Flipped! (Spinning Hills Romance 1) by Inés Saint Page B

say it to myself all the time.” Holly fiddled with an envelope that had been lying next to the laptop. “But you have to ask yourself if Jake would be better off with both of you together the way you were, or with you two apart, the way you will be when you’re apart. Does that make sense?”
    “It does. And it actually helps me answer the next question. I value experience and wisdom now more than ever.” She smiled ruefully. “Sam and I got it all wrong, you know. From the very beginning. But we were so sure we had it right.”
    Heather took a deep breath and let it out. “We’d both been burned, and being with a friend seemed so much easier on the heart and so much safer than going through what we’d gone through again. We ended up together, but we were never in love and we knew it. We were convinced it was better that way. But these past few years it’s been obvious that we needed so much more. I could feel our resentment building and I knew Jake could feel the tension and unhappiness. It seemed anything was better than that.”
    Heather clicked on answers as she spoke, and pretty soon, she was done with the first section. “I’ve been listening to a lot of indie rock lately,” she said, before choosing that option on the screen. “It’s funny,” she said, reading the next question. “I’ve also been trying new foods. My therapist said that’s a good sign.”
    “Did couple’s therapy work at all?” Holly wanted to know.
    Heather nodded. “It helped us see we were never really a couple. One thing I’ve learned is you need passion or compatibility, or even better, both. We never had either of those. Now that we don’t have to come home to each other every day and try so hard not to be indifferent, it’s easier to be friends again. I can ask him about how the houses are going and really listen and care, and I can tell him about my ‘high-maintenance’ stuff and he can smile and tease me about the things I’m into.”
    Holly couldn’t help but smile. Sam and Heather were so different, yet it had always been obvious it wasn’t a case of opposites attract, excite, and ignite, either. “How’s your soon-to-be ex-mother-in-law taking it?”
    Heather groaned. “Not well. Not that she says anything, but with her, you just know. But Johnny and Dan have been angels.”
    “Dan?” Holly looked doubtful.
    Heather looked back at the computer screen and hit submit . “Dan took Jake and me to the air force museum yesterday and he taught Jake to fly a kite out front, after we’d gone through the hangars. It was so great for Jake.”
    Holly hit print on the computer screen.
    “He’s so good with kids. Has Ella met him?” Heather asked next.
    Holly shook her head while she analyzed Heather’s answers.
    “I was talking to him about you, about how seeing another single mom be successful and bring up a great kid helps me feel a little better about the decision.”
    Holly looked up, alarmed. “What did he have to say about that?” she asked in as neutral a tone as she could muster.
    Heather’s eyes twinkled. “He said as long as I don’t start breaking, entering, and trespassing into other people’s homes for kicks . . .”
    So she’d known all along and was teasing her. Holly scowled.
    “He caught you trespassing twice, Holly? Seriously? ”
    “There are all sorts of adventures, remember?” she muttered. Heather laughed, but Holly was feeling too sick to her stomach to join her. Her dreams had come at a cost, and it felt wrong to have her name bandied about as someone to look up to and admire. “Look, Heather, I love you for seeing the best in me, but you really shouldn’t use me as a role model.”
    “Are you kidding? Look at everything you’ve accomplished as a single mom.” Heather swept a hand across the room. “Of course you’re a great role model.”
    Holly blinked. Being admired for her strengths was a new feeling. She reached over and gave her friend’s hand a grateful squeeze.