The Color of a Silver Lining by Julianne MacLean

Author:Julianne MacLean
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Julianne MacLean
Published: 2017-05-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Luke

Emma had said she’d return the next day to collect her things. I had asked what time she planned to arrive because I wanted to make arrangements to be elsewhere. We had settled on a time after supper, then she said good-bye to the dogs and walked out the door.

That night, after our breakup, I couldn’t sit home alone. I called my friend Wayne, a high school buddy who lived in Victoria, told him what happened and asked if he wanted to go out for dinner and drinks. Lots of drinks. He had a wife and two kids at home, and it was a weeknight, but he told me he’d meet me in an hour. I called my neighbor to let the dogs out before bed, just in case I didn’t make it home.

I wasn’t normally the type to pour my heart out in public places, but Wayne and I spent the entire evening at a very expensive restaurant talking about Emma and my previous cheating girlfriend, Gwyneth. We rehashed how that relationship had crashed and burned, and discussed why I didn’t see the signs with Emma. How could I not have recognized that she wasn’t as committed as I thought? Why hadn’t I been more cautious and guarded at first? I’d jumped in with both feet after the first date, which wasn’t like me at all. Not after what happened before.

“Look at it as a positive thing,” Wayne replied. “You’re finally over what Gwyneth did to you, and I think you’ve been ready for a long time to have a family. You’ve been wanting it but you just haven’t met the right girl. As it turned out, Emma wasn’t her, but at least you tried.” He pointed a finger at me. “What I don’t want to see is you throwing in the towel. If you were a bridge for Emma, then let her be a bridge for you. Don’t just give up. Get back on your feet and try again.” He picked up his wine and took a sip. “Because I’m telling you, man. Being a dad is great. I can’t imagine my life without Jenny and the kids. She’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

After dinner—followed by far too many cocktails at a trendy martini bar—Wayne let me sleep on the sofa in his basement, but at six in the morning, I woke hungover with a raging headache and thought about Toby and Max. Rather than stick around for breakfast with Wayne and his family, I left a note thanking him for the use of his sofa, and said I’d call him later. I got into my car and returned to Oak Bay.

The dogs were at the front door when I walked in. They greeted me with wagging tails and wet tongues. I immediately let them out through the back door to the patio and they ran down to the lawn below.

While they took care of business, I made a cup of coffee.

A moment later, I stood at the patio railing, watching sea-kayakers paddle by along the rocky coastline.

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