Page 13 of Make It Last

“Yes, I do.” She sighed. “My mom is annoyed with me.”

“I overheard,” I admitted.

“She’s frustrated that I broke my ankle. So am I, obviously. But she’s more worried about how it affects her life. I’ve decided it’s for the best.”

“Breaking your ankle?” I asked, confused.

“It’s annoying, and I don’t love being in traction. But it’s forcing me to do a life reset. This trip was already about that—but now I have weeks to sit still and figure things out. It’s going to be great.” She was unaccountably cheerful about this.

“Okaaaay,” I said slowly.

“This is my second divorce trip, by the way.”

Just then, a flurry of voices echoed down the hall, and three women burst into the room.

“Hey!” Ava said, waving at them. “You remember my friends?”

“I do.”

“I was just telling Tanner how this is my second divorce trip.”

Her friends nodded in unison. “Absolutely,” one said. “When one has a shitty divorce, you need more than one trip.”

I nodded. “Sounds good.”

“We have to fly back,” one of them—Rachel, maybe?—said. Ava’s eyes flicked between them, and her expression faltered a little.

“I know I can’t expect everyone to take more time off work,” she said.

Amy—if I remembered correctly—said, “We’ll do video calls, and we’ll have a little goodbye party.” They collectively looked my way.

“You’re going to visit her every day, right?” one of them asked.

“Well, I?—”

“Please,” Ava said. “I don’t have any friends here. Except Holly, and she’s a nurse.”

“Oh, Holly’s a solid friend,” I said. “I have faith she’ll stop in daily.”

Rachel turned to me, hands clasped together in dramatic desperation. “We’re going to ask Holly to check in every day too, but Tanner, we need a commitment from you.”

“A commitment?” I echoed.

“Yes,” she said seriously. “That you’re going to visit Ava every day.”

“She’s going to be bored and lonely,” Amy added. “Ava is not a woman who does boredom well.”

A chuckle rumbled up. “Okay, understood. I promise.”

“Oh, thank God!” Ava exclaimed, tossing her head back on the pillow with a sigh of relief.

“All right,” Rachel said, glancing at the others, “we’re going to go get pizza and bring it back. Will you wait?”

I checked my watch. “Unfortunately, I can’t. I have to get to work. But I will visit every day.”

“You will?” Ava asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

“I will. Unless I get called out to a fire.”