Inside the now-defunct Rainbow Café, I box up everything I can. The cash register, the espresso machine, the flatware and silverware. The only light in here shines down from the overhead fixtures. The brown paper over the windows blocks out all the natural light.

What was briefly an open, bright, social space now feels like a tomb. It's certainly where my dreams have gone to die.

Every time I bend over to pack up a box, the sheet of paper in my back pocket crinkles, a reminder of what else I lost. Hunter. It's the note he left on my kitchen table, saying he consents to annul the marriage. I barely recovered from my first divorce with Roger, and now I have to face another one. I haven't had the heart to go down to the courthouse and start the process. I haven't even told Meg about it yet. Everybody's going to think I'm so foolish for putting myself in the exact same situation. I guess I just don't learn.

Then my phone vibrates on the counter. It dings once, indicating a new text message.

I leave the box I'm working on and grab it off the counter.

It's a text from Hunter.

I'm heading back. We need to talk.

For a minute I think about calling him and just ripping into him. I barely slept for two days straight after he left. It was like re-living eight years ago all over again.

And now he thinks he can just reverse his decision and come back? Pick up where he left off?

Instead, I text him back, There's nothing further to talk about.

I return to my boxes and spend the next few hours packing. A reply never comes.

* * *

It's a total pig-out. I twirl my spoon around in a pint of Ben & Jerry's rocky road ice cream, and a package of cookie dough lays on the counter between us. Meg and I are going full piggy tonight. Her husband finally took a break from his workshop downstairs, and he took the baby out to dinner at a friend's house. Tonight, it's just me and Meg, like the old times in college.

"So when are you leaving?" asks Meg.

I sigh in resignation. "It's going to take at least a month to get the shop cleaned out. All the new equipment's going up for auction to pay down my debt."

"And then?"

"And then I'm going to culinary school I guess. Getting a job as a head chef or sous chef at a restaurant. It won't be the same as having my own, but it'll have to do. Apparently owning a business just isn't for me."

"I'm happy you tried," says Meg. She picks off a fat piece of cookie dough using her nails, and licks it off her fingers. I follow suit, but I take an even bigger chunk. "Most people never get that far."

"I guess."

"Before you know it, you'll clear out the debt and get to start fresh. For real, this time."

"I guess. Yeah."

I look at my phone. Still no new messages. "You know," I say, "Hunter texted me today."

Meg looks shocked. "He did?"

"He said we need to talk."

The expression on Meg's face lifts. "Oh my god, that's great!"

"I don't know that it really is."

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Because how many times am I going to let him do the same thing to me? Fool me once, fool me twice, you know?"

"Well, what did you say?"

"I told him there's nothing to talk about."

"Well, doll, I want what you want. I think you should hear him out. Give him one more chance. He's coming back, right?"

Just then, my phone vibrates. Meg snatches it off the table before I can react.

"He says he'll be in town in an hour. And he really wants to talk."

"Oh."

Meg gets ready to type a response for me. "What should I tell him?"

Wow, this really does feel like college again. My best friend texting guys for me. Except this time, there's a whole lot more on the line than a date or a hookup.

"Ugh." My gut tells me the best thing I can do for myself is to not respond at all. But now that I've had another taste of Hunter, I can't stop thinking about what it'd be like to have a happily-ever-after with him. Of course I have no idea what he's actually thinking right now.

I think for a while. Meg puts the phone down and we wordlessly eat our ice cream.

"Okay," I say. "Tell him I'll hear whatever he has to say. But he can't stay at my apartment anymore."

"Okay," says Meg. She taps out a response and hands my phone back to me.

"Hey," I say, "would you want to go for a walk? I need to clear my head."

* * *

The night bathes us in its warmth. I haven't been out and about at night in months. I forgot how nice it is to walk around without freezing my behind off. The summer months are just one more thing I need to take better advantage of in the future. I'm starting to realize just how limited my time is on this earth, and that I'm going to have to go out and fight for what I want if I'm going to become the person I want to be.

Hunter is an enigma. He makes me feel more beautiful than any other man ever has. And I feel this attraction to him that's not only physical, but also emotional, and cerebral. I love simply being around him, but I don't understand why he's always leaving. If he could just be there for me the way a man is supposed to be, it would be a perfect relationship. Even in spite of our past.

Meg and I walk quietly side by side, around the base of the ridge. It's really a perfect night out.

If business is all Hunter wants to talk about, then so be it. But if he wants to talk about more… well, I guess I'll hear it. But I'm not going to be stupid this time. He has to have a damn good reason for why things will be different this time. If he doesn't, then I'm not letting him back in. Not again.

By the time Meg and I circle around the ridge and head back into town, the stars are shining at full strength above. The moon is just a tiny sliver, but in combination with the stars there's enough light out here to navigate anything. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I can accept whatever outcome happens.

My phone buzzes again and I pull it out. I'm back, the text message says.