I feel a laugh bubble up, unexpected and genuine. I flash back to a night Mia and I were curled up on the couch watchingThe Good, The Bad and TheUgly.
“Dad.” I grin. “As Tuco wisely put it:When you have to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk.”
His brows draw together in confusion. “Huh?”
“Do what you’ve got to do, Dad. But stop standing in my office, talking about it like the villain in a second-rate spaghetti western.”
I walk past him, a man who doesn’t fully understand that he’s lost his grip on the reins, feeling a sense of accomplishment I’ve never before experienced.
CHAPTER 15
Mia
He’s waiting for me outside Little Luminaries, leaning against my car.
It’s the first time he’s come here.
Unlike other husbands, he never came to pick me up. He never came to the kindergarten for any of the events, though I invited him to all of them.
Seeing him here now is like salt on a wound that's still open, still throbbing.
“What?” I ask, standing in front of him.
I hate that he makes me feel this way. Angry. Defiant.
I’m all negative energy when I think of him.
I’m sad, grieving, broken.
I miss him. I miss us. I miss my home. I miss myself—the woman I used to be, the one who smiled easily, who forgave with her full heart, who was open and kind.
I don’t feel any of those things now. I’m like an automaton.
The only time I feel connected to myself is when I’m with my class—their innocence, their joy in small things, their curiosity, a balm.
I so badly want to have my own kids—but my body betrayed me. And then my husband did.
Maybe I can adopt now.
The thought just springs into my head as I glare at my soon-to-be-ex-husband. He didn’t want us to do that because his parents wouldn’t accept an adopted child. I agreed. But they’re not my in-laws anymore, and I can do whatever I want.
I’m thirty years old, single…and I know it won’t be easy, but it can be done.
“How are you?” he asks softly, his eyes scanning my face.
“Just dandy!” I can’t help but be snarky.
He nods once and smiles weakly. “Would you have coffee with me?”
“No.”
“Please.”
“No.”
Why was he making this so hard? I thought I’d leave and he’d be happy, get it on with whatshername. I never expected him to try to make it work between us.
“Baby—”
