Page 58 of That Right Moment

“Ah, right—a vacation with Milo and Holly.” Ophelia’s eyes narrowed. “Gonna tell me more about that?”

“As soon as you finish telling me about what you are shipping to my house.” I picked at my fingernails.

“Ten…maybe more… boxes. Now—vacation.”

“Ten…maybe moreboxes!?” I parroted.

“Vacation, then boxes.”

“Okay, well. It’s a long story.”

“I have all night, Mads.”

With a groan, I began to explain everything. Ophelia would nod as I talked about the date and our talks we’ve had, about what weare, and then I got to Hannah’s news and the new pause on the relationship while he figured out custody with Holly. As I told the story, it was hard for me to believe it was all shoved within a matter of weeks. It seemed like it was at least worth a few months. A new budding relationship, a woman ready to be a stepmother … an evil ex-wife who wanted to tear them apart.

I heaved a sigh as I finished and looked at Ophelia. Her eyes were narrowed, and her plump lips were pursed, making them seem thinner than they were.

“So yeah…we’re on a…pause,” I repeated, thinking she hadn’t heard me.

Ophelia clicked her tongue to the roof of her mouth. “Oh, I heard you, and I think it’s ridiculous.” Her faded southern drawl came out when she spoke the wordridiculous. Her accent had seemed to fade the longer she stayed away from her family in Georgia, but every now and then, it made its presence known.

I chuckled at her. “He needs to focus on this, and I told him I’d help him, that I would be there for him. Us trying to be in a relationship while he’s trying to get custody of his daughter is probably not the best idea.”

She shook her head. “When is starting a relationship ever the best idea?”

I shrugged a shoulder and tilted my head. “I just don't want to screw things up with Milo, so for now, I’m willing to be his best friend, and then once this is all over, we can try again.”

Ophelia’s eye roll was epic and threw me right back to college.

“Oh, wow.” I laughed. “Tell me how you really feel, Phe.”

“Why are you doing this, Maddy?” she asked, her voice shallow.

“Doing what?”

“You did this last time too.” She ran her palm against her face.

“Doing what? Enlighten me.”

“Milo istheguy for you. I’m pretty sure I knew that a million years ago.”

“It wasn’t a million years…” I mumble.

“And just because one kiss was off, you decided he wasn’t worth it.”

I pointed at the screen and raised my eyebrows at her. “That was a terrible kiss,” I barked.

“It doesn't matter, Maddy. You are pushing him away again.”

“I’m not pushing him away,” I argued. I’m not. If anything, I am bringing him closer by helping him with this custody case and being there for him. But as I glared at her, sticking to my point, Ophelia’s eyes were deeper, and her eyebrows were furrowed. The look on her face told me I was lying, even though I didn’t know I was lying. I tightened my lips, biting them to keep them closed. I sat back on the chair and regretted saying anything.

She blinked and shook her head, as if she were ridding herself of the entire story. “Alright, fine. As much as I want to intervene, I won’t because who knows what's going to happen in the next six weeks until I can get there and knock some sense into you and Milo.”

I shook my head. She would, too.

“The other night,” I began, “I was being really hard on myself, and my mind just kept racing.”

“You should have called me,” Ophelia interrupted.

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