Page 98

“Iamcapable of growth, Winnie,” he replied with a sigh.
“Buthow?Therapy? A really good self-help book on empathy?”
“A little of all of it, but I realized that I was in the wrong about a year after it happened. Everyone knew something went south between you two, and Amma asked me if I knew what had happened. When I told her the truth, she went off on me.”
“I knew she was a smart woman.”
“I tried to apologize but the damage was done,” Nick continued. “Alden wouldn’t look twice at Stella, and she was five seconds away from yelling at him at every event. I kept inviting you both to things because I hoped you would talk. But Alden is a great listener, apparently.”
“I tend to be when I’m threatened with losing a friend.”
Nick winced. “Yeah. I would be too.”
“I was terrified of even looking at her foryears.”
“You didn’t have to be. You and Stella are made for each other. I was too blinded by what Ithoughtyou should be.”
I blew out a breath, the weight of this conversation hitting me. There was no fight. Nick didn’t hate me.
And most importantly, I had Stella.
A gentle hand landed on my shoulder.
“Alden?” she asked. “Are you okay?”
“I’m ... I’m good. Still mad that we wasted so much time” —my eyes moved to Nick—“but thank you for not repeating past mistakes. You realized and admitted you were wrong. Not a lot of people do that.”
“You’ve had a lot of shitty people in your life, Alden. I hate that I was one of them. I had this idea that we were a family but never looked to see what you two were feeling.”
“So you were fine with them dating this whole time?” Winnie asked.
“I felt weird about the age gap at first, especially when we were all at different points in our lives. But that’s not my decision to make. I should have never stepped in.”
“How did you miss the massive crush Stella had on him?”
“I—Winnie!” Stella’s voice was sharp with embarrassment.
“You were obvious,” she replied, rolling her eyes.
“I was blind,” Nick said. “I still am sometimes. But Amma set me straight, and we’ve been trying to get this fixed ever since.”
“You didn’t even do it in the end,” Stella said. “It was a weird twist of fate with the snowstorm.”
Nick opened his mouth, but then shut it. “Yeah,” he said after a moment, “that whole thing was unplanned.”
Stella narrowed her eyes. “Itwasa twist of fate, right?”
“Nick, what did you do?” I asked.
“I may have sent Stella when Amma told me she was asking you to come over.”
“You planned this?” Stella nearly yelled.
“Oh myGod.”Winnie’s palm pressed to her mouth as she tried not to laugh. “Usually, Nick isn’t funny, but this is hilarious. You trapped them together?”
“It was the only way! And it worked,” he said. “Look at them!”
I scrubbed a hand over my face, struggling to name the mix of emotions I was feeling. Anger. Hurt. Relief. Happiness.