“What?”
“I understand why you did. It still hurts like hell, but I understand you were lonely and all that goes with it. You’re human.”
He searched my eyes with his and I didn’t miss the tears forming in them. I could feel them in mine too.
“Please forgive me,” he choked out.
“Only if you forgive me.”
We both started crying, and then he pulled me into his arms and hugged me. After a long minute, we stepped back from each other, wiped off our faces, and then smiled matching weary smiles.
“Before you leave, will you tell me one thing?” I asked.
“No, I’m not in love with Emma.”
“How did you know I was gonna ask you that?”
“Because I would wanna know if I was in your position.”
Graham leaned down, kissed me on the forehead, and then started walking to his truck. I didn’t call out his name like before, though. I just watched him go. But right before he pulled out of the driveway, he rolled down his window and looked back at me.
“Stevie, I’m still in love with you and always will be,” he said.
Then he drove away.
4
#changeofscenery
Stevie
“HAVE YOU GOTa few minutes, Melissa?” I asked, peeking my head into her office.
“Absolutely. Come on in.”
I closed the door behind me and then sat down in one of the chairs next to her desk.
“I can’t do this anymore,” I sighed out.
Melissa’s eyebrows pulled together. “Can’t do what anymore?”
“Be here at this office, in my house—in Austin. I need to leave. I need to start over someplace else.”
“Stevie, please don’t make any major decisions without really thinking things through.”
“But you see, I have. I’ve been thinking about a change of scenery for the past three months.”
“Is it your divorce that’s made you feel like doing this or is it something else?”
“It’s my divorce plus the fact that I keep running into Graham and Emma. I’ve seen them at the grocery store, the mall, the carwash, the post office, the oil and lube place that I’ve always gone to and they’ve even been at the park where I take myruns. I should’ve known that was gonna happen since we all live in the same area of Austin.”
“I wish you’d told me about those run-ins happening sooner than today because I would’ve rerouted you to my side of town and happily gone shopping with you.”
“I appreciate it, but there was no point in telling you or anybody about it. Here’s the deal, though. I cannot handle running into Graham and Emma again. Every time I do, it feels as if I’m being stabbed through my heart, and I don’t wanna feel that kind of pain anymore. I can’t.”
Melissa walked around her desk and sat down in the chair next to mine.
“Have you thought about where you’d like to relocate?”