Page 97 of A Me and You Thing
“Wow. You weren’t kidding,” Sawyer comments, attempting to smooth the moment.
“Told ya.”
To me, he says, “Don’t worry about it. I let the four-letter word slip all the time too.” He reaches out and holds my hand for just a moment.
I smile at him, and he grants me a warm smile right back. “Shall I go with you then?”
“Next time, Quinn,” he says, his voice soft. “You stay home and rest today. Besides, you have a lunch date, remember? Our mothers are looking forward to some alone time with you.”
Resting feels like being banished, tucking the problem wife away. “Yes, of course.” I kind of want to scream that my memories are fine. But, maybe they’re not. How do I know I’m not remembering something if I don’t remember it? That line of thought will leave me going in circles.
“I’ll go with you to their appointment, Bree. We need to talk anyway.” Sawyer sets his fork down.
“We talked last night. I got it. Loud and clear.” Bree gets up from the table and tosses her yogurt container in the garbage.
The three of us together is a total disaster.
I polish off my pancakes because I know I need to eat. Proving my health is fine is paramount in this situation and will solve lots of problems. So, that’s what I aim to do. I’m going to be the healthiest woman alive.
“Aww done,” Josie announces with a sticky syrup mustache.
Jordyn quickly takes two more bites, and not to be outdone, declares, “Me too.”
Bree returns to the table with a wet paper towel. She cleans off the girls’ faces and hands before they run off to the living room to play.
Once the girls are out of earshot, she turns to me, her eyes watery. “I’m sorry, Quinn. I don’t mean to be a jerk. This isn’t easy.”
Sawyer picks up the girls’ plates and retreats to the sink, sensing we need to talk.
Bree sits at the table, reaching her hand toward me. We clasp hands and share a tender look.
Sawyer escapes to the living room to join the girls, nodding at me as he exits, perhaps making sure I’m okay.
I nod back at him. I’m fine. It’s time to have a heart to heart with Bree. Long overdue.
“I can’t believe you’re here, sitting right in front of me. It doesn’t seem real.” Before I can say a word, Bree continues. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. It just did. We thought you were...”
She can’t say the word dead. “I know, I’m not mad at you. I don’t have the right to be upset. You thought I was gone forever. People move on. That’s the way it goes.”
“My Melanie is back.”
After her cutting remarks this morning I say, “So is Scarlett.”
“She has a way of rearing her ugly head every now and then.”
We smile at each other, and I wonder how many times she shared her smile with Sawyer. I look down at the table and remind myself to be strong.
“We can’t be friends anymore, can we?” Bree says. “I mean, not like we used to be. It’s always gonna be weird between us. We can’t pretend we’re one big happy family. Just a few days ago, I was about to marry Sawyer and finally have my happily-ever-after.” She wipes away a few stray tears.
“I’m sorry.” I swallow a threatening sob.
“I know you are. It’s not like you did anything on purpose. No one’s trying to be hurtful, it’s just the way it is. That’s what makes this so hard. I don’t have anyone to be mad at. There’s no bad guy.”
We both let our tears fall, the moment tender. In spite of everything, there’s still love between us.
“Thank you for taking care of my babies. I can’t believe you did that for me,” I say.
“They were so sad without you, constantly looking for you. I couldn’t leave them.”
