Page 61 of So Normal

“Why is it nice to hear?”

“No, I mean why did you ask me if you were cold? Did someone say you were cold?”

“Not recently,” Faith said, “but it’s been mentioned before.”

“What prompted you to think about that all of a sudden?”

She sighed. “Nothing. I’m sorry. I just … felt a little insecure, I guess.”

He took her hand in his and said, “Faith? What’s going on?”

She sighed and said, “You have to promise not to tell anyone.”

“Oh, I can’t promise that,” he said seriously. “I have like, a dozen friends who hang on every word you tell me. If I don’t pass along the goods the moment I hear it, I’ll lose them.”

Faith rolled her eyes. “Well, if you’re not gonna take this seriously.”

He laughed and said, “I won’t tell anyone, Faith.”

She took a deep breath and said, “Michael’s been dating this girl, Ellie.”

“The divorcee?”

“Not yet, and in my opinion, not ever unless he’s the one who pulls the trigger.”

“You think she’s still in love with him?”

Faith thought a moment. “No,” she said, “I don’t think so. But she’s not in love with Michael.”

“Wow,” he said. “What makes you say that?”

Faith told him about the visit to Michael’s house. She glossed over most of the details but related the way she stiffened at his touch and the way she would avoid the subject of their future.

“Hmm,” he said when she finished. “Well, I won’t lie. That sounds pretty bad.”

“It does, right?” she said. “I just …”

Her voice trailed off. David waited patiently until she worked up the courage to say what she had to say next.

“I wonder if maybe I’m imagining it,” she said. “Not that she’s being weird, but that the reason may not be what I think it is. Or maybe I am imagining that she doesn’t like him, and I’m just jealous because she’s taking Michael away from me. Not that I want Michael back, but … I mean—”

“You miss your friend.”

“Yes,” she said, “I do. I want to go back to the way we were. We had this whole buddy cop thing going on, and it actually made working fun. Now, things are just so tense and draining, and I spend the whole time moody and irritable and just desperate to come home. I just feel like ever since he started dating her that he’s been pulling away from me, and I know he wants me to like her, but I just can’t unsee what I saw, and—”

“Faith,” David said calmly, “it’s okay.”

“It’s not though, David,” she said, “I feel …”

“Faith, you won’t be able to make everyone happy. Sometimes, you’ll do and say things that hurt people. Sometimes, it’ll even be your fault. This time, though, I don’t think it is. You tried not to talk about it, but he forced you to. You could have lied to him, but you know he would have seen through it. So, you were honest.”

“What do I do, though?” she asked. “How do I fix this?”

“You don’t,” he said gently. “You just let this run its course. Either things will work out between Michael and Ellie, in which case you’ll apologize, and he’ll lord it over you for a few months—” Faith chuckled, “—or things won’t work out between them, in which case he’ll ignore you for a few months because he feels ashamed, then dejectedly shuffle up and mutter an apology which you’ll lord over him for the rest of his life.”

“Watch it, buster,” she said, smiling at him.

“Buster?” he said. “Buster?”

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