Page 236 of The Last Good Man

“Is everything all right?”

“Yeah. Everything is good, “ I assureher, peeling my eyes away from my purse.

I need to call my mother and sister. And Alice.

Oh…We have that meeting this Friday. I completely forgot about that.

Do I want to go there and meet the girls, or not?

Uh… I’m still on the fence.I knowI told Melissa yes, but do I really want to go?

I have a new man in my life, emphasis onnew.

I’d love to keep him all for myself for a while before having everybody’s eyes on us.

I need to talk to him.

“Okay,” I say.

“What’s the plan for lunch?”

“I might go out.”

“Sounds like an excellent idea. Let me know if you change your mind and want me to order food for you.”

“I will.”

She spins around and walks to the exit while I return to my seat, reach inside my bag, and pull out my phone.

After moments of deliberation, I send text messages to everybody to share the news. Excepthim.

My finger hovers over his name when I realize his number is still filed under TheImpossible Man.

I change it and move to someone else. Without hesitation, I taphername, and the line rings.

She doesn’t answer, so I leave a voice message.

“Hi, Aretha. It’s me. I, uh… I’ll take a break from our sessions. If anything changes, I’ll let you know. If not, it’s been a pleasure working with you. We’ll talk.”

I put the phone down and ponder a little more before the replies arrive.

Everybody is excited about the news, especially my mother.

She calls me, and we chat. And then Alice rings me, and we spend a few minutes on the phone.When we’re done, I call Jax.

He answers right away.

“I got the apartment,” I say.

“Congratulations,” he says as if he has nothing to do with it.

“Would you like to meet me there and see it?”

“Sure.”

I’m a little excited that he wants to see my new place.

“The seller might still show it to other people, butwe can see it tonight.”

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