A Lover's Lament

“Excu—” I pull the phone back and stare at it.

Did he just hang up on me?

“Katie?” I look up at the sound of my mom’s soft voice and find her standing in the doorway of the kitchen. “Is everything okay?”

“Josephine passed away.”

“Oh no,” she croons, stepping further into the room. “What happened?”

“I …” It hits me all at once that I didn’t even bother to ask him how his mom died, and I instantly forget that I’m mad at him. “I don’t know.”

“How’s Devin holding up?”

“Not good, from the sounds of it,” I answer, looking down at my phone and then up at her. “He’s shutting down.” I should know. I was the queen of shutting down for several months. “I can hear it in his voice.”

“Well, then it’s a good thing he has you, isn’t it?” she says, pulling me into her arms. “Because you know a little something about that, and maybe you’ll be able to help when you get to him.”

“How did you know I was going to him?” I ask, pulling away from her just a fraction.

“Because you love him.”

“He’s your lobster,” Maggie sings, sashaying into the room with Bailey following close behind.

Mom laughs and gives her a sidelong glance. “You and that damn lobster.”

“Hey,” she says, holding up her hands, “blame Phoebe.” She walks up to the table and grabs my work schedule. “What’s this for?”

Mom fills her and Bailey in on what little I told her, and then Maggie turns to me. “I’m off those days; I’ll pick them up for you.”

“Really? Maggie, you just made my freakin’ year.” Stepping out of Mom’s arms, I walk straight over to Maggie and pull her in for a hug.

“That’s what friends are for. Plus, Sean is out of town, so the extra work will keep me out of trouble.”

“I love you, Mags. You know that, right?”

“Of course you do,” she says and laughs, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. “What’s not to love? I’m amazing.”

“And conceited,” Bailey mumbles, earning herself a slap on the arm from Mom.

“I’ll owe you big time,” I say at the same time Maggie pulls away from me.

“Nope.” Gripping my shoulders, she spins me around and leads me to my bedroom. “You owe me nothing.” Pulling my suitcase from the closet, she tosses it on the bed and opens it up. “You’re my best friend, Kit Kat, and I want you to be happy. Now get packed and then I’ll help you book a flight.”

“Thank you.”

“You can thank me when you see the lingerie I’ve got waiting for you at home. I’ll get it for you later, but you’re taking it with you.”

“First, I’m not taking lingerie with me.” Because how fucking embarrassing would that be if I took lingerie and then we didn’t even … bowchickawowwow. “Second, why in the world do you have lingerie for me? You just found out about this trip.”

“It was something I picked up for your bachelorette party, but since you went all Runaway Bride on me, I figure I’ll give it to you now.”

“I didn’t go all Runaway Bride,” I argue, giving her my best pouty face.

“Semantics.” She waves her hand through the air, and I can’t help but laugh at her crazy ass. “There was going to be a wedding, now there’s not. We don’t really need to hash it out any more, especially since you’ve got more important things to do.”

Spinning on her heel, Maggie walks out of the room and I’m left staring at my empty suitcase, wondering what in the hell I’m going to pack. My gaze drifts to the picture of Devin and me that’s tucked in the frame of my mirror. I walk over to my dresser, pick up the photo and run my thumb across it.

“Ten years,” I whisper to myself. Closing my eyes, I send a silent prayer up to the big man … God, or my Dad … right about now, I’ll take either one.