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And our relationship had only grown closer as I grew up. As an adult, I spent a few nights a week at my dad’s house, either cooking dinner for him or showing up with takeout. Losing my dad was something I was still reeling from. It had been so unexpected. And then there was the breakup ...
I realized a few months ago that losing my dad had also been the beginning of the end for my engagement to John. After my dad died, I realized that life was too short to spend time with people I didn’t truly love.
“What if there’s nothing here for me anymore?”
Sometimes, when I felt especially confused, I found myself talking out loud in this old building. It wasn’t like I believed in ghosts or expected my dad to talk back or anything. But this hardware store had always been my safe space. If I was going to voice my deepest and darkest secrets, there was no better place than these aisles of household goods.
Sometimes, when I thought about losing my dad and ending my engagement all in the span of a year, I wondered why I still lived in Maplewood. I had Liz and my business. Both of those things were going great. But there wasn’t much else here for me. Sometimes I couldn’t help wondering if there was something more out there I was meant to find.
My phone buzzed in my purse, and I fished it out to see that Liz was calling me. No doubt she would ask why I’d bailed on the open house. I could only hope things hadn’t gotten too crazy and that Liz had been able to manage on her own.
“I know,” I said as I picked up the phone. “I’m sorry I left.”
“We got an offer!” Liz cried out, not even listening to my apology. “Three offers, actually. But one of them is really promising.”
“How promising?” I asked, catching on to Liz’s excitement through the phone.
“How’s ten thousand over asking for you?”
Liz and I screamed into the phone, and I bounced with excitement.
“That’s amazing,” I said. “I’m telling you, you really are the best closer in the business.”
“I think it’s time we put it on my business cards.”
“Maybe a plaque?”
“And definitely my own parking space.”
I laughed with Liz, relishing the high that came from doing our jobs well and reaping the benefits.
“But seriously, Liz, I’m sorry I bailed. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“First you and then Callum. Good thing I’m pretty good at handling crowds. It got busy there today!”
“Callum ditched you too?”
“Right after you left,” Liz explained. “I think he got a phone call, and he’s always been a walker. He can’t stay still, you know. Where he ended up is anyone’s guess.”
“You lost your rock-star brother on his first day in town?”
“It sounds bad when you say it like that,” Liz laughed.
“Just don’t let the tabloids find out.”
“He’ll turn up,” Liz assured me. “They always come back when they’re hungry.”
There was a brief silence on the line and then Liz asked, “Are you okay?”
I sighed, realizing I had been asking myself that very question only a few minutes ago.
“I’m fine,” I tried to assure her. “I don’t know why I got so freaked out when Callum showed up. It was just … unexpected.”
“I should have told you he was coming. I really misjudged that one.”
“A little bit,” I chuckled.
“I thought you might be excited.”
