Everything was going well at work. I just wished my personal life would match. Then everything would be perfect.
~*~*~
“He misses you,” Rory said that night as we ate tacos. My cooking had gone from fancy to comfort food. So far this week I’d made several soups, shepherd’s pie, and macaroni and cheese. If I kept it up I was going to actually have to start working out, and that was something I definitely didn’t want to do.
Rory didn’t need to tell me who “he” was. I knew.
“How do you know?” I asked, setting my taco back on my plate.
“He hasn’t said anything. It’s just a feeling. I just know.”
“Can you sense his aura?” I asked, and then cringed. “Sorry, I sound like a bitch.”
“No, it’s okay. He’s a touchy subject. I should probably warn you or something when I’m going to bring him up. Maybe we can agree on a signal?”
“How about you raise your hand?”
“Cool. That works.” She raised her hand.
“Yes, Rory.”
“He misses you,” she said again. “Before, he was just a mess. Now he’s a depressed mess, and it’s so much worse. By the way, he’s growing a beard.”
A beard. She really shouldn’t have told me that. Ryder would look so hot with a beard. A part of me wished I could see it and get the full effect. But that would probably shake my resolve. I couldn’t let that happen. Not until I’d built up an impenetrable wall between us.
“Well, there’s not really anything I can do about it. I can’t have him in my life now, Rory. He messes things up.”
“I know, I know. I just wish . . . I can’t imagine how much this must be hurting you. I wish I could do something to fix it.” Rory loved fixing things and making them right. But no one could fix this, not even Ryder.
“I’m hurting, but I’ll get over it. I’m strong.”
“Oh, I know you are. But it’s him I worry about. He’s in this dark pit and he’s dragging Lucah down with him. I don’t know what to do.” Her voice started to shake. I reached to grab her a tissue from the box I kept on the coffee table.
“No, I’m fine,” she said, waving me off.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” She shook herself and wiped her eyes. “It’s just a lot sometimes.”
“I bet. You can stay here anytime you need to. Even if it’s overnight.”
“Thanks, that means a lot. Oh, I think I finally picked my wedding colors.” She started smiling. Yay, wedding talk. Much better than Ryder talk.
“And?” I asked. I was fully prepared to make suggestions. I had a whole list of potential color combinations.
“Well, red, definitely. And I was thinking black for the secondary color. Or maybe a light blue?” She didn’t seem absolutely sure.
“Well, red and black would be nice and classy, but they might be a little dark, unless you want to have an evening wedding. I think the red and light blue would be lovely. Especially considering Lucah has blue eyes.” I was already making the bridesmaids’ dresses in my head.
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.” She pulled out her phone and showed me some of the things she’d bookmarked.
“Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve been looking things up when I feel like my head is going to explode during work,” she whispered, as if one of her coworkers was going to burst in and call her out for planning her wedding during office hours.
“Do you have a theme?” I asked.
“Well, I keep thinking I’ve made up my mind and then I find something else. I need my maid of honor to help me,” she said, grinning at me.
“At your service, ma’am.” I saluted her and then got out my laptop. I’d already bookmarked some things for her.