said out loud how much Eric’s return had meant. That after the dust had settled, and especially after he and Jane were put through the traumas of the spring, I had realized just how much both of them meant to me.
Family. Real family.
It was a gift, not something to be stonewalled.
“Okay,” I said in a voice even I could hardly hear. “Yes. I do love him. Very—very much.”
Skylar and Jane both beamed with satisfaction. But each word caused a fissure in my heart.
“But…that doesn’t really matter,” I continued. “Because we both know it won’t work in the end.”
Oh, it did hurt to admit it out loud. To have witnesses to my tragedy. But for some reason, I thought Jane and Skylar in particular could understand. After seeing them both with their spouses, it was clear they knew what it meant to meet the soul of your heart. They could imagine what it meant to have it ripped away too.
I proceeded to explain exactly why Matthew and I both understood our relationship was destined for failure. Skylar and Jane both looked like they wanted to argue several times, but by the end, both wore twin resigned expressions that told me they had come to the same conclusions.
Skylar’s large green eyes shone with pity. Jane, however, wasn’t done.
“Okay,” she said. “Matthew aside…what about your marriage? Just because you can’t ride into the sunset with a dashing Italian doesn’t mean you should stay in a loveless marriage.”
“I agree,” Skylar rejoined. “Not that you need my opinions necessarily, but I do.”
I bit my lip, wondering for a moment if I should tell them just why I had no real choice in the matter. At least not until the trial was over.
But before I could speak, Jane reached out a hand and covered mine. The simple touch shook me to the core.
Matthew had once done the same, in the exact same way, the first night we met. He had been actively trying to charm me at the bar that night, but it wasn’t until his pretenses dropped and true compassion emerged that I had known I had no chance of fighting the inevitable.
Do you know how long it’s been since someone held my hand? I had asked.
Jane’s gesture too was simply out of friendship. And it touched me nearly as deeply.
“You did what needed to be done,” she repeated. “So this is me doing what needs to be done for you. Nina, please hear this, from the bottom of my heart. You deserve to be happy.”
My lower lip began to tremble, and so, before I lost things completely, I pulled my hand back and buried my face in my palms. What was happening to me? When had I become so transparent?
Even more, when had I stopped caring?
Since him.
It was true. Knowing Matthew had changed everything. Even if he wasn’t the path toward that happiness, like Jane, he had come to make me believe I deserved it too.
When that might happen, I still didn’t know. But I determined to find it somehow.
“Thank you,” I said. “I have a lot to think about. And I promise you, I will.”
“Thank you so much for the use of the cottage,” I told Skylar again when we were on our way back to the main house. I had considered offering to stay at a hotel, but found I actually wanted to accept the Sterlings’ hospitality. “I’ll try not to infringe on you for too long. I’m going to visit my house in Newton tomorrow, so hopefully I can be out of your hair by the end of the weekend.”
Skylar shook her head. “It’s no trouble at all, really. I meant what I said. Stay as long as you like.”
I shook my head, still shocked by how extraordinarily open she was. The richest people I knew didn’t like opening their homes, which were large enough that several families could live in them for days without seeing each other, for more than a day or two, even to good friends. It was hard to imagine having friends as loyal as Brandon and Skylar, Eric and Jane, and Matthew all seemed to be to each other. I was coming to realize that the relationships I’d worked so hard to maintain most of my life were nothing but mirages. I couldn’t trust any of them to be real.
As if she read my mind, Skylar set a friendly hand on my shoulder.
“I know it’s a complicated situation,” she said. “But you can trust us. I