Page 56 of Catch Me When I Fall

When I looked back up to her, she was nodding in understanding. “Maybe he was nervous.”

I nodded and took a gulp of the wine. “Maybe,” I said.

“Or maybe there’s nothing there,” she added. “That’s okay too.”

I gave her a look. “Yeah, but you and Michael love that we’re dating.”

She made a face. “No, no.” She plucked my glass from my hands and set both of ours onto the counter. Then, she put her hands on my shoulders. “Are you only dating him to please us?”

I said nothing. Was I?

She tilted her head to the side. “Carrie,” she warned.

My lips thinned.

“Carrie, are you dating Leo as some form of payment for what Michael and I did for you?”

I looked away from her. Was I?

“Hey, look at me,” Sarah called softly. When I did, she spoke again. “You’re family, do you understand that?”

Oh, hell.

You’re family.

The sentiment slammed into me like a bullet, ripping through my flesh as it charged straight to my heart. A sharp pain radiated in my chest, and my eyes stung with tears.

I hadn’t cried in over two weeks. I’d been on a roll. All that work was just shattered with just two words.

You’re family.

Sarah’s eyes held mine, glimmering with her own tears as she tried to laugh it off like it wasn’t a big deal.

But it was.

It was monumental.

“I know its crazy. I know we’ve only known each other for a short time, but I’ve never had a friend like you.”

The shitty part about this was…I had. I had friends like her once, and I deserted them. I shook my head. “I don’t deserve a friend like you.”

She took a step closer to me, dropping her hands to grab mine. “Carrie, you’re the sweetest person I’ve met in a long time. You got Margo to smile, for heaven’s sake,” she said, laughing a bit as a tear jumped onto her cheek.

“I can’t believe I’m crying again,” I pushed out, shaking my head.

“Come on,” she whispered, leading me to the back door. “Baby, we’re going outside for girl talk!” she called out to the living room.

The men grunted back a reply, but we were already stepping through the sliding back door, the summer air wrapping around us. My friend dragged me over to the railing of the deck.

“Am I freaking you out?” she asked, her voice unsure for the first time since I’d met her. “Because I told my parents what Michael, and I did for you and they thought I was crazy.”

I wiped my tears as a soft laugh escaped me. “You’re not crazy. You’re just a very generous person in a selfish world.”

“I just—one look at you, and I knew you were a good person.”

My throat began to close, broken glass shredding me from the inside out. I looked out over the railing. She lived on one of the taller hills in the town, giving her a good view of the water and the strip. If looked to the left, I’d see Blue Beauty—my home.

“You gave me a home, Sarah. No matter what you say, I’ll always try to repay you for doing that,” I said softly, feeling her eyes on my profile.

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