“What Happened While I Was Gone Changed Everything”
I was in the kitchen, carefully plating the meatloaf with extra gravy—Jace’s favorite. The mashed potatoes were fluffy, the green beans perfectly steamed, just the way he liked it. I wanted everything to be perfect because my best friend Jace, a long-haul trucker, was finally home after a month on the road.
Suddenly, the front door swung open and Jace’s voice boomed through the house.
“Yo! You home?!” he shouted like it had been a year, not just a month.
He walked in with that same old grin—wide and warm—the one that always made me smile. He smelled like diesel fuel and road dust, but I didn’t care. It was just…Jace.
His eyes scanned the room and landed on the plate in my hands. They lit up.
“Is that meatloaf?” he asked, already tossing his duffel bag by the door like he lived here.
I nodded, trying to act chill, but inside I was glowing. “Mashed potatoes and green beans too. You know, your favorite.”
He groaned in pure joy. “Marry me.”
From the couch, my girlfriend Kaylee let out a laugh. It was the first time she and Jace had ever met in person, and honestly, I was nervous about it. They were two huge parts of my life—what if they didn’t get along?
Jace was more like family than a friend. Being on the road all the time meant he didn’t have a real home base, so whenever he passed through town, he stayed with me. This was my way of keeping him grounded. Reminding him that he had someone. A place. A home.
Kaylee and I had only been living together for two months, and last time Jace visited, she was out of town visiting her sister. The timing wasn’t great. But tonight? I hoped everything would be fine.
Dinner started off normal.
While I brought plates to the table, Kaylee walked to the fridge and quietly made something else for herself. I didn’t take it personally—she had particular tastes. Meatloaf wasn’t her thing.
Jace, on the other hand, devoured his meal like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. Between big bites, he glanced over at Kaylee’s plain salad.
“You don’t like this?” he asked, nodding toward his plate.
Kaylee shrugged. “I’m not big on meatloaf. Or gravy. Or mashed potatoes.”
Jace raised an eyebrow and looked at me. Something passed across his face—just a flicker—but he didn’t say anything else.
Then, my phone rang. It was my mom, panicking. “The kitchen’s flooding! The pipe under the sink burst, and there’s water everywhere! Please, can you come?”
I glanced between Kaylee and Jace. Mom sounded so stressed I could hear the water splashing.
“I’ll be back in an hour, tops,” I said, grabbing my keys. “You two good?”
Kaylee gave me a small smile. “Go help your mom. We’ll be fine.”
Famous. Last. Words.
When I got back, about an hour later, my clothes smelled like bleach, and my shoes were soggy. I was exhausted and ready to collapse on the couch with Jace and Kaylee and maybe watch a dumb TV show to clear my head.
But as soon as I walked in, I felt it. The whole vibe was off.
They were sitting on opposite ends of the couch, not talking, not even glancing at each other. The room felt tight and tense, like a thunderstorm was about to roll in.
Kaylee stood up the second she saw me.
“I’m heading to bed,” she said, eyes not meeting mine. “Gonna read.”
She disappeared down the hall.
I turned to Jace. “Everything okay?”
He shrugged. “We were watching Wheel of Fortune. You didn’t miss much.”
Something in his voice made my stomach twist. Too casual.
I walked upstairs and peeked into the bedroom. Kaylee was already under the blanket, turned toward the wall, her breathing slow like she was asleep.
But I knew she wasn’t.
“Everything okay?” I asked softly from the doorway.
She didn’t answer.
The next day felt like I was living in a house divided in two.
I made pancakes—fluffy, golden ones with real maple syrup, Kaylee’s favorite. She didn’t touch them. Said she was running errands.
At lunch, I made grilled cheese and tomato soup, hoping it would pull her back. It didn’t. She told me she had already eaten.
Meanwhile, Jace happily scarfed everything down like nothing was wrong. Either he was totally clueless… or hiding it better than I was.
Kaylee kept avoiding him. She went to “grab something from Target,” then left again to “take a walk.” She barely looked at either of us.
I started to wonder… maybe they just didn’t like each other?
But no. That wasn’t it.
Because as soon as Jace left the next morning, Kaylee turned to me and said, “We need to talk.”
She sat me down on the couch. My heart was already pounding.
“He has to leave,” she said, voice shaking. “Immediately.”
I blinked. “What? Why? What happened?”
She looked up, her eyes full of tears.
“It’s because of what he said while you were gone last night. He… he said something.”
Her fingers trembled against the edge of the table.
“He told me it was awful that I didn’t appreciate your cooking. That I was a picky eater. Then he said… ‘If I were in your place, I wouldn’t do that.’”
I frowned. “That doesn’t sound like Jace. I mean… he’s blunt, but—”
“That’s not all,” she said quickly. “I asked him what he meant. And after a while, he admitted it.”
She looked down, voice barely a whisper.
“He’s in love with you.”
My mouth opened, but no words came out. My whole body went still. My brain was screaming that she must’ve misunderstood—but deep down, something cracked inside me.
“Kaylee…” I whispered. “I didn’t know. I swear.”
She nodded, swallowing hard. “It’s not your fault. But you have to ask him to leave. It’s too weird now. Too painful.”
I couldn’t speak. The idea of telling Jace to leave? It felt impossible.
“I need time,” I muttered.
I grabbed an overnight bag and told Jace I was heading to Mom’s to help with more water damage. Truthfully? I just needed air.
I lay on the pull-out couch at my mom’s, staring at the ceiling all night.
I thought about the years of meals I cooked just for Jace. The way I counted down the days until his visits. The warmth in my chest every time he walked through my door.
Was that really just friendship?
Or had I been lying to myself this whole time?
The next day, I asked Jace to meet me at the old diner by the highway—the place we always used to sit for hours, drinking bad coffee and laughing over cheap pie.
He sat down across from me, eyes serious.
“I guess Kaylee told you what I said,” he said.
I nodded. “Is it true?”
He took a deep breath. “Yeah. I didn’t plan on saying it. But once it slipped out, I couldn’t take it back.” He looked into my eyes. “And…I don’t want to take it back.”
And just like that, it was like a switch flipped.
Everything that had been confusing suddenly made perfect sense.
When I got back home, heart pounding, Kaylee was in the bedroom, folding her clothes in silence. She didn’t look up.
I tried to explain, but the words tangled.
How do you tell someone you love… that you’re in love with someone else?
She finally sat down on the bed, hands in her lap, eyes wet.
“You two fit,” she said softly. “I saw it before you did. I think… you’ll be really happy together.”
I helped her pack. The house was quiet. Heavy. We didn’t talk much. There wasn’t anything left to say.
At the end, we hugged. Long and real.
Three years later, Jace and I sent Kaylee a wedding invitation. We didn’t expect her to come. But we sent it anyway—because she was a part of the story.
We were standing in the courtyard, lining up for photos, when I saw her.
She was wearing a blue dress, hair pinned back, standing near the trees.
She looked the same—but somehow more peaceful. Happier.
I ran to her and wrapped her in a hug.
She smiled and whispered, “I told you you’d be happy together.”
I laughed, and something inside me—something tight and aching—finally let go.