Page 78 of A Thousand Little Goodbyes

Chrissie almost spat out her wine. Kat was right, and there was very little about this situation that was funny, but she couldn’t help it. “Scarlett!”

“What?” Scarlett shrugged. “I’m just saying. If you’re going to storm off in a huff, it’s better to do it in a pair of tennis shoes—or better yet, Doc Martens. They’ll learn the hard way, I suppose. As did we all.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Walsh said as he raised his glass.

“Here, here!” Scarlett raised hers in return.

As they both turned the toast on Chrissie, a whirling mix of emotions flooded through her. This moment in time was everything she’d never known she wanted: Scarlett and Walsh in the same room together, getting along as though they’d known each other their whole lives; her daughter and her daughter’s nemesis banding together to fight against the imagined tyranny of youth. Even Rufio was content as he finished his meal, his furry little paws busy as he wiped away the crumbs from his whiskers.

Tears started falling before she could stop them.

“Oh, geez.” Scarlett made a motion as if to rush to her, but Walsh was the first to reach Chrissie’s side.

“Shh, Chrissie. It’s okay. They won’t get into any real trouble.” He pressed a napkin into her hand and fell into a squat in front of her, his eyes gently probing as he scanned her face. It was a position she’d seen him adopt hundreds of times before, a way of putting himself on a level with whatever teenage volleyball player was falling apart in front of him at the time.

“No, I know.” She dabbed the napkin ineffectively at her eyes. “It’s not that. At least, not entirely.”

Scarlett spoke up from her position on the stool. “It’s me she’s upset with, Walsh. Well, me and fate.”

“Mostly fate.” Chrissie sniffled. “And I’m not sad—at least, not about the girls.”

Walsh took her hands and lightly chafed them, his gaze still tender as he continued watching her for signs of distress. She’d never admit it to Scarlett, but that small intimacy meant more to her than a thousand romantic kisses on top of the Eiffel Tower or weeks of passion on the Amalfi Coast.

“I’m okay, Walsh. Really.” She managed a smile. “In fact, I can’tbelieve we didn’t think of doing this before. Nothing unites people like a common enemy.”

“A reverseParent Trap.” His thumbs brushed over the backs of her hands as he rose to his full height and pulled her into a hug. “All we have to do is be as cringey in public as possible, and they’ll be so busy hating us that they’ll forget they ever had a rivalry between them.”

The image these words conjured up—of a future where she and Walsh were an “us,” where Kat and Lily had the support of each other to draw from—was so agreeable that she almost started crying again. But Walsh still had his arm around her waist and Scarlett was beaming so hard that she couldn’t eke out a single tear.

This is okay. I’m okay.

As if echoing the words inside her own head, Scarlett nodded. She also set down the wineglass, which, despite the sips she’d been taking, remained full.

“Well, that’s one loose end tied up,” Scarlett said. “A few more, and I think I can finally set the seal on this thing.”

Chrissie didn’t trust Scarlett’s tone for an instant. “What do you mean? What other loose ends are you dangling around?”

“You mean, other than playing matchmaker between you two and gathering up the nerve to reveal my deep, dark past to a teenage girl who’s going to hate me for the rest of her life?” Scarlett shrugged. “Don’t make me revealallmy secrets, Chrissie. A little mystery is the only thing I have left.”

Walsh’s arm slid away from Chrissie’s waist. Her first instinct at losing that warm, solid support was to cry out in protest, but he coughed and scooped up the cat before she could make a sound.

“I’ll just take Rufio to his patch of fake grass and start the grill for dinner.” He winked. “And maybe call down to the stables to make sure all their horses are accounted for. Just to be on the safe side.”

Chrissie waited only until he ducked out of view before settling onto the stool next to Scarlett. She slid her hand over her friend’s.

“She’s not going to hate you for the rest of her life, Scarlett. She might be a little upset at first, but she’ll come around. She loves you more than almost anyone else on the planet. She always has.”

Scarlett toyed with Chrissie’s fingers the way she used to when they were kids, when Chrissie’s ability to sit at a piano and force music to flow from them was a source of wonder to Scarlett. She’d always said there was something supernatural about Chrissie’s skill, as though it had been the product of magic rather than the hard, boring, laborious work of reality.

“Is it awful that I never really considered what life must be like for her?” Scarlett asked as she started picking at a hangnail on Chrissie’s thumb. “Not knowing her dad or having grandparents or aunts and uncles and cousins, I mean. I always assumed that giving her you was enough.”

Chrissie had to smile. “Don’t you mean giving hertome?”

“No.” Scarlett’s hands grew still. “I know you love that girl more than anything, and that you think about her every minute of every day, but I’ve never been the least bit worried about her.” When she glanced up, it was through eyes wet with tears. “That day in the hospital was the only time in my life I’ve done an unselfish act. I knew, even before I put Kat in your arms, that you were going to love her more than me—that you wouldalwayslove her more than me.”

Chrissie wished she could find it in her to protest, but one of the nice things—theonlynice thing—about this situation was how bare it stripped them both.

“I think that’s why it never occurred to me that her life might be lacking. You were the only person I ever needed, so why should she be any different?” Scarlett drew a deep breath and slid her hand back to her lap. “Once I gave her my best friend in the whole world, what else could she possibly need?”