Bailey pushed through the door carrying her things. “Can I get a snack, Mom?”
Aelin nodded. “Yep. Then you need to shower.”
Bailey ran to the kitchen, and Aelin turned back to Ryan. She wanted to reach for him. To hold him. To ask him to stay.
But everything inside her felt numb. Empty.
Ryan’s fingers twitched, but he didn’t move closer. "I'll, uh, text you."
She nodded. “Thanks for driving.”
Ryan looked at her for a moment longer, then turned and walked back to the car.
Aelin stood in the entryway, her feet rooted to the floor. She watched through the side window as Ryan opened the door and slid into the driver's seat. He glanced up and met her eyes, and she willed her feet to move. To run out onto the porch and yell for him to come back.
But she didn't. He started the engine, and his taillights glowed red. His car pulled away from the curb, and the silence of her house threatened to bury her.
She lifted a throw blanket from the chair in the sitting room and wrapped it around her shoulders. It didn’t help. She shook as she put away the dishes from Bailey’s snack. As she brushed Bailey’s hair after her shower, and then as she flowed through her bedtime routine.
Her pillows on the bed were in the wrong place. Her necklaces hung on the hooks in her closet in the wrong order.
Clark had touched her things and left them askew just to screw with her.
Aelin shut off the light and crawled into bed feeling like she’d aged a hundred years. Fun Aelin had shrivelled and died the second they’d left that Walmart, and functional Aelin had disappeared the second she’d seen Clark’s car in the driveway.
At least twelve years married to him had taught her one thing.
Shewouldhave to wake up in the morning and do this all again.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Ryan's griptightened on the steering wheel as he drove back from Aelin’s. His jaw clenched.Clark.What a bastard showing up at her house and threatening her when he knew damn well where she was. The whole time that asshole had been talking, he wanted to slam a fist into his face. His hockey years had taught him exactly where to hit to create a real bleeder. Would have felt good to see that F-boy shirt ruined.
Thankfully he'd had a little rationality left in his head. Knocking Clark flat wasn't going to help anyone. Certainly not Aelin. She was already walking a tightrope trying to get him to finalize the divorce.
He thought of the way Aelin looked at him in the entryway of her house. Her eyes had been blank, like she'd retreated behind some invisible barrier that he couldn't get through. Ryan shook his head. He had to trust that she had it under control. She didn’t need him to be her saviour.
Amaya yawned in the backseat, and he glanced in the rear view mirror. “You ready for bed already?" he asked.
She nodded. “I don't know why driving makes me so tired. I've only been sitting here.”
Ryan chuckled. He went through a mental checklist ofeverything he needed to take care of that night before work and the third week of hockey camp. Thankfully, he had enough foresight to tie all the loose ends he was capable of tying before they left. His team had worked on the things they could while he was gone, and now he just had a shit ton of emailing to do.
Ryan turned onto his street and parked in front of his garage door. He still had boxes and parts he needed to organize from when he'd put in the new closet systems in both his and Amaya's rooms. Since it was summer, he wasn't particularly motivated to get his car inside.
It didn't click that there was a light on inside his house until he pushed the car door open and stood in his driveway. He frowned and scanned the street. As soon as he saw the silver Acura, realization hit him like a lightning strike.
“Are grandma and grandpa here?” Amaya pulled her backpack from the back seat.
Ryan ran a hand over his face. He nodded, and she gave a little hop of excitement before running to the front door.
Laura and Russ pulled the door open as soon as they saw Amaya coming. Laura gave her a huge hug. “We missed you so much!”
Russ shook Ryan's hand. "Did the drive go okay?”
Ryan nodded, then realized he hadn't grabbed their luggage from the back. He rounded the car and opened the trunk. Russ insisted on helping him get everything inside.
