Page 75 of Capri

I gape at her. “Nothing. I’m going to do nothing. If anything, I have a new friend.”

“A friend?” Collie’s shout can be heard from across the room. “That man is not your friend, Capri.”

“Yeah, actually, he is. He will be. In time, at least.”

I can see where this conversation is going, and I have a feeling I’m not gonna like it.

“You don’t silence everyone you care about after deciding to avoid saying goodbye to a fling for someone who’s just a friend. It was worse than with Drew.”

“Collie, I didn’t even cry.”

“My point exactly. With Drew, you went through the whole gamut of emotions. With Jones, although he was short-lived, you went silent for a week and then suddenly back to normal. Why do you think Mom keeps saying how different you seem, babe?”

“Cols, typically when someone goes back to normal, it means they’re fine. Not the opposite.”

She shakes her head and I feel nauseous. “After everything Drew did to you, you honestly think I believe that to be true? I know you, Capri, and you felt relief after the news of his affair came out. With Jones, all I saw was pain. It was like you were walking around with a void in your heart.”

She’s right. About both men.

I’m tired of wasting my breath on Drew, so I ignore her comment about him, but in reference to Jones…I remember the pain of leaving Italy like it was yesterday.

Just five short weeks ago, all I felt was numbness.

How is it healthy or normal, for that matter, to feel such a connection with another human being after only a week?

I’ll never know the answer because it happened to me. And it was very real.

Only, I thought the pain would be temporary and Jones would be written down as a great summertime fling I’ll look back on years from now.

Now, he’s here for the next three months before leaving again.

I have to, once again, protect my heart. Although, I didn’t do a very good job at that the last time.

Her statement makes me pause. “I did…feel something for Jones. It feels weird to even say that, but he’s special.”

Collie reaches for my hand. “I know, babe. I’m sure seeing him again was scary.”

“Yeah. I was finally accepting that I wouldn’t see him again and learning to be on my own.” I rake my hands through my hair in frustration. “God dammit, Jones Archer. Fixing my dryer and eating my crappy sandwiches.”

“Wait, what? You’ve seen him again?”

I can’t help it; I smile. “It wasn’t planned. Remember how I told you my dryer was broken?”

Collie nods, and I continue. “Well, I ran into him at the hardware store and he insisted on helping me fix it. So, he did, and then we ate sandwiches and drank a six-pack in the living room.”

These feelings are confusing. One minute, I catch myself blushing just thinking of Jones, and the next, I’m avoiding even saying his name.

I think I still haven’t accepted that he’s here and I could possibly be seeing him more often.

“I knew you had it bad. I called it from the beginning.”

I find myself getting choked up. “I can’t, Cols. One week with him is one thing, but three whole months is an entirely different setup for heartbreak. It’s deeper, more space toknoweach other.”

“You mean more space toloveeach other?”

“Yeah,” I say softly, twirling the bell necklace in my hand. “I can’t say goodbye to him again.”

“Good thing you didn’t the last time either, huh?”

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