Moving from the fireplace to the large side windows, he pondered if his life had truly come to a peaceful place. He had missed Christmas with her, but with Valentine’s Day and Evie’s birthday right around the corner, he would make up for it. Those holidays meant the world to Evie, especially Valentine’s Day and Christmas. Since both of them were proud Christians, he hoped she would understand. Caleb drew back those lofty curtains to peer outside at his large pond and horses.
Suddenly, his daughter Olivia was pulling at his arm. “Daddy?”
It happened again.
At once, he leaned over and picked her up, hearing his ex-wife had come inside. He kissed Olivia’s cherubim face. “Hey there, Munchkin! How’d ya get in here, huh?”
“Momma let us in.”
Ashley approached with Zack by her side. There she stood about as tall as Evie. She had deep brown hair that was kept in styled curls down to her shoulders, and her tan was just as dark as every other woman’s in town. Thin brows framed her deep blue eyes, and she came in wearing the athleisure style that was just as prevalent in the town. She was stale in her expressions. She began cautiously, “I’m sorry, Caleb. You weren’t coming to the door, so I used Zack’s key to get in.”
“You rang the doorbell?”
“Yep. Let’s not make this any weirder than it already is.” She took Olivia from him. He tried to resist but didn’t want to stir any problems.Regrettably, he let his daughter go. Ashley kissed her daughter, who was staring off somewhere else.
She put her daughter down then hugged and kissed her children, then left the house.
The cold night air was brisk as later on, Caleb sat up in his bed with his bedroom window cracked a bit. He felt a little claustrophobic, and the fresh air helped. He always wanted to use this time specifically for just him and his children, but the divorce had taken an ugly turn, and he had lost custody of his kids for two weeks out of the month. The court had cited that Caleb’s possible affair was detrimental to his children’s wellbeing. The weekends and partial weekdays were awfully quiet around there. The large four-bedroom house used to be filled with laughter all the time. Now it was stark and empty more than he had felt comfortable with.
Thank God Ashley had brought them over an hour earlier so that she could attend a meeting. That little extra time was golden to him. It felt good to have them just across the hall, sleeping in their beds, and him close by just in case they needed him.
But what his own children didn’t realize, was that he felt he neededthemmore than they needed him.
A little bit of loneliness came, and he reached for his phone to check on Evie. First, he opened his Facebook to see if she had posted any new singing or cute workout photos.
His heart was thrown out of his mouth. It said, “The page you are looking for is either missing or can’t be displayed” with the broken thumb icon.
His chest flushed with sweat. She obviously blocked him. He tried to hide it by scrunching his brows, staring at his phone as if stupidly, but inside he was in utter chaos. With one hand behind his head and his naked chest exposed, he called her.
Over on the other side, Evie was taking a hot bubble bath with her favorite Stephen King book in her hands. Candles were lit, a face mask was on, a glass of wine was on the nearby counter, and Teddy was sleeping on the soft, faux-fur bathroom mat. She jumped happily as she reached for the phone and answered it, “Hey there! How are you?”
“I’m fine. How are you?” he askedcasually.
“Oh, I’m great! I’m taking a hot bath with a book. What are you doing up this late? It’s almost ten.”
“I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to ask you a question. Did you block me?”
Evie smiled and put her book down on the floor by Teddy, who ended up just using it as a pillow. “No, I didn’t block you. I deactivated my profile for a while. It got to be too much.”
“Why? Did something happen?”
Evie sighed and took her light-brown hair out of its pin so that she could run her fingers through it. “Not entirely. But I got to thinking. I feel like it was either Kelly Potts who told Sandy or Alan Moffet, or somehow, they’re all in it together. And so, I started combing through their Facebook pages, wasting time and worrying about it, when in all reality it doesn’t matter anymore. No matter what I say or do, I’m not entirely welcome in this town anymore, you know?”
Yes, he did know.
Evie continued brightly, “And my therapist told me that sometimes social media can be bad for my approval addiction and manic episodes. So, I thought it’d be best if I just let it be and let it go and live my life happily. Whatever that may be.”
This woman never ceased to amaze him! He had to tell her, “Evie, all adoration and lust aside, I am really fucking proud of you. It takes a lot to admit that to yourself and shove it out. You’re protecting your peace and taking charge of your own self-worth. I’m really,reallyhappy for you. And you should feel proud of yourself.”
“I have you to thank for that.”
He smiled. “Well, I do wanna know why you think it’s Alan?”
“Because of how often he drives around here like a maniac. And how he seemed to deliberately hit my box. I know he’s an asshole to everyone on the road, but he also works in Freeton. I’m not sure about it anymore though, since I tried to write him on Facebook, and he got all weird and blocked me. He acted like he didn’t even know who I was. I don’t know why he’d be like that, but I don’t care.”
And neither did he. Perhaps it was time to truly leave the past in the past. If only forgettinghispast could be so easy. He changed his thoughttrajectory and asked, “Would you like to go hiking with me on Saturday after Ashley takes the kids back?”
“Sure! I’m not athletic, but I can try.”
