I stood in the center of my new living room the next day. My furniture hadn’t arrived yet. But I was so desperate to get out of that hotel, I packed up my duffle bag, bought a sleeping bag and pillow, and camped out in the empty house last night. Luckily for me, Bett was old school. She and her husband purchased the house for their daughter quite a while back but she went off and got married and moved out of state for her dream job. They’d been renting it out ever since, though it didn’t seem like they had had anyone here for a while. They kept the utilities on though, just in case. I signed the paperwork with her that same day and paid the deposit and first month’s rent in cash. She happily handed the keys over.

I decided to call Emma. As predicted, she was both shocked and excited. She was coming over today to see the new place despite telling her I lacked anywhere but the floor to sit. Best friends were good for things like sitting on the floor with you in your new empty house and drinking wine. The thought reminded me that I needed to go to the grocery store. I could let her sit on the floor, but I couldn’t let her starve.

I stood up from my laptop perched next to my sleeping bag and made my way from the bedroom to the kitchen. For a two-bedroom, it was even larger than I expected. It offered plenty of closet space, something I imagine Bett’s daughter updated after moving in. The kitchen and bathroom were also renovated and featured all new tile and appliances. The tub and sinks were both new as well. I liked that they kept the original hardwood floor throughout though. It made the place feel authentic. The living room had built-ins on both sides of the small fireplace I had been informed did in fact work. Off the kitchen was a door leading out to a sunroom, which was probably my favorite thing about this home. Natural light shined in at just the right angle when the sun was going down that I didn’t even have to shade my face. I decided to make it my office even if it was an unconventional space. Why not? Sure, people probably didn’t usually set up their offices in their sunrooms but I knew it was where I wanted it the moment I saw it.

I walked to my fridge and swung open the door. Last night I bought bottled water. Just bottled water. I grabbed one, took a few sips, and put it back. I’d spent part of the morning compiling a grocery list and the rest checking email on my phone. Still nothing from my lawyer. I didn’t really understand what the delay was. I agreed to everything. He got the new car, we sold the house and split it, and he agreed to let me keep the furniture. He didn’t need it where he was going. I’d burned everything else in a trash can after two bottles of wine.

* * *

The grocery store was fairly close as was an array of shops and places that would come in handy. I even saw a gym. Maybe I could join. Granted, I hadn’t done a lot of working out in the last few…years. It was never too late to start back up. I made my way back into the kitchen with both arms full of bags. I always opted for the reusable bags. While I knew I was doing a good thing for the environment, it was mostly because they held a lot more stuff in them and were much easier to carry. But if anyone asked, it was definitely because of the environment. Next door to the market, I found a Target where I bought new dishes, silverware, pans, and some towels. I figured it was enough until I mustered up the motivation to get more. I put everything away fairly quickly and threw the dishes in the dishwasher to give them a rinse before I put them away.

Just a few minutes later, I heard a knock at the door. I checked the time. Emma was half an hour early, which was normal. In the more than dozen years I’d known her, she’d never been late for anything.

I opened the door and there she stood, practically bouncing on her heels with excitement.

“Delilah! I can’t believe you’re here!” Emma wrapped what felt like her entire body around me. She was slightly shorter than me and had always been rather petite in comparison. Her short blonde bob bounced like it had a mind of its own.

“Emma!” I said. “I can’t either, but here I am. Your complete and total wreck of a friend, rebuilding her life from the ground up. Something tells me I need to be in close proximity to my best friend if I’m going to do that.”

Emma gave me her heartfelt tilted head and rubbed my shoulder.

I welcomed her in and gave her a quick tour of the place before we sat down with wine and snacks on the floor of the sunroom. We caught up on trivial things. I hadn’t seen her in almost two years, but we talked at least once a week on the phone. She told me about her husband’s new job and her new shop. I told her my furniture would be here tomorrow and she volunteered to come by and help as soon as she was off work. She said she’d bring her husband to help with the heavy lifting. David was a nice guy and always treated Emma really well. She seemed happy and that was all that mattered to me. I was her Maid of Honor when she became Mrs. David King about six years ago. He was your average guy. Middle management and family values. He was genuine and fairly boring in my opinion but I would never say that out loud.

“So how’s your new book coming along?” she asked. Emma was kind enough to skip over recapping the entire past year. She was the person I called after he left and every other day after that for a while. She went over all the details with me. Except for the ones I intentionally kept from her. So, at the moment, I was perfectly happy skipping straight to a bit of normalcy.

“All right, I suppose. I’m pretty happy with the first draft. I sent it to my agent yesterday so I’m just waiting to hear back,” I said.

Emma owned signed copies of every single one of my novels. Granted, there were only three, but still. She’d called me on the phone to congratulate me for making it to the New York Times Bestseller list when each of them made it there. I always attempted to send her copies, but she insisted on buying them herself. She said it was her way of supporting me. She’d mailed each of them to me to sign after she bought them. Three books in the last four years.

I couldn’t manage to get one out last year. I couldn’t manage to do much of anything last year. So the new novel, set to release in a few months, was very anticipated by the masses.

“What’s it about?” Emma asked.

“Well, it’s about a woman who finds out her husband is cheating on her and plots to kill both her husband and the woman, but ends up having a change of heart,” I said.

“Oh, wow!” I could tell Emma was genuinely excited but also a little apprehensive about what to ask next.

“Don’t worry,” I said, shooting her a grin, “it’s just fiction.”

We spent the rest of the evening reminiscing about the old days in a way we hadn’t had the chance to in quite a while. We laughed about old boyfriends, and I reminded her about her horrible perm in 11^th grade right before prom. It was nice to remember moments like that with her. It was nice to laugh in a way that felt real, in a way that felt less than forced. I decided I needed to do more of it.

We said our goodbyes, and she said she’d be back tomorrow with David. I hugged her at the front door and locked it behind her. I made my way to the bedroom to change and lie down. I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my emails. There it was.

An email from Donna of Rabenowitz and Sons’s Law Offices. I held my breath for a moment. Do I want to open it? What do I want it to say?

I clicked on the email, my hands shaky, my breath unsteady. It was fairly short.

Great. I’m a divorced woman. And she’s pregnant. My hand crept over my stomach. I rolled over and pulled my knees to my chest. I pulled my sleeping bag up over my entire body and let the darkness swallow me. I was going to sleep for as long as my body would allow me. But it wouldn’t be long enough.