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“Amma wants the snow of her youth,” I said. “People always make a big deal of weather and it never turns out to be anything.”
“She’s really thinking it’ll be serious this time. She even wanted my help clearing her porch.”
That made me pause. “She asked for help?”
It wasn’t like Amma to ask for anything, even though she probably should have assistance in her older age.
“Yeah, but I can’t. I have work, and then I need to go get your stuff.”
“Why didn’t you ask me?”
“I was going to, but you called to ask me to come get you.”
“I’ll go ... but can you drop me off before work?”
“Of course I can.”
“And pick me up?”
“Yep.” He glanced over at me with a smile. “How much is it killing you to have to ask for so much?”
“A six out of ten. I’m still feeling too miserable for my pride to stop me.”
“You’re not having any feelings of rage or anything?”
“No.”
The car lapsed into silence and I glanced over to see his lips were pursed. “You know you’re not going to be miserable for long, right?”
“No, I don’t know that. For one thing, I might stay single forever at this rate.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“Want to place a bet?”
Nick always loved putting money on odds—no matter how much they were out of his favor.
But he shook his head. “No, I’ve got enough bets going on right now.”
“Enough bets? What kind are you in on?”
“I’ll tell youafterthe snowstorm.”
“I hope you didn’t put your money on us getting snow.”
“No. I put it on something much more fun.”
I didn’t sleepwell that night. I dreamed of all the things I could have said to Reed and woke up with a miserable feeling of regret that I’d saidnothing.
When I got up and looked in the mirror, I didn’trecognize myself. Sure, I was in my own clothes, but the frown etched on my lips wasn’t my usual, and my silence felt wrong.
Sure, I wasn’t Winnie. I wasn’t a powerhouse of a woman who created her own company from the ground up. But I was more vocal thanthis.
I’d gone after Alden Canes for crying out loud, and itworked.I got my RA to approve a roommate change request so I could room with Winnie when my first one talked shit about me behind my back. I’d opened my own business, worked with some of the worst bridezillas, andheld my own.
I wasn’t a runner until I met Reed. But now I didn’t know how to stop.
When I left the room, I planned to brew a cup of coffee and research ways to overcome a breakup. The emptiness I felt couldn’t be normal.