Page 8 of One Sweet Day I Found You

Her father visibly relaxed. “That’s fantastic, honey.”

Her mother hesitated. “Then, is it Austin again?”

Courtney tilted her head and shot her mother a look. “No,” she said, lowering her brow. “I haven’t talked to Austin in, like, seven or eight months.”

“So you didn’t come back for him?”

“You mean the guy I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with who I found on the couch with my roommate? No, I didn’t come back for him.”

Tall, dark, and handsome, Austin McDermott was a go-getter with more than his fair share of charisma and a promising career as an advertising executive.

Courtney had dated him for almost a year in Chicago. Twenty-five at the time, she believed they’d buy that house in the burbs with the white pickets and the tree swing someday. Raise three kids, host dinner parties, vacation every summer at the beach.

She had fallen hard. What an idiot she’d been. Six months into their relationship, he hadn’t approved when she left the security of her copy-editing job to go out on her own. Nor had he approved of her choice to take an evening job waiting tables to make ends meet when the articles weren’t selling.

The problems between them had just snowballed from there. They’d started spending a lot less time together because of Courtney’s new schedule, and when they did see each other, things were just—well, distant between them. And then of course, she’d walked in one night after a late-night shift to find him with her roommate, Alicia.

Courtney shuddered.

But all of that was behind her now. She took a deep breath.

Courtney’s mother sat back. She knew the story. “Did someone else break your heart then, honey? You can tell us. Australia’s a very romantic setting. All those beaches—”

“Mom— I’m fine! Why can’t I just be ready to come back?”

Her mother looked away. No one spoke for a moment.

Many a day in Australia, Courtney wished things hadn’t come undone and that Austin could’ve been there with her—the way things used to be. How did her mother always manage to get inside her head?

There, she said it—but only to herself. It had been a lonely trip, in some ways.

“Courtney,” her father began.

Things were different now. She’d been ready to leave Australia because she felt like she could finally face home again without him. She had moved on. Courtney looked at them and softened her tone. “I’m sorry. But Mom, I’m fine, okay? Better than fine.”

She gestured around the room. “Look at this place. I can take care of myself. And I’m over Austin. He’s a jerk, and I’m not running around getting my heart broken every time I turn around! I’ve learned my lesson.”

Courtney’s mother sat back. “Okay. Okay, I’m sorry, honey. We just worry about you. It’s what we do.”

Courtney reached out and put her hand on the table. “I know. It’s fine,” Courtney said. “Sorry I got upset.”

Her mother grabbed her hand and gave her an affectionate squeeze.

An hour later, Courtney waved as her parents drove back down the long driveway in her dad’s car. They were stopping to visit their grandchildren at Courtney’s older sister, Morgan’s house in Green Bay on their way home.

Love you!” Courtney waved as a little twinge of sadness rushed over her. Yes, it was time for another fresh start, but was she crazy to do it all over again?

---