Page 43 of Another Love, Another Time

Auggie

“Where’s River today?” Mackey asks after seeing that I’m riding solo.

“She took the week off. She had to drive down to St. Louis to pick up her husband.” I’m a little nervous to meet him.

She showed me a picture of him. I’m jealous this guy has had her for the last five years, even if it was only as friends.

On the other hand, he’s important to her, so I want to make a good impression.

I want to tell Mackey about their relationship.

She hasn’t told anyone on the team that I’m aware of.

She asked me not to say anything to anyone about her marriage, especially if he was going to meet everyone.

Nobody needed to know their business. But she did say I could tell Mackey about their divorce.

“How do you feel about that?” he inquires.

I shrug. “I’m good with it.” I pause, not knowing if I should tell Mackey the rest of it. I can tell he notices something’s off. He saw me after I found out she was married. He can see right through me.

He narrows his eyes. “You seem to be doing well, knowing that her husband will be here.” He pauses, gauging my response. He doesn’t get the reaction he’s looking for. “Good thing River is all moved into her new house. Maybe they can christen it.” He laughs when he hears me grunt.

I didn’t want to say anything, but I have a feeling that he’ll continue to give me shit if I don’t. “He’s not going to be her husband for much longer,” I snap back.

“What do you mean?” He cocks his head, waiting for me to respond.

“I think they both realized that they are better as friends, and they made the decision to get a divorce.”

“And he’s staying with her while he’s visiting?” I nod. He goes on, “I’m glad they’ll keep in touch, but that might make it a little weird this weekend, right? That still on?”

“Yeah. She’d like everyone to meet him, but I don’t think she wants everyone to know they are getting a divorce. She said she didn’t care if I told you. She knows you can keep to yourself.”

“Sure. It’s her business.” I nod again, not knowing what else to say. He continues, “Well, knowing that she’s now getting a divorce, what are you going to do about it?”

“I’m not sure. I have a lot to make up for.”

“Do you still love her?” he asks.

“Yeah, man. I do.”

“Then, you need to act like that. Letting psycho live with you is not the way.”

I rub my hands down my face. “I know I need to get her out. I’ve let this go on for too long.”

“Is Melissa going to be there this weekend? Aren’t they family?”

“Hell no. River would never invite her. Just because they’re related doesn't mean they get along. You have no idea the shit that went on between them when they were growing up.”

“It sounds like you’re the thing that got between them. Hearing that, I can’t believe you ever went there, especially when you talk about how special River is.”

“I know. It’s just hard. Melissa was there for me when I needed someone to kick my ass in gear. I never would have graduated from college if she hadn’t made sure I didn’t get up every morning and go to class. I feel like I owe her, at least to be her friend.”

“I get that, but is she who you want? Because if she’s not, it’s not fair to her.

You know I’m not a fan, but if you have any respect for her, I would make it very clear that you do not want to be with her romantically.

It might be a good idea to ask her to move out.

I mean, the chick feels like she has some kind of claim on you, and in the year that we have known each other, I have never once seen you say anything against her until River showed up. So, what’s the deal?”

“To be honest, it was just easier to let her get her way than to address the problem. I didn’t want to date anyone, so I didn’t see the harm. I knew we were not together, and I’ve never really said otherwise.”

“Does she know you’re not together? Because I’m telling you, man, she’s been really possessive this last year.”

“We’re roommates and friends. That’s it.”

“Have you slept with her since you lived together?”

“No. I knew I couldn’t go there.” I add under my breath, “Not after the last time in college.”

“Look, it’s clear she has feelings for you, but if you ever want to make it work with River, Melissa cannot live with you.

You need to ask her to move out. How would you feel if River were living with a guy she claimed was just her friend?

” He points at me. “Make sure psycho is clear where you guys stand in your friendship. I’m telling you that girl thinks you’re hers. ”

“I know. I know. I’ll take her out to dinner tonight and let her know that she needs to start looking for a new place.”

“I don’t think you need to take her out. Just tell her when you see her tonight.”

“No. I need to break it to her gently. She’s been a good friend, and I don’t want to hurt her feelings.”

“Do what you think is right. I just know if you ever want your chance with River, you can’t have both of them in your life.”

I rub the back of my neck. “I just don’t want to hurt her feelings.”

He stands up and squeezes my shoulder. “No one does, Aug.” He heads to his car.

This is not going to be fun. I pull out my phone and send Melissa a text.

Auggie: You free for dinner tonight? I need to talk to you about something.

Melissa: Yes

Auggie: Can you meet me at TJ’s tonight at 7 p.m.?

Mackey was right. I need to be really clear.

~~

I get to TJ’s restaurant ten minutes early. I decide to go in and have the hostess take me to our table. The restaurant looks busy tonight, and I’m surprised when they get me seated right away.

I hear a ping and see a message from Mackey wishing me luck. I look up to see Melissa walking my way in a slim black dress that hugs her body. Her long hair has been curled, and she’s wearing a lot of makeup.

“Hey, Auggie,” she purrs. She must think this is a date. She stands by the table for a minute before finally taking a seat.

This is not going to be a fun conversation.

“Hey, Mel. How was your day?” Before she can respond, the waitress comes up to take our drink orders. I order a sweet tea, and she orders a glass of wine. Once the waitress has taken our order, we turn our attention back to each other.

She responds, “It was good—busy, but good. Yours?”

“Busy too. I’m working on a case, and I was running around every day getting ready for the court case.”

She reaches out and puts her hand over mine. “You work way too hard.”

I pull my hand away. If she cares, she doesn’t say anything.

The waitress is back at the table with our drinks, and we are both ready to order. We put our orders in and make small talk about our day until our food comes, and we dig in. We are in the middle of eating when Melissa puts her fork down.

“So, you wanted to talk to me about something?”

Okay, I guess we are going to do this now. I put my fork and knife down. Earlier, I looked up how to break bad news to people. They recommended starting with two positive things about the person before you give them the bad news.

“Yes.” I wipe my mouth with the cloth napkin and then look her in the eyes. “You know how important you are to me and how much I appreciate everything you did for me in college. I never would have graduated if it weren’t for you.”

She gives me a big smile. “You know I would do anything for you, Auggie.”

“I know that, and I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me. I hope you know that.”

“I do.” She’s still smiling. This is going better than I expected.

“The thing is, now that I’m out of college, I’m ready for the next step in my life.

I’d like to get married and have kids, and I can’t do that with you as my roommate, can I?

Do you understand what I’m saying?” I smile at her, trying to lighten up the conversation.

I really do not want to hurt her feelings.

She’s still smiling. “Yes, I understand what you’re saying.”

“Good, good. Because I don—” I’m cut off when my phone starts to ring. I press the “end call” button, but it starts to ring again. When I look down, I see it’s my captain. I look up. “Crap. I need to answer this.”

“Take your time.”

I get up and walk away. “Hey, Captain,” I answer.

“Hunt, you need to come down to the station. Someone came in wanting to talk to you.”

“I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

“It’s about one of your cases. I know you’re off, but if I were you, I would get your ass down here.”

“Okay. Give me about thirty minutes, and I’ll be there. Make sure they don’t leave.” I turn around and walk back towards the table. “Sorry. I’ve got to go.” I can see she’s a little annoyed, but she covers it up quickly.

“Sure. Is it for work?” she asks.

“Yeah. Can you settle the bill? I’ll pay you back later.” I lean down and kiss the top of her head. “Thanks for understanding my next steps. We will talk more about the details later.”

“Sure thing. See you later.”

And then, I turn and walk out the door. Yeah, that went a lot better than I expected. Mackey was wrong about Melissa.