Page 90 of The Wilder Widows

“Did you tell him?” Alice asked.

Exhaling a deep breath, I nodded. “I did.”

“And? How did it go?” Doris asked.

“He was mad.” I sucked the air through my teeth. “Like, really mad.”

“But?” Marge lifted a brow.

“But... he told me even though he was furious with me, he didn’t want to miss another second of our lives together.”

“Whoo hoo!” Doris whooped. “True love!”

Marge tapped my hand. “I’m so happy for you, Sylvie. Now you two can finally get the life you missed.”

“It’s so surreal,” I said. “It was like no time had passed at all. We were just us again.”

Doris smiled. “Because it’s—”

“Yes, yes, Doris.” Alice rolled her eyes. “True love.”

“Well it is.” She pouted. “Isn’t it?”

Her eyes searched mine, and I smiled. “It’s true love.”

Her happy sigh filled the air surrounding us.

“It really is love. I can’t even explain it. I couldn’t explain it back then, and I can’t explain it now. But I know he’s the one for me. And this time, I’m not letting anything get in the way.”

“Is he going to meet Rachel?” Alice asked.

“Eventually. We decided to let a little more time pass, and then I’ll tell her. He said he wants things to be completely on her terms.”

“Think she’ll be mad?” Doris asked.

“Furious.” I sighed. “But she’s a smart, kind woman. I’m sure she’ll understand the situation I was in and forgive me. At least, I hope she will.”

“We all deserve forgiveness,” Doris said.

“She will,” Marge said. “She’ll understand. It was an impossible situation, and you did what you thought was right at the time. You sacrificed everything for her.”

“Thanks, Marge. I hope so.”

“So, what happens now?” Doris asked.

“Well.” I chewed on the side of my cheek while I searched for the words. “I’m going to stay here with him. We’ve spent so many years apart, we don’t want to miss another minute. We’re not getting any younger, after all.”

“You’re not going back to Wilder Lane, either?” Marge asked.

I shook my head. “Not right now. I’ll be back, but I’m just going to stay here with him for a while and try to make up for lost time while we figure out our future. But don’t worry, I’m not selling my house or anything.”

“Me neither,” Doris said. “I’m going to hold onto mine. It’s our family home, and even though I’ll be spending most of my time on the dude ranch, I’ll still be back to visit you ladies often.”

“Well, you’ll need to tell me when you’re going back. Otherwise, it will just be my mom, you see.”

“What?” I asked. “Where are you going?”

“Vegas.” She grinned. “Roxy asked me to come live with her instead of just visiting, and I said yes.”