Free Sunrise Fires by Heather LaBarge Page A

think I’m in this conversation alone.” She looked around. “Where’d Jen go? Can you bring her back? Because this little three-year-old thing isn’t working for me.”
    “Not funny.”
    “Neither is this weak-ass woman sitting here, trying to split hairs over when this relationship began. You guys have been talking for five years now and physically living in the same house for three.”
    “We’ve been together for three and living in the same house for two and a half, unless you count the time he moved out because I won’t marry him. In which case, we can subtract—”
    “Shhhh.” I stopped talking and gave Talia a dirty look. “You’re making my head hurt. Stop it.”
    “Well, it’s the truth.”
    “Girl, here’re the facts as I see them. One, this guy is a good catch, quit trying to act like he’s some run of the mill guy. Two,” she grabbed her fingers, counting off her points for visual effect, “Germany is a really good opportunity, and you will do amazing there and find more professional success than you know what to do with, and three, you’ll come home to find this guy still wanting to marry you when you get back here…unless you get stupid and push him with some insecure silliness like I’m being forced to endure.”
    I sat there feeling like a chastised child. “Talia, I’m just scared. I’m afraid that if I’m not here to be with him, to hold him, to make love to him, to cook for him, or to do all the things that I do when we’re together, he’ll start thinking about why I’m not there, about the fact that I chose Germany. And then maybe some woman will appear and make herself available. And anyways, I’ll be in Germany. I’m just so afraid to lose him over this. I know my fears don’t make mental sense, but since when are people’s brains and hearts on a first name basis? I mean, really, my heart says we won’t make it to Christmas.”
    “I know how you feel, and I can picture the faces of the men who made it so. Ryan’s face isn’t there. And, hun, I really hope that you won’t personally, prematurely, add Ryan to the list of guys who broke your heart. I just don’t get that from him. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think so. He feels like a lifetime thing. From where I sit, you two will be together long after Jesse and I break up.”
    My eyes widened. “What?! Is something going on with Jesse?”
    She picked at the edge of her cuticle. “I’m looking for apartments.”
    “Oh, my God, hun! With all my life changes and such, we haven’t even talked about you. I am so sorry. When he wasn’t here, I just assumed he was out of town on business, as usual. Tell me what happened.”
    “Turns out ‘business’ also goes by the name Becky…” she began. And so, conversation ebbed and flowed for the rest of the weekend as was typical for us, and Sunday night came far too soon. As I boarded the flight, she reminded me that this was ‘to be continued’ when she got to Vegas in one short month.
     
    *   *   *
     
    In the weeks that followed my trip to California, Ryan and I spent time together doing all the things we loved and hadn’t recently made time for. We spent time lounging on the couch, watching movies, or reading books. We cooked together, took walks along the strip, and visited some of our favorite places in town. And we made love; we had sex often and everywhere. It was an extended good-bye of sorts, and I appreciated every minute.
    Ryan also spent time with the guys, riding and hanging out. I went to watch as many times as I could, sitting on the sidelines with Chris and talking about his accident, the guys, his recovery, our lives. He really was a great kid. I still brought food, though more often, it was fast food as I was short on time for cooking.
    The track was less than a half hour from the house, out on the edge of town. There were thin aluminum bleachers near the parking lot. They faced the track, but the truth was that you really couldn’t