She looks up, her face softening as she gives me a small smile.
“Hey, Jamie. Good to see you again.”
“Why doesn’t it feel like you mean that?”
She uses her heeled foot to push out the seat opposite her. “Sit.”
It’s not a request, it’s a command, and an attitude I’m not used to from her.
I glance around the bookstore, half-expecting my father to materialize from behind the sports romance section. “Is this—did they send you?”
“Jamie.” Her voice is tired as she closes her eyes. “Just sit down.”
Against my better judgment, I do. The chair scrapes against the floor as I pull it out, and for a moment, we just look at each other.
Two people who were supposed to get married, who were supposed to play their parts in the grand Nicks-Sanderson alliance, now sitting in a college bookstore like strangers because I fucked it all up.
And I’d do it again.
Over and over again.
“So they did send you,” I say quietly. It's not a question.
She takes a sip of her coffee before she answers. “They called me last night,” she says, her expression flat. The flattest I’ve ever seen, in fact.
What did they do to you, Honey?
The girl I grew up with wasn’t this emotionless. She’d wear her heart on her sleeve.
I guess I can’t blame it all on our parents. I was willingly part of it throughout high school. I thought we could fake our way through our lives, but we can’t.
We never could.
“It was your mother who called me. She’s very concerned about your ‘situation.’” She makes air quotes with one hand, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “Apparently, you've lost your mind and thrown away your future for some girl and her kid.” She shakes her head in annoyance. “And the worst part is, they think I’m the only person who can talk you out of it.”
The casual dismissal of Tiff and Ella makes my jaw clench. “You can’t.”
That makes her smile. “Oh, I know I can’t.” She sets down her cup, meeting my eyes directly. “I’m just telling you what she said, not what I think.”
“And what do you think?”
Honey leans back in her chair, studying me with a softness I don’t deserve. “I think you're doing what you should have done years ago. Making your own choices. Living your own life.” She pauses. “I also think our parents are losing their collective shit about it, which is honestly the best part.”
Despite everything, I almost laugh. “Yeah?”
“Your father called mine three times yesterday. Three times, Jamie. I heard him through the office door, screaming about legacies and family obligations and how you're destroying everything he built.” Her mouth curves into something that's not quite a smile and not quite a smirk. “It was beautiful.” Then she shakes her head. “Except for the part when he tried to implyIwas the reason for it again. I mean, come on. I’m not even with—” She stops herself. “Never mind.”
“So you're not here to talk me out of it?”
“God, no.” She shakes her head, and for a moment, she looks more like the Honey I remember from before everything got complicated. “You can do whatever you want. You always could. You just thought the only way you’d be taken seriously was to blow everything up first.”
I swallow down the guilt I’ve been holding for years. There’s so much I need to say to Honey but haven’t.
“You’re better than this firm, you just…never believed it,” she says.
“So are you,” I add. It’s only a semblance of what I really feel.
“Pfft. No, I’m not.” Her eyes land on mine. “But I’m not here to talk about all the things we could’ve done differently. I’m here to warn you that they want you back.” She leans closer in. “More specifically, your dad wants you to replace me.”