Page 60 of A Very Miller-Cooper Life

Ronan and Mallory were moving toward Pittsburgh where Ronan was going to play semi-pro football while she went to school for Occupational Therapy. I didn’t see them having much money over the next few years, but they were both happy, so that was all that mattered to me.

Carter was staying at the University of Pennsylvania to pursue a master’s in Business Analytics. Marcie was movinghome with her parents to save money, but the two of them were still very happy together. At least, that’s what we thought.

Just three weeks after graduation, I saw Carter’s car unexpectedly pull into the driveway. I walked outside and waved to her from the front porch. “Hey, sweetie, what’s up? Were you visiting Marcie?”

As Carter walked toward me, she kept her eyes toward the ground and nodded her head.

Very strange. “Is everything okay?”

This time, Carter shook her head, and when she lifted it to look at me, what I saw broke my heart. Her eyes were puffy and her face red and tear-stained. When she reached me, her body began to shake and tears poured from her eyes. “She… she… dumped me. I wanted to start our future together and she… she doesn’t want me anymore.”

I wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly right out there on the front porch. A few minutes later, Charlie pulled into the driveway and ran from her car when she saw the scene on the porch.

“What happened?” she asked between gasps of breath.

I mouthed the words “Marcie dumped her,” so Carter didn’t have to hear them spoken out loud like a dagger to her already broken heart.

Charlie immediately began to rub her back. “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry.”

“Mama,” Carter said as she pulled away from me and fell into Charlie’s arms.

I had never seen her like this—so very broken and lost. I wanted to make it better, but I knew there were two people who could do a much better job than me. I walked upstairs and made a three-way call with Olivia and Ronan, praying they would both actually pick up. Ronan was the first to answer, but it wasn’t long before Olivia answered as well.

“What are you two up to this weekend?” I asked without even saying hello.

“Mallory and I have a ton of unpacking to do,” Ronan answered quickly.

“I don’t have anything that important, but if you’re trying to get me to come home, it’s not happening,” Olivia said. “Jax and I are planning to go out this weekend now that we can finally enjoy the city without worrying about classes.”

Shit. “You know I normally wouldn’t ask you to come home, especially at the last minute, but your sister needs you.”

I had barely gotten the words out when Olivia responded. “I’ll take the first train in the morning.”

“Yeah, fuck unpacking. I’m driving home tonight.”

Chapter 15

Charlie

By the next morning, the whole family was back together. Normally, I would be ecstatic about this, but the reason had me less than thrilled. If going through a heartbreak is hard, watching your child get their heart broken is a million times worse.

“So, what happened?” Ronan asked as we all ate breakfast together.

Carter shook her head as she stared down at her uneaten cereal. “I honestly don’t know. I missed her so I decided to surprise her. She was acting weird from the moment I got there, but things weren’t too bad until I started talking about the future. I was curious when she wanted to move in together. I wasn’t pushing it. I just wanted to let her know that I’d be happy to take that next step whenever she was. I mean, we’ve been together so long. It seemed natural that that would come next. But instead of talking about that, she told me she didn’t think we had a future. She said that…” Carter took a long, shaky breath. “That she had been thinking about it and she felt like she wasted so many years. That… that she needs some excitement in her life and I can’t give her that.”

“What a bitch,” Olivia said through gritted teeth.

Carter shook her head. “She’s not. She told me that if we were older, I’d be the perfect life partner, but she needed to have fun right now. And she’s right—I’m not fun. I’m boring, but I’m fine being boring. And I thought she was okay with that, too.”

Olivia scoffed. “You’re not boring, trust me. I’m literally one of the most fun people ever, and you always keep me entertained. That has to say something.”

Ronan put his hand on Carter’s shoulder. “Seriously. If she can’t see how amazing you are after all these years, that’s her loss.”

Carter shrugged. “If she can’t see how amazing I am then maybe I’m not actually that amazing.”

I couldn’t take this. I could literally feel my heart breaking in response to her broken heart. I stood up and hugged her from behind. “Well, I’ve known you much longer than Marcie has, and I happen to think you’re super amazing.”

“You have to say that. You’re my mom.”

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