Page 141 of Legally Ours

"Look at this," I said, gesturing toward the house, toward the people in it, particularly Brandon. "Look at me and Brandon. Don't you think that if we can make things work after everything we've been through, you guys can handle a few hundred miles for a while?"

"Not everyone is like you and Brandon," Jane said quietly. "As much as Eric and I like each other, Sky, it was never going to work. We both knew that from the start."

I found her watching me with something approximating envy. Eric's eyes were on her, but at her words, they dropped to the floor. He rubbed a hand across his mouth and then kicked at a nonexistent rock on the porch.

I opened my mouth to argue––I didn't believe her. Just like she had seen before I had that Brandon and I were right together, I could see the truth too––that she and Eric did work, better than they did with anyone else. Better than most people did.

But before I could say as much, Eric stepped forward.

"Jane's right, Cros," he said, though he couldn't quite meet my eyes as he spoke. "As much as we might want to, we're not going to be able to do the long-distance thing. I'm not going to move to Chicago, and she's not coming back to Boston. What are we going to do, see each other every other weekend for the rest of our lives? Even if we actually had that kind of time as new associates, it wouldn't work. It's just not realistic."

I wanted to argue that they could make it work. That if they loved each other like I knew they did, they could find some way to be together eventually. But as I saw them look at each other with mutual recognition and sadness, I realized that they were both resigned to the realities of their lives. Sometimes things just didn't work out.

"I'm sorry," Eric said as he took a step toward Jane. "About the...underwear." His mouth quirked on one side, and Jane's lips twitched. "And about Ana. I don't need to be hooking up in front of you. Crosby's right about that––I'm being a dick."

I cocked my head as Jane took another step toward him and wrapped her thin arms around his shoulders for a tight, brief hug.

"I'm sorry too," she said, just loud enough so I could hear her. She stepped back and took his hand. "I shouldn't have ghosted you the way I did, and I really don't have any right to be jealous now. It was immature and super lame."

Eric gave a sad smile, squeezed her hand, then let go.

"And don't worry about going home with Ana," Jane said as she stepped toward me. Automatically, I wrapped an arm around her waist, and she laid her head on my shoulder. "She seems really nice, and she obviously likes you. Plus, since she's Sky's employee, you really can't fuck with her––otherwise your boss will hate you and Sky will probably fry you for dinner."

Eric blanched, clearly considering that prospect for the first time.

"Just keep a rubber on it," Jane added. "It would be really poor form to give your boss's housekeeper crabs, okay, Petri Dish?"

The sadness on Eric's face disappeared, replaced with a droll smirk. "You trying to tell me something, Jane?"

"Me? Of course not," Jane retorted. "But I don't know where those panties have been. And since we know you don't change your sheets..."

"And...they're back," I said as Eric cracked a smile.

"I'm going to get a drink," he said. With one last glance at Jane, he stopped before he went back inside. "I'll see you in there," he said, and then walked away.

"You okay?" I asked my friend softly once Eric was out of earshot.

Jane laid her head back on my shoulder and sighed.

"Give me a day or two," she said honestly. "I will be." Then she stood up straight and adjusted her hair. "Okay, now I really need another drink. And if Eric's going to start dating the Brazilian version of Scarlett Johanssen, then I'm going to need more than water to get through the rest of dinner."

~

Some three hours later, after I had said good night to Dad, Bubbe, and Eric, I wandered back into the kitchen to find Pushpa, Kieran, and Jane sitting in the atrium sipping on brandy with frowns on their faces.

"What's going on?" I asked as I sat on one of the window benches. Brandon, Hope, and Cory were missing––adjourned, it seemed, to Brandon's study down the hall. No rest for the wicked.

"Does he always talk to Brandon like that?" Pushpa asked with a cock of her head in that direction.

I glanced toward the hallway and back at her. "Who, Cory?"

All three women looked at me like I was stupid for even asking.

"Yeah," I said. "He does. What did he say this time?"

Kieran glared at no one in particular––if Cory had been standing there, the guy would have turned to ice.

"That town hall debate Brandon did last week," she said. "Apparently he didn't do so well."