“Whatever. I hope you come to your senses before you lose a good thing.”
On whose side was her sister? “Goodbye, Iris. Thanks for the call.”
“Get some sleep, Rosie.”
Rose ended the call, then returned to her sofa. Iris was wrong; she wasn’t running scared. She was being cautious. Yes, she missed Donovan. She missed him so much it was killing her. But calling off the relationship now was smarter than waiting for him to end it.
Wasn’t it?
* * *
“You were right, Lil.” Rose sat on the other side of the table from Lily at the downtown restaurant where they were having lunch on Wednesday afternoon.
“That’s always nice to hear.” Lily dro
ve her fork into her garden salad. “What was I right about this time?”
Rose looked around the popular lunch spot. It was located midway between their jobs. It was fortunate they’d arrived early. The crowd of customers waiting to be seated extended to the doorway.
She turned back to her barely touched burger and fries. “I was giving Ben too much power. I was letting my reaction to him and his new wife, and his soon-to-be family dictate how I would spend my reunion. That was stupid.”
“Yes, it was.” Lily took a sip of her ice water with lemon. “But don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s understandable.”
“I have a hard time believing you’d make the same mistake.” Rose dipped a steak fry in a pool of ketchup.
“Ha. Don’t bet on that. It’s always easier to see the solution to someone else’s problem.”
“You should tell that to Iris.” Rose still stung from last night’s argument with her youngest sister. “She thinks I’m handling this entire situation with Van wrong.”
“Why? What are you doing?”
“I’ve decided not to go to my reunion with him.” She sipped her iced tea. “I’m going to go alone.”
“Why?”
Rose looked up in surprise. “I thought you’d be happy with that decision. It’s what you recommended from the beginning.”
“It doesn’t matter what I think.” Lily forked up more salad. “It’s your reunion.”
Rose stared at Lily. She admired her sister’s Zen-like behavior, but sometimes it made her a little crazy. “I decided I didn’t have to bring a guy to my reunion as a measure of my worth or success. Like you said, I’m successful on my own.”
“I’m glad you’ve realized that.”
“Iris thinks I broke things off with Van because I’m running scared.”
“From what?”
“From having my heart broken. And she’s right. But am I wrong for not wanting to go through that again?”
“Of course not.”
“I’m glad someone understands.” Rose dragged the fry through her ketchup. “I have to protect myself.”
“I do understand. But I think you’re both wrong.” Lily finished her salad.
Rose blinked. She hadn’t expected Lily’s comment. Their server arrived to refill Lily’s glass of ice water and top off Rose’s iced tea. She waited until the young woman left with Lily’s empty salad bowl before continuing their conversation. “What are we wrong about?”
Lily met her gaze. “Rosie, you’re right. Ben is a pig.”