jobs were going. Bella remained uncharacteristically quiet. More than that, she wouldn’t hold eye contact with me for more than a few seconds.
“Can I say something before we leave the table. I didn’t expect everyone to be here tonight, but it actually feels like the right time to make this announcement.”
Everyone eyed me suspiciously.
Too suspiciously.
What was going on?
“After much thought and careful consideration, I have decided to close the store at the end of the year.” Just like that … a hundred pounds lifted from my shoulders.
Linc reached over and covered my hand with his. “We know. Well, we didn’t know for sure that you were planning on it and had set an actual date. But we were going to suggest it.”
“Uh … we?” I gave him a narrow-eyed inspection before sweeping my gaze around the table. So many sad and pained faces.
“It’s kinda why we’re all here tonight.” Chase eyed Bella briefly before returning his focus to me.
I laughed nervously. “What do you mean? You arranged everyone to be here to suggest I close the store?”
“Not just the store.” Finn took his turn speaking. “This is more like an intervention.”
Bella … she kept her gaze on her plate with a half-eaten piece of pizza on it.
“An intervention?” My eyes widened. “For … what?”
“Sweetie,” Mom gave me that motherly, overly sympathetic look, “we know.”
“Know what?”
Bella squirmed, but she still wouldn’t look at me.
“We know about your young boyfriend. And the breakdown you had at the young man’s store. We know you’ve been showing signs of mental distress at your grief group. Unwarranted anger. And…” she shot Craig’s parents a quick glance “…we know you asked Craig for a divorce right before he was in the car accident.”
Oh.
My.
God.
A fucking intervention? It had to be a joke. I did nothing wrong. I wasn’t crazy. I wasn’t losing it. I was honest. I was human.
I immediately gauged Linc’s and Chase’s reaction. Were they mad I never told them the truth? And Craig’s parents … that news and the news of me closing their store.
But nobody looked mad or disappointed, just painfully sympathetic. Except Bella … she bled shame with her complete avoidance of me.
She was the rat.
And I wasn’t mad at her. I was really confused because I was good. I did all the things I needed to do.
Closing the store.
Breaking up with Kael.
Confessing to my grief recovery group.
And I was going to come clean to Linc and Chase right after Christmas.
I. Was. Good.
What in the hell happened?
I thought Bella and I were good.
“I see …”
I didn’t actually. It was all a blur, mass confusion running rampant in my head.
“So …” I drew in a long breath. “What exactly are you intervening? Because I’m not in my group anymore. Tonight was my last night. I’m not with the younger man anymore. I already said I was closing the store. What’s left for me to do?”
“We want you to come to Arizona with us so that we can take care of you. Just until you recover.” Mom glanced at my dad as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
“Take care of me? Recover?” I couldn’t hide my reaction. Just totally aghast. “You can’t be serious.” I was planning on moving to Arizona after Bella graduated, just temporarily—and not for anyone to take care of me because I needed to recover from anything.
“It’s just that your actions have been a little reckless. And not everyone experiences grief at the same rate. And given the fact that you were unhappy in your marriage before Craig died, well … all the more reason for your timeline of grieving to be off or delayed. When we’re grieving, we’re not always ourselves.” Mom eyed the kids as if to let them know she had things under control … she would make me see why I needed an intervention. And my kids seemed comforted by her doing that. Finally, a solid mother figure taking charge.
I waited for it all to sink in because it was really hard to swallow. Had I been that bad? “I was honest with the women at church, and in return … they felt safe to be honest too. And I never wanted to take over the store. So … I don’t see what I’ve done wrong.”
Craig’s poor parents. I wasn’t sure how much they were following everything or how much my family had disclosed to them before dragging them into such a mess. They didn’t need to know about me and Craig, not like that.