Page 69 of The One

“What?” What the heck was her mother talking about?

“Let Mike go. He’s holding you back. I know you. You are comparing everything to him. You want the opposite of it. Or you are overthinking all your reactions and thoughts and feelings with Rick based on what you had with Mike because it didn’t turn out right.”

“I didn’t think I was doing that.”

“But now you realize you are,” her mother said.

“Maybe. I’m trying not to, but it’s hard. It was ten years of my life. I want to see where I went wrong. Why I gave up so much time.”

Sometimes she wondered if that was the bigger issue.

“You can’t focus on that. You have to focus on the fact you made a decision and you’ve stuck to it. You’re happy now so it was the right decision. Even before Rick you were still much happier than you were with Mike.”

“You’re right. I was happier alone than with him, but that doesn’t change the fact I don’t know what I did or could have done to change things.”

“Does it matter now?” her mother asked. “You’ve got a great guy that makes you feel good about yourself. He likes your family and makes time to see them when Mike never wanted to.”

“You liked Mike,” she argued.

“No. We liked him because you loved him. That is different. He wanted to spend time with his family and not ours and we accepted that you had to make those decisions.”

She sighed. “He did. And I shouldn’t have done that. It wasn’t right.”

“I didn’t say that to make you feel bad. That isn’t what this is about. It’s about you. And doing what you want and need and not what you think other people do.”

“I have been doing that,” she said.

“Then put Mike behind you once and for all, Gillian. Stop comparing. Stop taking notes. Stop second-guessing everything you do.”

“Good advice to have,” she said.

“Now you just have to follow it.”

Their food was delivered and they pushed back for their sandwiches to be set down. “I think he’s the one,” she said quietly.

“Do you think he feels the same way?”

“I want to,” she said.

“What is holding you back?”

“He made such a drastic change to move here. I know why he did. I told you some of it. That he was burned out and his sister was having a baby. That it was time for a change in his life.”

“Makes sense to me. Do you not believe it?”

“I do, but there is part of me that thinks there is more to it. He’s such a good catch. He’s hot. He’s smart and caring. He’s wealthy, which means nothing to me, but a lot of other people might focus on that.”

“Maybe that is why he moved,” her mother said. “Did you think of that? People could know his worth there. Of course, in California a middle class house costs a million dollars so being a millionaire doesn’t mean a lot.”

“I know,” she said, laughing. “I get it. I don’t know. There is something that tells me there is more to it, but I can’t put my finger on it. Nothing bad though.”

“Then who cares?” her mother said. “You trust him, right?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then move on, Gillian. It’s time.”

“Yes, it is.”