Three days go by before Janessa and I make it work in our schedules to connect. It’s an after work meet-up. All day at Charlottesville High, I’m distracted. How will this meeting go? Will she hate me when I come clean? Am I going to lose a friendship that I’ve had since high school when the truth is out? My students don’t seem to notice, or they don’t act as if they do. I’m thankful for that.

The coffee shop is a five-minute drive from the school. I’m a ball of nerves the entire time. I’m not looking forward to meeting with Janessa today. She and I are friends, and I am breaking friend rule number one: don’t date your friend’s exes. It has never crossed my mind to commit such an act. That is, until Ireland.

It was never my intention for things to go as far as they have with Braeden either. When I agreed to the vacation fling, that was all it was ever going to be. When Jackson posted the pictures of Braeden and me on Instagram is when everything became very real. Our little bubble burst. And the death of my grandmother made me forget about whose feelings I might be hurting, including Mark and Janessa. I haven’t seen or talked to Janessa since before I left for Ireland. If I weren’t such a coward, I would’ve talked to her before now.

Walking in the coffee shop, I scan the counter and seats and see Janessa staring down at her phone at the pick-up area. My mouth goes dry as if I just ate a handful of cotton. I place my order and with some hesitance go up to her.

“Janessa.”

She looks up from her cell. “Hi.” Her tone is cordial, maybe not quite as upbeat as normal, but she’s not coming at me swinging. That’s a good sign.

“It’s good to see you.” She’s in a conservative, gray dress. Something appropriate for her job as a paralegal. Her brown hair, with subtle streaks of blonde, is swept up in a bun on top of her head. She’s a gorgeous girl, even in her understated attire. At night, when we used to go out, she’d wear the shortest shorts or skirts and heavy eye makeup, always the most daring in her style choices. Memories of our wild party days come flooding back in. We always had fun together. I’ve missed her.

The barista comes over and hands her a cup with a heart made in the foam. “Good to see you, too. How have you been? Seems like forever since I’ve seen you.”

So we’re doing small talk then. “I’ve been good. What about you?”

“Great actually. I’m sorry to hear about your grandmother. I wasn’t able to make it to the service. I was out of town.” She looks sincere. And she did send a sympathy card.

When I get my mug of coffee, we walk to an open table and have a seat across from each other.

“Thank you. It was awful. I miss her every day.”

“I wish I could have been there. Believe it or not, I’m dating Neil Cameron. We happened to be visiting his parents in the Outer Banks during the services.”

“The Neil Cameron?” The same guy who Janessa has had a crush on since high school? She would always drag us to his baseball games. They were so long and boring, but she wanted to watch him and he never gave her the time of day. He was a senior when we were freshmen.

“Yeah. Do you believe it? After all these years, we ran into each other at the gym. He just moved back into town. We started talking and now we’ve been dating for four months.”

“Is it serious?” I ask.

“It’s too early to tell, but he invited me to meet his parents, so I guess that’s something.” Her green eyes sparkle when she talks about Neil, the same way they did back in high school.

“Wow. That’s great. You seem happy.”

“I am.” She plays with the rim of her mug before taking another sip, completely obliterating the last remnants of the heart shape foam. “What about you?”

Here’s my opening. She’s swung the door open; I just have to walk through. “I’m the most content I’ve been in a very long time. I had a string of bad luck, from my grandmother’s stroke, to losing my job, and finding Mark in bed with another woman. It was a tough time for me. And then everything changed.” I clear my throat and look down at my coffee. I take a sip, harnessing courage from deep inside me. “The trip I took to Ireland was what I needed to get away from here for a while. I needed a reset. What I didn’t know was when I got there I would see Braeden McLoughlin.”

Searching her face, I look for a clue in her reaction, but there’s nothing there. I continue. “I was in a bind. No luggage and I lost my purse. He helped me out. And then he helped an elderly woman carry her bag up to her room. He kept doing sweet, thoughtful things, and I couldn’t remember what he did to you. I just remember you telling us that he was an asshole.”

She’s blinking now, over and over again. “Okay.”

I can’t tell if she’s upset or not. “What I need to tell you is that I like him. And I think we’re going to try to have a relationship. I never intended for this to happen, but it did and I want you to hear it from me.”

She’s nodding and blinking. “I’m not surprised. I saw the pictures of you guys that Jackson posted.”

Janessa doesn’t seem mad. Confused maybe, but not angry. “Are you upset with me? I would understand if you were.”

“No, I’m not. I’ve moved on. And I know I told you guys that he was an asshole, but I wasn’t an easy person to get along with either. We didn’t bring out the best in each other. Let’s just put it that way. And when he broke up with me, I was bitter that I didn’t get to say it first.”

“So, he never cheated on you or abused you?”

“Hurt my feelings, yes. Hurt me physically, no.”

My shoulders and jaw muscles relax. That I can live with. If she told me he was a cheater, that would be it. I’d walk away now. “We can still be friends?”

“Of course.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch sooner,” I say.

“Don’t apologize. I have a phone, too. Life gets in the way.” She takes the last sip of her coffee and stands up. “I’ve got to run. I’m meeting Neil and a couple of his co-workers for dinner. Let’s plan a girls’ night soon.”

“I would love that.” I stand up and she comes around to my side of the table. We hug and all is right with the world.