Just for the Summer (Part of Your World, #3)

by Abby Jimenez

He shook his head. “I don’t think you’re a horrible person. I think you went through something horrible and that’s who you needed to become to get through it.”

“Unhealed trauma is a crack. And all the little hard things that trickle into it that would have rolled off someone else, settle. Then when life gets cold, that crack gets bigger, longer, deeper. It makes new breaks. You don’t know how broken she was or what she was trying to do to fill those cracks. Being broken is not an excuse for bad behavior, you still have to make good choices and do the right thing. But it can be the reason. And sometimes understanding the reason can be what helps you heal.”

I was taking her to Stillwater, a small town on the St. Croix River. Ice cream shops and antique stores, a river walk. My favorite wine bar for dinner.

Stillwater, MN 🤍

Not everything that comes out of crisis is bad. Sometimes your traumas are the reason you know how to help.

“You’re not asking too much,” he said. “You were just asking the wrong person. Ask me instead.”

I thought about the rom-coms Mom used to watch when I was growing up. The dramatic grand gestures that keep them together at the end. But that’s not what real grown-up relationships are like. They’re like this. Being mature enough to know your limits, and adult enough to accept when someone tells you what they are. Even if it breaks your heart.