Page 31 of Crash and Burn

“And…to tell you…uh…me and Bianca are taking some time apart.”

“Whoa, man! What the fuck? What happened?” I was stunned. They had always been so solid.

“Amelia sees you, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“I don’t think Bianca and I have ‘seen’ each other in a long time. I’m not sure how to fix it.”

I didn’t know what to say to him at the time, but I tried. “Vinny…I’m here, man, if you need anything. You know that.”

“I know. Thank you. Appreciate it. We aren’t divorcing, but we got some shit to figure out.”

He turned, grabbed the doorknob, and stopped again. He was looking down at his feet before he turned to me again.

“Hud, how did you and Dev work through differences? I mean, you two always seemed so solid. I’m not saying me and Bianca never have fights to work through, but for some reason, we just aren’t hearing each other. This one seems impossible.”

“We had small issues man…but we never forgot that we had each other until the bitter end. We never forgot the small things. The walks together, the late night talks no matter how dumb, and the little things we did for each other because we were considerate of each other. I mean the smallest of the small, man, and we never gave up on each other. We’d listen to each other and talk it out, even if it took all night. And we never went to bed angry.”

He stared at his feet so I said, “You guys have Gianna and Angelo and they’re great, but without you and Bianca, there would be no Gianna and Angelo.”

He nodded. “Somewhere along the line, we stopped doing things for each other, I think that’s part of it.”

“Do you love her? And do you want it to work?”

“She’s my wife. She’s my best friend, the mother of my children. Yeah, I love her, and I want it to work.”

“Then remember why she’s your best friend.”

He nodded, and said, “Smart man.” Then he opened the front door and left.

I thought,Wow. They’ll figure it out. I’ll figure my shit out, too.

Chapter 11

Amelia

It had been several weeks since Hudson’s birthday and he had come to the diner a lot since then. We would joke around, and I would make sure I was always the one to wait on him. He had become a good friend and I felt like I had known him forever. When he revealed to me that his wife had died, my heart broke for him. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how he must have felt. I was twenty-five years old. Sure, I had dated a few guys here and there, but the most committed relationship was Kevin, and that turned out to be a nightmare. I didn’t feel like I knew anything when it came to what a healthy relationship should look like. Hudson and his wife though, seemed like they had a beautiful one.

It was a Friday and I invited Hudson over for dinner since we hadn’t hung out since his birthday other than when he came into the diner. He would be there soon. I told him 6 pm and decided I was going to introduce him to the Mexican side of my background. I hoped he had never eaten flautas before and thought it was a good choice, not too spicy, anddelicious. When I asked him what he preferred for dinner, he let me know he’s a human garbage disposal and would pretty much eat anything.

I was about finished with everything when my phone vibrated with a text. It was Hudson.

Now that I have your number, I figured I would let you know I’m here and about to knock. Ya know, so you don’t pee your pants.

I rolled my eyes and headed for the door, opening it before he even had a chance to knock.

“Hey! Thanks for the text, crazy.” I giggled.

“I didn’t need to be cussed out again for not calling.”

“Oh stop. Don’t be dramatic.”

“What? Just sayin’. You cussed me out…twice.”

I went back to the kitchen and yelled back, “You scared the shit out of me…twice!”

I heard him sigh and it made me quietly giggle to myself. He came in the kitchen and set a bottle of wine on the counter.

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