Page 10 of Embracing Trust

My heart flutters in my chest and my face heats up. “Thank you.” I drink him in like a tall glass of lemonade. “You clean up pretty good yourself.”

He raises his eyebrows and runs a hand across his head. “I bet you spent more time on your hair than I did on mine.”

“I’m sure of it.” I bump up into his shoulder. “And I bet you had no balance concerns with those shoes, did you?” I ask as I point at his shiny, black patent leather dress shoes.

“No, no balance issues, but they squeeze like a vise, and I think they’re a half size too small.”

My hands ache to touch him, to be near him. I touch his shoulder lightly as we gaze down at the offending footwear.

“And what about these?” He points at my gold pumps. “I half expected to see you show up barefoot.”

“Yeah, it was a point of contention with Amy,” I reply as I hold out my foot and raise my dress just enough for the shoe to peek out.

“I bet.” He runs his eyes up and down my dress and shoes in seeming appreciation. “I’m gonna take off for the reception. Do you need a ride?”

“I rode with Merilee. I’ll see you out there.”

Merilee and I leave a few minutes later and as we climb into her car to make our way to the reception she pauses before starting the engine.

Her eyebrows draw together as she studies me. “It’s tough, isn’t it?”

I shrug. “It is, but we’re talking. And that’s good, right?”

“You never really told me what happened outside with him last night.” Merilee starts the engine and pulls out of the parking spot.

“We apologized and agreed that we need to get through the wedding.”

Merilee looks over and pats me on the leg. “I think you’re doing great.”

I open my handbag, grab my lipstick, and pull down the visor. “Seeing him…” I sigh. “It’s like opening my heart all over again. I’ve worked so hard to get where I am, and I can’t go back to that.” I twist the lipstick tube and apply a coat to my lips.

“Can’t go back to what?”

“Trusting him again. Getting my heart broken. Taking a chance that I won’t recover the next time. But I want to be friends with him.”

“I get it,” Merilee says. She checks her rearview mirror and signals a lane change. “Like you said, you’re in a good spot right now.”

“Exactly.”

Merilee has always been my rock and when everything went sour with Ryan all those years ago, she was there to help pick up the pieces. When Jeff slept with me then dumped me like yesterday’s trash, who showed up at my dorm with ice cream and a box of tissues? Merilee, of course. It doesn’t surprise me one bit that she has been so observant about my feelings this weekend. She is the only one who I’ve been able to count on—who’s never let me down. Our friendship is a two-way street, so to speak. I’ve seen Merilee through her own share of troubles through the years. A pregnancy scare, her brother’s battle with addiction, and one deadbeat boyfriend.

“The business is going well. I’m finally operating in the black and I don’t have to take so many freelance graphics jobs.”

“And you and Luke seem to be hitting it off.” Merilee slows down for a stoplight.

Luke Davis, a.k.a.Dr.Luke Davis, MD, isn’t exactly who I saw myself with, but Merilee introduced us a few months ago. Although I’ve been seeing Luke for a month now, we’re still in the getting-to-know-you stage. So far, we’ve met three times for lunch in the hospital cafeteria, twice for drinks after work, and a Saturday afternoon matinee. With our busy work schedules, it’s been difficult to get together. The original plan was he would join me for the wedding festivities this weekend, however, he got called away to his parents’ house in Colorado to be at his father’s beside after heart surgery.

“And your mom is doing great,” Merilee adds.

I fold my hands in my lap. “Mom is settled with Bruce and living her best life in Fort Worth. I mean, I miss her, but she deserves to be happy.”

Mom is my hero. I was fourteen when my father died, and Mom worked so hard to provide for my sister Jaime and me. Things were rough—not only because Mom had to work so many hours to keep a roof over our heads, but what my father put us through. It was a relief when Mom was able to move us out of Red River and get us settled in Claremont. We moved into our little two-bedroom house the summer before I started eighth grade.

Mom met Bruce three years ago at a work conference. He’s so sweet and treats Mom like a queen. This past spring, they had an intimate ceremony on the beach. Mom was absolutely glowing that day and I’m happy she found someone.

Merilee frowns as she glances my way. “But you look sad.”

I shake my head as I fight to hold back my tears. I take a deep, centering breath. “It feels like there’s a piece that’s missing—like the piece that completes everything. And being around him just…I don’t know…”

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