Page 16 of You Met Me There

Her hands go up in surrender. “I’m not saying she handled it the right way. I definitely don’t think that. I’m just saying maybe you could try to see where she’s coming from. Ask yourself what she needs right now. She’s not doing well.”

“Did she say that?” I ask, frowning. I don’t want Natalie to be in a bad place mentally. I’m the only one who really knows what she’s been through with her nightmares and anxiety attacks. Emma knows a little, but not how bad it gets.

Emma’s black hair sways as she shakes her head. “No. She said she’s fine, but I can tell in her voice she’s not. You know what I mean?”

I nod, knowing all too well how Natalie masks her true feelings from everyone else.

This is all my fault. If I had listened to her sooner about what she really wanted, then we probably wouldn’t be in this mess. I should have talked through it all with her, told her what was really going on in my head. Maybe I—we—would be in therapy right now. I would be making strides to curb my fears around pregnancy, childbirth, and all the ripple effects those things have on the people involved. If I were working through what happened to my mom and dealing with the way it shaped me, things would be different. Maybe I wouldn’t be so scared to give Nat what she really wants if I knew how to handle my own emotions around it.

I look at Emma. How does she do it? Be a single mom without a man to help carry the load? Without a partner to help shoulder the fears and the responsibilities of raising a child?

Natalie isn’t alone; she has me. And I need to show her that.

“I have to go after her,” I say, already thinking of how I’ll jump on the next flight to Pennsylvania.

“What? Really?” Emma’s face bursts into a huge smile.

“Really. She’s my wife. I need to be with her.”

“Do you even know where she’ll be?”

“She told me she’s going back to Maple Lake.” I look up at her, and she’s statue still.

“Wait,” she says slowly. “Did you finally call her?” A smile creeps across her lips.

I nod slowly.

“I thought you didn’t want to call because you wanted her to make her own choices.” She watches me, her blue eyes glistening with expectation.

“I had to.” I straighten my cell phone so it lines up with the edge of the counter. “I had to know she was okay. It’s harder than I thought to let someone you love go, even if it’s what they want. I tried to respect her boundaries, but … I failed.”

“I think calling her was the right choice,” Emma says. I meet her eyes and she smiles at me, like a sister who’s proud of her little brother. Even though I’m older, she’s always acted like she’s the eldest of the siblings I don’t actually have. With me being an only child and Natalie leaving her siblings behind, Emma fit into our lives better than any of us expected.

“So,” she says, handing Ceecee another cracker. “Besides Maple Lake as a general area, you don’t know exactly where she’s going to be when you get there, right? Unless you two are sharing your location, which obviously you are. Duh. Should have thought of that.” She rolls her eyes, but I just stare at her, biting the inside of my cheek in silence.

She drops her hand to her side, her eyebrows rising. “Did she end location sharing with you?”

I nod and my shoulders sag. There’s another beat of silence between us before I pick up momentum, a steam train forging ahead at full speed. “You know what?” I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll ask around town. Someone’s going to know where she is.” I turn for the stairs.

“Or”—I swivel toward Emma’s voice as she pulls out her phone—“I could track her on my phone and send you her exact location when you land.”

“She shares her location with you?” If I were looking in a mirror, I’m sure I’d see my eyes widen and get ten shades brighter.

“All best friends share their locations with each other,” she says like I should already know this.

“This is perfect, Emma. I have to check the next flight to Pennsylvania.” I grab my phone from the counter.

Emma hands another cracker to Ceecee and waves me away with her other hand. “I’ll check the flights. You go pack a bag.”

I smile at her. “You’re the best.”

“I know.” She grins. “But, hey.”

I turn back to her from the stairs.

“Showing up in her hometown might not make her change her mind. She might not come back.”

“I know,” I say, accepting this.