Page 60 of Break My Fall

She tried to shake off the gloom. Tonight, she would be young, carefree, and fun, even if it killed her. But she wouldn’t order anything caffeinated. She had enough trouble sleeping without hamstringing herself with late-night coffee.

“I’ll take an iced decaf Americano with oat milk creamer.” Meredith studied the small menu in front of her and added, “And a triple berry muffin.” When the waitress turned to Bronwyn to take her order, Meredith took a few moments to refamiliarize herself with her surroundings. It had been a long time since she’d been out on a weeknight for, well, any reason. But when Judy, a longtime friend and the co-owner of Mountain Brew, Gossamer Falls’ one and only coffee shop, said she wanted to have a music bingo night on the first Monday of the month, Meredith had promised to attend.

The idea was straightforward enough. Judy provided bingo cards and daubers, and at 7:00 on the dot, she would start playing music. Thirty seconds to “name that tune” and find it on your bingo card. Whoever won each round would receive a free drink to be used on another visit to the coffee shop. Judy planned to have at least three rounds if there was enough interest, with each round having a different theme.

Meredith looked at the sheet of paper in front of her. Four bingo cards on the page, each filled with song titles from the ’80s. A solid place to start.

“We don’t have to stay.” Bronwyn tapped a perfectly manicured finger on the bingo card in front of her.

“Yes we do. Until the end. I promised.”

Bronwyn pinched her lips together. “Yes, yes. You Quinns and your promises. Heaven forbid you break one.”

Meredith focused on her oldest friend. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Bronwyn waved a hand. “Nothing. It’s a good character trait, but you’re clearly miserable, and promise or not, if you told Judy what’s going on, she would understand.”

“No.”

Bronwyn flinched at the word, and Meredith realized she’d beenfar harsher than she’d intended. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“And byit, you mean the part where your heart is broken?” Bronwyn placed a hand over her own heart. “Because it’s not like I have any experience in that department or anything. I wouldn’t know anything about what it’s like to fall in love with someone who doesn’t love you back.”

“This is different.”

“How so?”

“I’m thirty-two. You were sixteen, and he was a creep.”

A flash of old pain crossed Bronwyn’s face before she sighed. “Yeah. He was. I’m not trying to say my experience is the same as yours, but it’s not like I’ve never had my heart broken. I’m here for you if you want to talk about it.”

“I know. Thank you.”

The silence that stretched between them wasn’t uncomfortable. It was the kind of pause in a conversation that began decades earlier and had never really ended.

Judy brought the drinks and muffins and waggled her eyebrows in delight. “Bronwyn, thanks for being here. And for sharing the word with your staff. I’ve counted five Haven employees so far.” She leaned in closer. “And Meredith, thank you for talking it up around town. We have a full house. Y’all are the best.” She set the food on the table. “Good luck tonight!”

Meredith took a sip of her coffee and whispered to Bronwyn, “And now you know why I can’t leave. Judy’s poured a lot of energy into this. I want it to be a success. Especially since I’ll be single forever. Might as well make an effort to be sure I have social options that don’t require a date.”

Bronwyn raised her own glass, filled with sparkling water and a lime slice, and toasted Meredith. “Good call.”

The next hour and a half was more fun than Meredith hadexpected it to be. She didn’t win, but she enjoyed dancing in her chair to the different songs and cheering for the winners. On the final round, Judy called out that to get bingo, you had to fill your entire board. It took longer, but eventually an elementary school teacher who had been a few years behind Meredith in school won the grand prize of a ten-dollar gift card.

Simple pleasures. Fun atmosphere. Friendly people. No one acting a fool. Her life wasn’t bad. Not even a little bit. She would focus on the beauty and try not to dwell on the way her chest ached almost all the time now. She knew the “heart” that loved others wasn’t physically located in the heart that kept her blood pumping. But something pulsed with painful tremors anytime her mind replayed that kiss. Or, as she’d taken to mentally calling it, her “trip to the dark side.”

She pulled on her heavy coat and wrapped a thick scarf around her neck. A scarf that she’d had Mo check for bugs before she left for the evening.

Bronwyn tucked her arm through Meredith’s, and they walked out into the frigid February night. They’d stayed to talk to Judy, and the street was empty except for their two vehicles.

“Do you have a full schedule tomorrow?” Bronwyn asked as they paused by her BMW.

“Packed. If it keeps going this way, I may have to add another workday to my schedule.”

“What? You mean you might have to work five days a week? The horror!” Bronwyn gave Meredith a cheeky grin. “It’s a good problem to have.”

“It is.” Meredith had set a three-days-a-week schedule when she’d moved home, originally because there weren’t enough patients to justify being in the office more often. Then it was because she wanted to be available to take care of her mom while she went through chemo. But her Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays hadbeen so slammed that she’d added two Fridays a month as soon as her mom was back on her feet. “I’m thankful for the patients, but I don’t want to be so busy that I can’t run the clinic.”

“Do you have any clinics planned for this weekend?”

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