Page 25 of Recipes for Life

“Unfortunately, I think you’re going to need more, anyway.”

Deciding to overlook her outburst, I got the bottle from the fridge, grabbing myself a glass while I was at it.

“I had dinner with Murphy tonight.”

“Whaat?” Wynn screamed, and I couldn’t help but lunge over and cover her mouth with my hand.

“I swear to god, Wynn, if you wake Lux, who decided to be a little bit of a terror this evening, it’ll beyouwho's putting her back to sleep, m-kay?” I threatened her, and she nodded through my hand and crossed her heart, signaling that she understood me completely.

She sat there as I went over the events of the last few days: Lux being sick, Murphy taking her, Murphy clearly taking off workto care for her, all our interactions down to a mini skit of how I hugged him when we both started crying after his confession.

“Ode, how the hell am I supposed to understand the meaning of it all when I don’t get what you’re describing? Come over here and show me how it happened.”

After the demonstration, I recapped the last few minutes of our encounter and what he said to me outside the car.

“Hmm.” Was her only remark after I had finished. It took everything in me not to smack her drunk ass upside the head.

“You made me reenact our hug, and all you got for me ishmm?Come on, Wynn, that’s unacceptable.”

“I’m still processing everything you told me, but I guess the real question is, how do you feel about everything?”

I took a second to really think about it. “Scared, hopeful, mad, confused, interested…”

“Stop, stop, stop.” She held her hands up. “You can’t possibly be feeling all that right now.”

I laughed at her. “I feel all that and more Wynn. It scares me...” I whispered.

She slid her arm around me. “Sometimes being scared isn’t the worst thing. Usually, it means you have something worth fighting for.”

A tear slipped free. “You think so?”

My phone beeped with an incoming text message, and I looked away before she could answer.

It was Murphy, and I couldn’t help but smile once I read the message.

Murphy:Thank you for letting me know you made it.

I had messaged him once I got Lux in the bath, letting him know we had made it home.

Odette:No worries. Lux wanted to write in her journal tonight... Any chance you wanna give in and clue me in?

His response was almost immediate.

Murphy:Just tell me the time and place, Odette, and I’m all yours.

“Earth to Odette?” Wynn smacked my arm, trying to get my attention. “I take it that it isn'tBenji?”While she fluttered her eyelashes innocently, a sinking feeling filled the pit of my stomach. Benji’s text messages never came close to making me feel like this. Wasit because Murphy was my ex-husband? Maybe, but I knew it wasn’t right, regardless.

“I have to end things with him.”

“Yeah, you do, like yesterday.”

The yucky feeling was back and settled into the pit of my stomach.

“Can you finally tell me why you hate him so much, Wynn?”

She took a rather large swig of her wine, polishing off her glass, and grounded out her answer. “It’s not that I don’tlikeBenji, it’s that I don’t like him foryou.”

She got up, rinsed out her wineglass, and was about to make her way into her bedroom.

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