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“I love you, Dad”

“Love you too You callin”

“We’ll talk when I get there, yeah?”

“Of course”

We said goodbye and ed with emotion

My dad had been hurting, and I hadn’t been there I blinked back tears and turned towarddivorced I need to go back to Boston to see my dad”

E rabbed my arm and told me she’d walk me out

Because she was the only one who knew my story

Arm in arm, we stepped out onto the boardwalk The cold ocean breeze nipped at our cheeks as we strolled in silence

Then … “Dahlia, do you need me to come with you?”

I gave my best friend a tremulous smile “Thank you I appreciate that offer ht now”

“I get that But what about what you need?”

I gazed into Bailey’s anxious green eyes “For nine yearswhat I needed before what he needs Before probably even what my family needs I not only owe him this, Bailey, but I need to be there for hih this and I haven’t been there I mean,” I said on a shaky exhale, “he loves hn, like I love …”

“Michael” Bailey pulled“And what about Michael, Dahlia? Can you deal with possibly seeing hi him with his wife?”

I curled ers into her shirt and forced back the tears her words caused, al on them