Carla Unbroken - Unbroken Series Book 2

Chapter Two

The miles passed by, the heavy metal pounding from the speakers of my Range Rover. Yes. My car now. I took it in the divorce. Not because I had any particular fondness for it. But Greg did. And that was reason enough.

Four months had passed since that August afternoon when my husband shattered my heart into a million pieces. I moved home to Marlo, retreating into a deep depression in my childhood bedroom. I had nothing to show for my twenty-two years on earth. No husband, no babies, no college education, no friends to lean on. My best friend, Whitney Nelson, was in Washington, busy with her aspiring career in politics. My other best friend, Lacey Jones, was in Boston trying to care for a newborn while doing online courses to finish her degree at MIT. My friends didn't have time to come home and pull me from the depths of hell.

After weeks of wallowing in self-pity, I pulled myself out. Without any help from my family or friends. I woke up one morning with a wine bottle in my bed and a Twinkie wrapper stuck to my forehead. As silly as that sounds, it was the wake up call I needed. The old Carla would have never let herself go like that. She was a ball busting chick who didn't take any shit off anyone. A girl with boundless energy and a zest for life. Until my marriage sucked the life out of me. I decided right then and there, that Carla Cooper would never let a man bring her to her knees ever again.

The traffic picked up as I crossed the state line into Massachusetts. My first order of business was to visit Lacey. Her baby was two months old, and I had yet to see her. I didn't even attend her baby shower. I wouldn't blame her if she never wanted to see me again. But Lacey would never do that. She was a great friend, and she understood how painful it was to see someone else that had something I desperately wanted. Infertility was brutal.

When I called her the night before and asked if I could come to visit, she was ecstatic. I got the impression that she was very lonely. Her fiancé is a trainer with The Boston Bruins, a job that requires him to travel a lot during the hockey season. Marty was away for a few days in California, so it was a good time to crash at her place and catch up. It would be just like old times. We could stay up all night watching movies and eating junk food. Maybe do a little shopping and have lunch. She said she had completed her courses for the semester and it was a perfect time for a visit.

I followed the GPS instructions to a quiet, tree-lined street about a block from MIT. After parking my car in the visitor section, I headed for the front entrance of the red brick high rise. The building only had nine floors. I'm not sure that even qualifies as a high rise, but whatever. I had arrived, and I was ready to party with my bestie. Apparently, I was really stupid and knew nothing about having a newborn.

I realized my foolishness when Lacey picked up the phone to buzz me in. The baby was screaming in the background and she sounded very flustered. When she pulled open her apartment door, my jaw dropped to the floor. Lacey's normally gorgeous black hair was a greasy mess pulled up in a half-assed ponytail. Her pink shirt was dotted with fresh spit up splatters, accompanied by wrinkled pajama pants.

"Hi! I'm so glad you made it." She pulled me into a hug, squeezing me tightly.

"Um," I said, glancing around her apartment as she closed the door behind me. "Is everything okay, Lacey?"

"Oh yeah," she chuckled. "Things get a little crazy when Marty is away. But I'm on school break until February now. Which is really great timing with the wedding and moving and everything. So things are bound to get better."

"That's good," I said. I sat my small suitcase next to the door, thinking I might need to find a hotel to stay in.

"Well, come in," she said, gesturing toward the kitchen. "Have a seat. I just have to feed the baby and then I can make you a cup of tea or something."