They entered and sat in the back. After ordering breakfast, Rachel colored with crayons on the kiddie menu while Reggie and Amy watched each other.
“I’ve missed you,” she said.
He wanted to yell at her for coming back now, hug her because he still cared, and shake her while asking why the hell she’d broken his heart.Why didn’t you at least try to make it work? Why leave me for that jerk?
Instead, he said, “I missed you too. For a while.” He smiled at Rachel. “But I never stopped missing this one.”
Rachel smiled up at him.
Amy sighed and fiddled with her fork. “Devon and I aren’t together.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Amy, I don’t think this is the place to talk about Devon.” He nodded at Rachel.
Amy shrugged. “She knows.”
“Daddy’s coming back soon.” The little girl didn’t look up from the menu, busy coloring. “He has to do a job, but he’s coming back for us.”
“In six to ten, earlier if good behavior?” Reggie asked Amy, his brow raised.
She frowned. “He’s really working. He does construction now. He’s becoming an electrician.”
“Good for him.” Reggie studied her, seeing the past in her face. He remembered them laughing, being a family. The way they’d play games or go for walks by the water. Festivals and dinners spent as a unit.
And he remembered Amy always needing more. Attention, money, hope. Propping her up to keep her from falling had been a chore, but one he’d done to the best of his ability because he’d loved her. And she’d loved him back, taking care of the house, being there whenever he’d needed her. Loving him gently in the dark, taking them to places where only pleasure existed.
Did he love her still? A month ago he would have said yes and probably taken her back without question. But now…?
“Amy, what do you want?”
“I missed you, and I realized I made a mistake.”
“It’s been eight months. I’ve moved on.”With a woman who loves me.
“I haven’t.” She reached across the table to grab his hand. “I’m sorry for barging in on you like this. You’re probably tired from work. But we have nowhere else to go.”
“Again?” He stared in disbelief. “Amy, you had a job. You had a house. Rachel’s got school in another month.”
“Ihada job. We had to move for Devon’s work. And Rachel will still go back to school. We have time.”
“And the house?”
“Devon can’t afford school and renting a place here in the city. His school is in Tacoma.”
“They why aren’t you there with him?”
“We had a fight.” She sighed.
The waitress brought their food, so they tabled the discussion and ate.
Once their plates had been cleaned, Amy asked, “Look, can we talk about this at your place?” She watched him take the check from the waitress and go up to pay. As usual, she didn’t try to grab the check or protest his paying.
Not wanting to embarrass her by asking if she had money, he settled the bill without question.
Maggie had loudly fought with him in a restaurant to pay for her own meal. Maggie would never talk about things that might hurt her daughter in front of her. And Maggie would never ask him for something without doing everything in her power to get it herself.
