first the message made no sense. It was as if Drew were using a language Jasper didn’t speak. Then the meaning sank in. The weekly football pool he was in with his friends. He and Drew always had a side bet on the Thursday night game and tonight it was San Francisco and the Rams.
He scrolled through his contacts, then pushed the call button.
“Twenty big ones,” Drew said by way of greeting. “You’re going to owe me, my man. Ha!”
“Can I come over?” Jasper asked.
“Sure. I’m home. What’s wrong?”
“I’ll tell you when I get there.”
Jasper made the short drive to his friend’s house. Drew had the front door open before Jasper had turned off his truck’s engine.
“What’s going on?”
Drew sounded concerned. That was nice, Jasper thought. Having someone who would listen, someone who would care. He hadn’t had a group of friends in a long time. No matter what happened with Renee, he would get through it. He had his writing and Koda and guys like Drew. If things got really bad, he knew how to ask for help. He was a lucky man. Except for the fact that the woman he loved had kicked him to the curb.
“I told Renee I was in love with her,” he said. “It didn’t go well.”
Drew motioned for him to come inside. “I’m sorry. I thought things were going good with her.”
“I did, too. I tell myself it’s because she’s not ready, but what do I know?”
He followed Drew into the family room of the large house. His friend got him a beer, then joined him on the sofa. The game was on the big TV up on the wall but the sound was muted.
“Start at the beginning,” his friend said.
Jasper told him about the one-sided conversation and how Renee had accused him of breaking the rules. He didn’t mention the heavy weight of sadness or how all his hope was gone.
“It wasn’t supposed to get serious,” he said. “She’s right about that. I just thought things had changed. I guess they had, but only for me.”
He thought about all the times she’d made it clear that she wasn’t interested in getting involved. She never talked about getting married or having kids. Maybe she’d been telling the truth all along.
“I should have listened,” he said. “I should have paid attention to what she was saying.”
“It’s not wrong to love her,” Drew told him. “It’s a gift.”
“Renee’s not big on gifts.”
“Want to stay here tonight? We have a guest room.”
“Thanks, but I need to get back to Koda.” He’d promised his dog he wouldn’t be gone all night. Plus, he knew there was no way he was sleeping. Not with a Renee-sized hole in his heart.
* * *
RENEE COULDN’T REMEMBER the last time she’d felt so awful. Maybe after Turner had broken off his engagement to her, but she wasn’t sure. Because as much as that had hurt, she’d known the reason had very little to do with her. Yes, her mother’s ability was weird, but was it really a reason to dump and run? Or had Turner been looking for an out all along?
She’d never gotten the answer to that question and now, as she huddled on the floor in her bathroom, wondering if she was going to throw up her breakfast the way she’d thrown up her dinner the previous night, she knew that in many ways, this was different. Worse. Because not only was she desperately missing Jasper, she knew she only had herself to blame.
Last night she’d been able to get by on righteous indignation. The man had broken the rules. He taken their perfectly wonderful relationship and twisted it into something she couldn’t recognize. He’d been wrong and horrible and how dare he tell her he love her! What was up with that?
But this morning there was too much sadness for her to be mad. She knew she’d done the right thing and now she had to deal with the painful consequences.
She leaned against the side of the bathtub and waited for her stomach to settle. It wasn’t as if she could have responded any other way. She’d been burned too many times. Every relationship she’d ever had had failed.
Not with her mom, of course, but that was different. They were family. And her friendships here in Happily Inc were good. She loved working with Pallas and now they were going to be business partners. But her last serious boyfriend had lied about being married and there was Turner