Poison & Wine - Melissa Toppen Page 0,1

that she thought I would like, I quickly dismissed the idea. But after a lot of convincing on her part, I finally caved and agreed to meet him. We hit it off instantly and the rest is history.

But don’t get me wrong, as good as it is, I’m not hearing wedding bells in my near future or anything. Hell, he only just met Ellie for the first time a couple of months ago after eight months of dating. But if things continue to progress the way they are, I’m not ruling out the possibility of a real future with him.

Me: Not yet. Still waiting. How’s work?

I watch the dots bounce across the screen.

Lance: It’s work.

Another message quickly follows.

Lance: Let me know when you’re heading home. Maybe we can meet for a late lunch if you have time.

Me: I can’t today. I told Gianna that I would pick Ellie up early since I’m not working.

Lance: Dinner?

I hesitate to agree. It’s not that I don’t want to see him, I do. But after seeing Jace I don’t know what that will do to my state of mind. I might need a little bit to process everything. Then again, isn’t that exactly what I want to avoid? Giving Jace the power to turn my life upside down like he’s done so many times before?

Me: Sounds good.

Jace gets this. He gets me here. That’s all I’m giving him. And nothing more. When I leave here today, it’s back to my normal life. And dinner with Lance is normal.

Tucking my phone back into my purse, I hug it to my chest. I swear the longer I sit here, the more nervous I become. I just want to get this over with. I need to.

I jump when my phone pings again. Letting out a sigh, I pull it back out of my purse, seeing my cousin’s name on the screen this time.

Keira: How’s it going?

I roll my eyes. Knowing Keira, she’s probably already spoken to Lance, so why she feels the need to message me is beyond me.

Unlike Lance, she wasn’t as supportive of my decision to see Jace. Probably because she was the one who was there to pick up the pieces of my life after Jace blew it up.

She opened her home to me, gave me a place to live while I finished nursing school, and helped me with Ellie. She truly has been a godsend. She’s also the one person that saw firsthand how devastated I was four years ago when I left Jace in Parkview. She’s the one that had to deal with me when I was at my absolute lowest. The one who had to talk me out of going back to Parkview every time the desire to do so became too much to bear.

Being only three years apart, we were always close as kids. And when everything exploded, she was the only person I knew who would give me refuge, no questions asked.

Lord knows I couldn’t have escaped Jace if I’d stayed in Parkview. It’s a hole in the wall town where I’d be forced to see him every day. I knew I’d never have the strength to break away if I didn’t leave. And I couldn’t continue to watch him kill himself.

My mom didn’t understand. She thought I was being dramatic. My twin siblings, Jax and Jocelyn, were only twelve at the time and really too self-absorbed to care. And my dad, well, I haven’t seen him since I was eight, so he didn’t have a say in the matter. He left when the twins were still babies. And when I say he left, I mean he fled town and never looked back.

I guess it isn’t all that different from what I did. Although to be fair, where I’m not particularly close to any of them, I still talk to my mom and siblings every week.

They all love Ellie though, and at the end of the day, that’s all I really care about.

Me: Still waiting.

Keira: Did I mention how bad of an idea I think this is?

Me: Only about a hundred times.

Keira: Well, I’m saying it again. I think this is a huge mistake. What if he tries to pull you back in? What if you see him and all the progress you’ve made is shot? You know his track record. You know he won’t stay clean. What about Ellie?

The mention of my daughter pisses me off. Ellie has nothing to do with this. Jace doesn’t know I have