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I knew I’d done the right thing breaking up with him, despite my strong feelings for him. We’d spent so much time wrangling schedules and driving back and forth and organizing our lives around our kids, we simply didn’t have time for a relationship. But that didn’t mean I didn’t spend a lot of time wishing it was different.

My best friend had a lot of opinions on the matter. Becky was convinced that after us each getting ditched by our spouses, Martin and I were using schedules and distances as an excuse to avoid real intimacy. She didn’t buy the argument that we couldn’t move closer and blend our lives any more than she believed that our kids would be the barrier we thought it was.

Of course, if it was up to Becky, I’d be living some Brady Bunch life, only I didn’t think we’d be able to find a live-in housekeeper willing to put up with six boys. Not that we could afford to hire an Alice anyway. Martin and I both made good salaries, but not live-in help salaries, especially when we had so many boys to feed.

I waved a greeting to Chrissy who was working behind the bar, then looked around for my friends. Even though they’d all left before me, I didn’t see any of them in the bar.

“They guys are waitin’ for you in the back room, Lillian,” Chrissy called.

Now that was weird. The back room at LJ’s was where you went for bachelor parties and wedding rehearsals, not a quick drink with your work buddies after shift. It wasn’t like the main part of the bar was that busy tonight, there were plenty of tables open.

When I opened the door to the party room I reared back in shock. In addition to Leo, George, and Jimmy, there were other familiar faces gathered around the table. Luke, Lincoln, and Logan sat next to Becky, all of them looking super serious.

“What is this?” I joked. “An intervention?”

Becky hopped up and pulled me down into a chair, putting her arm around me. “That’s exactly what this is, sweetie. An intervention.”

I looked around the table in confusion.

“You idiots know I don’t do drugs, right? And I haven’t had a drink in weeks.”

I hadn’t touched alcohol since my last date with Martin. I’d wanted to drink several times since the break-up, but I’d resisted it, knowing that if I started, I wouldn’t be able to stop until I’d numbed the pain of my broken heart.

“Who wants to start?” Leo asked.

I sent him a surprised look. The only person who liked talking about feelings and personal shit less than Leo was...

“I’ll start,” George volunteered.

I reached across the table and grabbed an empty glass, filling it with beer from the pitcher on the table. I had a feeling I was going to need that drink now. Too bad they hadn’t ordered any fries to go with it.

“Lillian, you know we all like you a lot...,” George started.

“We love you, Mama,” Logan interjected. My youngest was incredibly sweet and affectionate, something that I hoped he didn’t lose as he progressed into his teen years.

George nodded. “That’s right, we all love you. That’s why we’ve all brought you here so we can talk about your broken heart.”

“Wait, this little intervention is about Martin?” I asked in surprise.

I couldn’t decide how I felt about that. Maybe talking about drinking would have been an easier subject. Or my secret obsession with Oreo cookies, one of the only things I’d felt like eating since Martin and I broke up.

“Yes. We’ve been worried about you. You look terrible, like you’re not eating or sleeping.”

“I eat,” I said defensively.

I hadn’t had much of an appetite since the break-up, but it wasn’t like I was wasting away. Cookies counted as eating, right? As for sleeping, it was suddenly harder to sleep alone than it had been for all those years before I spent a few nights with Martin.

“Ever since you dumped him, you’ve been a bear at work,” Jimmy added. “I ain’t never seen you so cranky before, Miss Lillian. Even the foreman is afraid to talk to you now.”

I sighed deeply, tamping down my irritation. I knew it all came from a place of love. Besides, if the foreman was afraid of me now, I really didn’t mind that much. I’m sure he thought I was just having a really long menstrual period.

“I appreciate your concern, everyone, but I’m fine, really.”

“Mama, don’t you know how an intervention goes?” Logan asked impatiently. “We all gotta say something first before you talk. Then you gotta promise to change. I’ve seen it on TV before.”

I took another sip of my beer and leaned back in my seat. “I’m sorry for messing up the intervention, Logan. By all means, go right ahead.”

“I was really likin’ the idea of being a big brother, and we had fun when we all went out together,” Logan said. “You know that we been talking to those guys, right? We didn’t break up with them when you broke up with their daddy.”