The Friendship List(102)

“That’s good.”

“Is it? This is like a ghost house. A ghost lives here and I invited Thaddeus over. What was I thinking?”

“Are you upset about Thaddeus or Stuart?”

“Thaddeus. I was so stupid.”

“You weren’t stupid. You like him. You wanted to keep seeing him. That’s not stupid.”

“Tell that to him.”

Ellen moved next to her on the sofa. “Stop beating up my friend. I love her and you can’t be mean to her.”

“That’s kind of twisted.”

“Maybe, but it’s true.”

Unity looked at her. “Am I broken?”

“Yes.”

“It is fixable?”

“That’s entirely up to you.”

  Ellen was proud of herself for getting through the entire evening with Unity without once mentioning her own heartache. There were times when friendship was a two-way street and times when it went only one way. Unity had needed her and she’d been there.

But the next morning, she woke up feeling sick to her stomach. After starting coffee, she logged onto her email account and saw that once again, there wasn’t anything from Cooper. Since arriving in Los Angeles six days before, he’d texted exactly once to say he’d arrived and that had been it. He’d posted on social media, so she could follow everything he was doing. There were great pictures of a gorgeous house with a massive swimming pool. Jeremy’s daughters were the cutest ever. It was all so perfect and she was over a thousand miles away, stuck in a tiny town, sorting fruit, while her son was having the time of his life and probably planning his future away from her.

She kept herself busy doing chores she usually avoided, like washing the baseboards and polishing the silver tea service her grandmother had left her. She spent the afternoon at the fruit stand, letting the general business there distract her, but when she returned to her empty house, hopelessness descended, nearly smothering her.

She hated how quiet everything was. She hated that no one left dishes in the sink, or drank all the milk without telling her or left sports equipment in the living room. She didn’t want peaceful and tidy, she wanted loud and messy. She wanted Cooper back. Now!

But that wasn’t possible and she still had another week to go. A week she wasn’t sure she could survive without slipping into some form of madness. She pulled out her phone and stared at it. Her fingers twitched as she considered texting him.

“That’s a bad idea,” she said aloud, then unlocked the screen and started typing. She couldn’t bother Unity right now—her friend was in too much pain. That left only one person.

I don’t care that you’re mad at me for some reason. I don’t care that we’re not speaking. Cooper’s gone and I’m freaked out and if you were ever my friend, you’ll come over right now and tell me everything is going to be all right.
For nearly a minute after she sent the message, her screen didn’t change. Then three dots appeared.

I’ll be right there.
She felt a whisper of relief and hope that Keith would help her feel better, then tossed her phone on the sofa and walked outside to sit on the front porch.

In less time than she would have thought, a pickup truck pulled into her driveway and Keith got out. She studied him, taking in the broad shoulders, the familiar face, the easy stride that ate up the distance between them. He didn’t hesitate, instead walking directly toward her. When he was right in front of her, he held open his arms.

She launched herself at him. He grabbed her and held her tight. He was warm and safe and strong and after nearly a week of suffering, she could finally tell herself everything might be okay.

“I hate this,” she said. “I want to call him and tell him to come home.”

“You can’t do that,” Keith said, his lips inches from her ear. “You know his generation can’t handle phone calls. You’d have to do it in a text.”

That made her smile, which should have helped, but instead she started crying. Keith made soothing noises as he guided her into the house and got her to the sofa. They sat down and she buried her face in his shoulder, not exactly sure what she was crying about. Yes, the whole Coop thing was awful, but somehow this breakdown felt bigger. As if she was releasing all kinds of stress and tension she hadn’t known she was carrying.

When she was done, or at least able to stop sobbing, she drew back. “I need tissues.”

“You are a mess, aren’t you?”

He went into the hall bathroom and returned with a box of tissues, then settled next to her, his expression concerned. Ellen mopped her face and blew her nose.

“He’s not going to come back,” she said flatly. “Being with his dad is going to be so fun that he won’t want to come home. I’m waiting for him to tell me he wants to finish out his senior year in LA.” She tossed the tissues on the coffee table and sniffed. “Jeremy can introduce him to all kinds of interesting people. Movie stars and stuff. He can probably get him cast in a sitcom. I can’t compete with that. I’m just his boring mom.” More tears filled her eyes. “I can’t believe I’ve lost him.”

Keith’s gaze was steady. “You about done?”

“I have more but I can pause.”

“You haven’t lost him. Yes, he’s having a good time, but give it a few more days. He’ll be ready to come home.” He touched her shoulder. “You’re his family. His life is here. Once the shine wears off, he’ll see Jeremy for what he is—a guy who didn’t bother for seventeen years.”