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And for someone whose circle had gotten way too small, it was nice to talk to more people.
“So, we’ve been meaning to ask,” Nancy began, “how are things after the migraine?”
“Did he actually talk to you, or is he still pretending everything is fine?” Isra asked.
“First of all, I overheard you calling him out on that.”
“I thought so.”
“And yes, I made him talk it out. And told him if he wants me to open up, he needs to do the same. We’re partners.”
“I’msoglad he met you,” Nancy said, grabbing my shoulder. “We were worried he’d never settle down!”
“Never settle down?” I asked with a laugh. “I’m sure he’d find someone eventually.”
“We were worried. For a while, he only cared about that little rival he had in high school and college. I can’t remember his name, but they were at each other’s throats.”
“Was it Calvin?” I asked.
“Yep, that’s it!” Nancy said with a laugh. “He was working himself way too hard then. I’m glad he grew out of it.”
“Um, yeah. He did. He still hates the guy, though.”
“Have you heard about him?”
“He’s my brother.”
The car lapsed into silence before Isra laughed. “That’s the way to win a rivalry, then!”
Nancy chuckled too, but I could only manage a smile. Thoughts of revenge floated in my mind, and though Levi had told me that wasn’t what this was for, hearing his family make ties to it made me wonder.
“It makes sense, though,” Isra added. “I kept asking when he would settle down, but he said he was waiting for one woman. That must have been you.”
“It’s so cute!” Nancy added.
“Y-yeah. Cute.”
My grip on the steering wheel tightened. I’d momentarily forgotten that he had been texting someone else.
All of my happiness came crashing down. If he’d told his family years ago that he was waiting on one woman, then it had to be the one he had sent all of those messages to on the honeymoon.
I knew he wasn’t cheating. He spent too much time with me to, but what it did tell me was that I was his second choice.
And that seemed to be the story of my life.
What if she changed her mind and chose him? Would he leave me for the one he waited for? What if he regretted choosing me in the end, especially if my migraines got bad again?
“I’m happy to see him happy,” Nancy was saying, unaware of my internal freak-out. “It’s what we were waiting for after all. I kept telling him to give up on her and go after someone else, but he was right to wait.”
“Yeah,” I said, trying to seem okay. “I bet it was.”
I distractedmyself in the garden for the rest of the day, but what Nancy and Isra had told me in the car weighed heavily on me. I needed to ask him who the other woman was. I needed to know for sure what he’d wanted the last nine years while we’d been apart.
Levi got home at five, and I was still in the garden when his car door shut. I leaned back on my heels, taking a shaky breath before he found me.
“I thought you were taking a break from gardening,” he said only moments later.
My legs didn’t feel the soreness anymore. I was too busy thinking about what I’d learned in the car.