Page 34 of Yours and Mine (Friends with Benefits)

“She’ll cry regardless. You just want your feelings spared. You’re afraid to see her puffy eyes, aren’t you? So it’s better to leave and let her cry while you’re away? That’s a cowardly way to leave, Nick, and I know that you’re not a coward.”

“It’s different with my mom. I don’t want to see her hurting.”

“You have to tell her. If you don’t do it, I will.”

“Jo, you can’t.”

“She loves you more than anything in this world. You owe it to her.”

“I know, I know.”

I reached for his hand. It was selfish of me to encourage him to tell his mother in advance because that would give her more time to talk him out of this stupid decision he thought would make him a better man. He was already the best man I knew. I couldn’t let him go. If Nick left, I’d be crushed.

“Jo, you can either support me in this decision, or we can fight about it for the next month, wasting precious time. No matter what, I’m not changing my mind.”

I stood up and crossed my arms over my chest looking out to the lake. Why were the waves so calm when all I could see ahead in my life was a storm full of hurricanes, thunders, tornadoes and cloudy days? Why was he doing this to me? Why was he doing this to us?

“I need to go.”

I turned on my heel and started running. This morning when we went out for our run had felt so perfect, and now Nick was ruining it.

“Joelle,” he called after me, but I didn’t stop. He said that I couldn’t talk him out of this decision. Well, I wouldn’t allow him to talk me out of mine, and so I headed for the bakery.

Marge was packing a five-layer cake into a box when I walked through the door.

“Hi, Jo.” The smile dropped off her face as soon as she saw me. I ran to her, slamming into her body. She took me into her arms as if she were my mother. Truthfully, she was the only mother figure I’d known in my life, and I felt as close to her as I had to my own father.

“Honey, what happened? Is Nick okay? Oh, my God, Jo, is he hurt?”

“No. He’s okay. I just had to come here because I need your help.”

“All right. You know I’d do anything for you.”

“You need to stop him. He can’t leave.”

As soon as the words left my mouth I felt like the coward I’d accused him of being. But it was too late now.

“Stop who and leave where?”

“Nick. He’s going to join the navy. He wants to be a Navy SEAL, and then he’ll go to war and die, just like his father.”

“What?”

“In one month. He already made the decision and didn’t bother talking to anyone about it.”

“My son’s going into the Navy?”

“Yes, you have to stop him. Please tell me that you will.”

“Come here, Joelle. Have a seat and a glass of water.”

She pulled a chair away from one of the two tables at the bakery where the customers often enjoyed a coffee and pastry in the mornings before work, and then sat across from me. Why was she so calm about this?

“Jo, I’m so glad that you care about him so much, but Nick is his own man. While I’m not happy that’s he’s not here himself telling me this, I’m afraid that I can’t do anything about his decision.”

What?I set the glass of water down and reached for a tissue to blow my nose.

“Of all the people, I thought you could help.” I wiped my cheek with the back of my hand. “You’re the only one who can help.”

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