Page 62 of Just My Ex

“He’s never stopped loving you. I don’t want to cause any issues or insert myself where I don’t belong. But I have to say it. He still loves you.”

I shift back in my seat, wrapping my arms around my middle. “That’s not fair, Stella.” I give a hollow laugh. “What am I supposed to do with that? This is hard enough as it is.”

I love Stella, I do. I think she’s the rock of this family. But her words are not helping.

“I’m sorry, Quinn. You don’t have to do anything with it. You live your life and find happiness. Truly—that’s what you have the right to do. You don’t owe him anything, but don’t ever doubt his love for you. Sometimes love isn’t enough. But sometimes when it’s taken away, it helps us see things clearly. You never know.”

Stella stands, steps to me, and pats my hand. Henry comes in from his meeting with his boss. Stella and I straighten and smile.

Henry’s gaze takes me in, and I stand, feeling flushed around the edges. The way he looks at me and Stella’s words embolden me.

I know he still loves me.

I take a step towards him, then at the last second, slide into a side-hug thing.

It’s okay, right? Okay for now?

His eyes widen a moment as he eases into the hug. I smile and then dip my head. We step apart, and Henry’s cheeks round before he hugs Stella.

“Are your lawn sprinklers working okay?” He asks after their back-patting hug.

“Yes, thanks for getting the system going for the year.”

“Of course, ma’am,” he says in a thick Southern accent. “And please tell me you called the pest control guy. I saw wasps’ nests in the eaves.”

“I did and he said you’d already paid him in advance, you little pill.” She moves to swat his back and he laughs and darts out of the way.

Something about Stella brings out a side to Henry that I thought had slowly died as our marriage had died … silly, comfortable in his own skin. Like he used to be.

It’s too bad the magic of Stella couldn’t have saved Henry and me a long time ago.

Which begs the question: What would it take for Henry and me to heal? In my wild and disordered dreams, is there room to imagine it?

Chapter 24

Henry

“With Mom’s illness a reality now, I think it makes sense,” Oliver says, as the rest of us sit around the dinner table in our corner of The Summit restaurant. The large windows display a nearly black sky, peppered with stars, and the dark ink of the lake below.

Alec finally pipes up. “I get it. And I’m happy to go. But why two of us at a time?” He glares at me a moment before looking away.

Yeah, he showed up to the family dinner tonight, just like Oakley wanted. But he seems bound and determined to hate it.

“Gabriel thinks that’s best,” Oliver says. “Having two brothers there at a time helps us get more done. And it’s fun to have more people there at once.”

“Mom and Dad are gonna hate the visits being assigned,” I say, wiping my mouth with a linen napkin. Quinn’s at my elbow and I’m hyper aware of her every movement. I love watching her tuck into her food.

“Yeah, but life gets busy,” Sebastian says. “I don’t want Mom’s care to go down the drain. I know we all have good intentions, but when push comes to shove, if we’re not planning it in, the visits aren’t going to happen like they need to.”

“I think it’s a great idea,” Elianna says. She opens the cover of her tablet. “Sebastian and I figured we’d plan that two couples go up to Denver every other weekend. Not that it has to be exactly that, but let’s pencil it in. I’ll put it in a calendar and share it with you all.” She types on the screen. “Who would like to take this coming weekend?”

“We’re going to see my family in Texas next month, so we’ll take this weekend,” Oakley says.

“Great,” Elianna says. “Who wants to go with them?”

There’s silence around the table as everyone chews or pokes at their remaining food.

Sophie raises a hand. “Things are really busy right now with the county libraries, so it would be best for us to go next time, right Oliver?”

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