Perfect Storm

Chapter 12

I told Zoe everything...my cancer diagnosis, my surgeries, my fears about recurrence, my miscarriage and why I had to let Ryan go, all while grieving the loss of my mother. By the time I was done, we were both in tears.

She reached across the table and squeezed my hand. "I am so sorry Bree. I'm glad you told me, but I wished you had come to me sooner, so I could have been there for you." She sniffled.

"I didn't want to be a burden on anyone." I replied.

"Girl, you are never a burden. I know Ross was there for you, so at least you weren't alone, and nothing against him, but there is no way he could fully understand the impact of everything you were going through. Only a woman could truly understand."

"I know. I get that...it's just..." I let my sentence trail off.

"You didn't want to be a burden." Zoe replied, mocking me in a scolding way. "Don't hate me for saying this, but that's about the stupidest reason for letting Ryan go. Both of you are beyond miserable and now he's got that skank attached to him. I'm also guessing now that you and Ross are not a thing and you are just letting everyone think that you are for whatever reason."

She frowned at me, and it actually pissed me off. Yeah, I know how blunt she is, but she had no right to call my reasoning stupid. "Well damn Zoe. I thought you might understand, but until you walk in my shoes, you don't get to judge me." I snapped. I grabbed my purse and stood up, with every intention of leaving, taking a moment to reach into my wallet and throw some money on the table to cover my lunch.

"Bree...wait...I'm sorry. I was out of line. You're right. I'm not in any position to judge. You know me, open mouth, insert foot. Please sit back down." She pleaded with me, and with a sigh of resignation, I sat back down at the table.

"Do you have any idea how hard this has been for me? Not just dealing with cancer, but constantly worrying that it's going to come back and then making the most difficult decision of my life by letting go of the person I love most in this world because I can't give him the things in life that he deserves." Now I was the one doing the scolding.

"No. I don't have any idea how hard this has been for you, because like you said, I haven't walked in your shoes. Again, I apologize for my outburst. I am truly sorry for that and for everything you went through. I just want you to be happy. I want Ryan to be happy. I just wish you would reconsider telling him." She said sadly.

"I just can't. I hate that he's unhappy, but I don't see that I could make his life any better. Maybe I shouldn't go tonight. I'm not on the best of terms with Ryan or Chase, and I don't want to spoil everyone's night." I said.

"You are not going to spoil our night. Like I said, it's a concert. There will be thousands of people there and it's not like there will be a lot of talking going on." She reminded me.

"Okay. I'll go." I replied.

"Awesome. We'll pick you up at six."

*******

Ryan's POV

I could not believe Zoe had invited Bree to come with us to the concert tonight. Since last week when Ross and I got into it, and Bree went off on Laken, which caused me to go off on Bree, she and I were not on good terms. Before that incident, we had been getting along fine, still a bit of awkwardness between us, but we were talking at least and were sharing time with Sturgill. Now, things were a bit ugly and definitely tense.

I shot Zoe a glare when I slid into the front passenger seat of Chase's truck before we went to pick up Bree, relegating her to the backseat. Well hell, this was all Zoe's fault anyway. She was the one who invited Bree, she could sit next to her.