Page 77 of The Broken Hearts Club

“You talked. I pretended to listen.” He sighed, and the sleeping baby shifted against his chest as Jeannie teased, “You know you love it. I saw you light up when little Maddy called you that.”

“It was cute coming from a toddler.”

“It’s cute in general, and in this family we all have nicknames. Get used to it.”

Miller got up and tried to frown, but he couldn’t quite manage to hide his grin. He loved being a part of this family. It was obvious. “I’m going to finish loading the van,” he said, “because we’ll need to get going soon.”

I asked, “Can I help?”

“Definitely not. Don’t make me remind you yet again that you’re not supposed to lift anything over ten pounds.”

I smiled at him and said, “The baby weighs less than ten pounds. Gimme.”

I draped a flannel baby blanket over my shoulder, and Miller carefully shifted the sleeping infant from his chest to mine. She was soft and warm, and she had that wonderful new baby smell.

After Miller went inside, Jeannie told me, “I’m going to miss you like crazy, but it’s such a good thing that you’re going back to San Francisco. It’s where you’re meant to be, and you and Miller belong together.”

“I’m madly in love with him, Jeannie.”

“I know, and he totally adores you. For the record, I knew you loved each other way before you two finally got around to admitting it.”

“You did?”

“It was so obvious.”

“I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

Jeannie reached over and squeezed my hand. “Maybe Miller is the universe’s way of balancing out the bad things that happened in your life. That was a whole lot of terrible, but now here’s someone truly amazing to make up for it.”

“He really is amazing, isn’t he?”

“For sure. I’ve been watching him with you, and with the kids, and even with your obnoxious cat. He’s been nothing but kind and patient, and he has so much love to give. He’s exactly what I always wanted for you.”

“Speaking of great guys, do you think there might be a future for you and Dwight? Because he’s incredibly sweet, not to mention smoking hot.”

A blush colored her cheeks as she grinned and said, “He’s pretty great, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to him. But I’m two weeks out of a decade-long relationship, so he knows I need to take this super slow. He’s good with that, and with just being friends until I’m ready for it to turn into something more. In fact…”

“What?”

“We were talking on the phone last night after the kids went to bed. I told him I’m thinking about moving to Albuquerque to be closer to my parents and sister, and he said he’d been considering a move to a bigger city. He asked me what I thought about him moving there, too.”

“Oh, wow! Would you two move in together?”

“No. It’s way too soon for something like that. He’d get an apartment nearby, and we’d keep doing whatever it is that we’re doing.”

“Building an amazing friendship that’ll probably turn into the greatest love of your life. That’s what you’re doing.”

“Yeah,” she said softly, “that might be exactly what this is.”

“And I love the idea of Albuquerque! I know how much you’ve been missing your family.”

“I have, and I’m ready for a fresh start. It’s kind of scary to think about leaving here, since I’ve lived in this house literally all my life. It’s almost like a security blanket. But when I was talking to Miller about all the things that were good about San Francisco, and all the things I wanted for you, I realized I want that stuff for myself and my kids, too—job opportunities, and art, and diversity, and just more of everything. Also, I want to live someplace where the culinary scene doesn’t begin and end with a place called the Chicken Bucket.”

I chuckled and said, “For real, though.” Then I asked, “Have you talked to your parents about this yet?”

“Yeah, briefly. I called them last night, and my dad said they’d do everything they could to help me with the move, including selling this place and using the money to buy a house in New Mexico for me and the kids.”

“So, there’s nothing stopping you.”