in life.”
“I really can’t hear that. I’m not available to be his only goal in life.”
“That’s right. He had his chance and blew it epically.”
“I don’t want to talk about him. Let’s talk about something else.”
“Such as how I’m starting to think your brother has a thing for Sofia?”
“I’ve noticed that, too. Maria and I called him out on it last night, and he claims they’re just friends. We let him know we’re watching him, and he’d better not pull any of his Nico shit with her.”
“I’m glad you guys said something. I’ve been kind of worried about that.”
“He swears his intentions are good, and he understands we’ll kill him if he pulls any crap with her. But here’s the thing… I think he likes her.”
“As in really likes her?”
“Yep, and he has no idea what to do about it because he’s only ever been a player. He has no idea how to do a real relationship. He’s never had one.”
“Except for Tanya. Remember her?”
“That was, like, eleventh grade.”
“But he liked her, and she blew him off. After that, he started acting kind of shitty when it came to girls and women. Like he wasn’t willing to make an effort and have something like that happen again. He was going to be the one to do the leaving.”
“Huh, I hadn’t thought of it that way, but you may be right.” I glance at the clock on the wall behind her desk. “How long do these interviews take, anyway? Do I have time to pop in on my mother?”
“She was released already. I went to see her this morning, and they were on their way out.”
“Oh wow, that’s earlier than she expected.”
“Sorry, I figured you’d already heard that.”
“No worries. How’d she seem?”
“Good. Eager to get out of here and get home.”
“That sounds like her.” I text the update to my siblings and the others, letting them know my mom should be home by now.
Everyone responds with relief to hear the news.
A new message arrives from my mom to our family group chat. I’m home and feeling much better. Thank you for all the good wishes. After she heard I was in the hospital, Mrs. Lopez brought over a casserole, so we’re set for dinner. Everyone take the night off. All is well here. Love you, Mommy
I show the message to Car, relieved that yet another crisis seems to have passed.
“She sounds good.”
“She does, and I’m off the hook for dinner tonight, which is kind of a bummer because Wyatt is leaving, and I was glad to have something to do.”
“Come to dinner with us.”
“That’s okay. You guys don’t need to babysit me.”
“We don’t mind at all. I’ll get reservations somewhere fun, and I’ll invite Maria, Austin and Everly, too. We’ll keep your spirits up.”
“That sounds good. Thanks, Car.”
“Anything for you, kid. When do you plan to see him again?”
“I need to clear it with your dad, but provided he gets the job here, I’m hoping to fly out there next Sunday and spend the week in Phoenix to meet his parents and help him finish packing. Then we’ll drive back together the following weekend.”
“This is so exciting!”
“Is it normal to feel like you have bats flying around in your belly when something like this is happening?”
“Perfectly normal. I felt that way the whole time I was first with Jason until I knew for sure he was going to work here, and we could make a go of it.”
“I remember that. It was a roller-coaster ride for you.”