“Do you think he’ll actually come?”
She was watching me the way she watched storms roll in off the coast.
“You know he might bring her. If he comes.”
“I know.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
I wasn’t.
I hadn’t been okay with anything since the afternoon I stood in our bedroom holding our six-month-old baby and heard Jordan say the words that unmade me.
“You know he might bring her. If he comes.”
“I’m with Percy now. We’ve been together for over a year. I don’t want to waste any more time on a woman who’s no longer attractive to me.”
I remembered how the baby had shifted against my shoulder.
I remembered how my knees had locked so I wouldn’t fall.
“Mom?”
I blinked back into the kitchen.
“A woman who’s no longer attractive to me.”
“I’m okay, honey. Really. Your brother deserves a perfect day, and I’m going to give it to him.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
She kissed my cheek and left.
I stood alone again with the mental list of things I had to buy, arrange, decorate, and pretend I could handle without breaking.
“Your brother deserves a perfect day.”
But first things first.
I texted Jordan to invite him to the party.
“Ethan wants the whole family there,” I typed.
A short while later, my phone buzzed on the counter.
I saw Jordan’s name light up the screen.
Something inside me tightened before I’d even read a single word of what he’d sent.
I texted Jordan to invite him to the party.
Jordan’s message was short and sharp.
“I’ll bring Percy. She’s part of my family too.”
I read it three times before the words fully landed.
My chest tightened.
I set the phone down and stared at the pool skimmer in the shallow end, trying to breathe.
“Mom, are you okay?”
I read it three times
My son stood in the doorway, wet hair plastered to his forehead.
I forced a smile.
“I’m fine, sweetheart. Just finalizing details for your big day.”
He studied me for a moment longer than I wanted him to.
Then he disappeared back into the yard.
