My Last(88)

“Well, he's still gone. And he never actually said he loved me. So I don’t really see how there’s a difference,” Chelle stated flatly. She wasn’t trying to dampen Katie’s excitement, she was just being realistic.

Katie’s face dropped a little, “I know, but...I just think that if two people love each other; then somehow they'll find their way back to one another.”

Chelle sighed. “Katie, that’s sweet, but not everybody gets a happily ever after like you and Jason.” Chelle knew her friend’s heart was in the right place but she thought she might be a tad optimistic. This was probably due to the fact that she had just lived her own fairy tale and ended up with the prince – but whatever the reason, Chelle could not afford to give in to this kind of magical thinking. “What you and Jason have is special and very rare.”

“I know, but I just thought...well, you know. That Riley is Jason and Bobby’s brother. You see how they are! When Sloan men fall in love, they fall hard,” Katie said, again desperately attempting to put a positive spin on the situation.

“True. But he is also Alex’s brother, and you see how he is,” Chelle stated bluntly.

“Oh, I didn’t think about that,” Katie said, slumping her shoulders, her whole posture telegraphing defeat.

“Katie, really. I’m going to be fine. I went into this thing with Riley with my eyes wide open. I knew what the outcome would be, I knew how hard it would be, but I also knew it would be worth it. And it was,” Chelle said, meaning every word.

Katie brightened a little, “Well, since we can’t fix that problem today, what do you say we order our lunches to go, stop by the grocery store, get a bottle...or maybe two...of wine, and then go to your place and watch Good Will Hunting?”

Chelle really wanted to cry now. She would have to come up with a new 'go to' movie.

“How about Playing by Heart?” Chelle asked.

“Okay, sure!” Katie agreed as she motioned for the waitress to come over so that they could place their orders to go, “Anything you want, DFF.”

Oh, Chelle thought for the second time in as many days after a conversation with Katie, how lovely that would be if only it were actually true.





Chapter Twenty-seven


Riley shut down his laptop just as Landon came through the grey office door.

“Hey man, those blondes with the double Ds at the end of the bar keep asking about you.”

“Oh yeah?” Riley couldn’t have cared less.

“Did you see them?” Landon asked as he held up his hands in front of his chest, rounded slightly, indicating that the blondes had big racks.

“Yep, couldn’t miss 'em.” All three of the women were pouring out of their shirts. Maybe at one time in his life that would have appealed to him, but not now. Not since Chelle.

He had been down in New Orleans for four weeks and two days, and he hadn’t even gone an hour without thinking about her. She occupied his mind constantly. He had been checking her Facebook page several times a day, hoping she would post something, anything so he could know how she was.

She hadn’t.

He had spoken to Eddie about once a week, but there was no way he was going to ask him. It was bad enough he knew that Riley had slept with his sister, he didn’t want to remind him of that fact by asking about her.

He kept thinking, hoping, praying that the pain and emptiness would ease, would subside. Wasn’t it widely known and accepted that time heals all wounds? But in his case, time away from Chelle was doing the opposite to the wound. It was making it deeper.

“So, what’s up? Dax and I are going to take them out. They want to walk down Bourbon Street. You down?”

Riley’s phone rang and when he saw the number he told Landon, “I’ve gotta take this. Sorry.”

“Man, you weren’t gonna to go anyway.” Landon shook his head in disappointment as he left the office, shutting the door loudly behind him.

“Hey, Pops.” He hadn’t talked to his dad since he left town.

“Hey, Riley, how you been?” his dad asked.

“Pretty good.” Riley was actually a little nervous. His dad normally didn’t do small talk, so Riley wasn’t sure where this could be headed. “How about yourself?”

“Well, actually, I had another episode with my heart last night. I’m fine. They kept me overnight for observation but I’m home now. They already released me.”

“I can be there in a few hours.” Riley had always thought of Bob Sloan as invincible, and he hated the feeling that washed over him as he was now faced with such compelling evidence that he wasn't. He had been in Afghanistan when his dad had had his first heart attack and hadn’t been able to get home, but now he could, and he would be there for him.