As we pulled up to Harry's small, unassuming home, I took in every detail. The moon cast eerie shadows on the neatly trimmedlawn, making the shrubs look like they were reaching out to grab us. My overactive imagination was getting the better of me.
I followed Deva's lead, stepping out of the vehicle and doing my best to ignore the way my knees threatened to buckle beneath me.
"Ready?" Deva asked steadily despite the nerves she must have been feeling herself.
"About as ready as I'll ever be." I gave her a weak smile.
Deva pressed the doorbell. The chime resonated through the house, and moments later, the door swung open to reveal Harry standing there, his face a mix of confusion and annoyance.
"Deva? Emma?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "What are you two doing here?"
"Can we talk?" Deva asked.
Harry hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. Make it quick."
Before he could step outside, we heard a woman's voice call out from inside the house. "Harry, who is it?"
"Nobody important," he said back dismissively, slamming the door behind him as he stepped out onto the porch.
"Charming," I said under my breath.
Deva shot me a warning glance, then turned her attention back to Harry. "Listen, I wanted to talk to you about us."
"Us?" He crossed his arms over his chest. "What aboutus? I’ve been trying to talk about us constantly, but you’ve either been running away or running around with that Marquis."
Deva didn’t react to his barbs. "I wanted to talk specifically about the fact that there's not still anusleft to salvage."
Harry stared at her for what felt like an eternity before finally speaking. "Are you sure?"
"We've been over this," Deva said with a sigh. "We're not good for each other. We haven't been for a long time."
He stood up taller. “I get it. I get that I always chose my friends, bars, hell, even just driving around, over you and the girls. You were the one that ran the house and ran our lives, and I just sat back along for the ride.”
“It’s not just that–”
“And I wasn’t there for you when your mom died. You were grieving, and I just couldn’t understand what you needed. I thought you should just be able to get over it, but, I guess, that’s not how it works.”
Even now, he sounded pissed and not at all like he was accepting what he’d done. Heck, I was pretty sure he was just repeating the things she’d told him right back like a parrot, without ever having taken the time to process what she was saying. His words sounded hollow and unempathetic, although he’d had a lot of time to think about why their marriage fell apart.
“Harry, we’re over. I don’t want to be with you any longer. I wasn’t happy in our marriage for a long time and no part of me wants that life back.”
"Maybe I don't want to give up so easily," he said. "Maybe I think we're worth fighting for."
Like he fought so hard for his marriage when they were together? I want to snort. I remember the phone calls. Thenumber of times she begged him to be a partner. This man was a ball and chain around her ankle, and she was far, far better off without him.
"Even if it means holding each other back?" Deva asked softly. "Because that's what we've been doing, holding each other back from being our best selves."
Deva had more grace and wisdom than anyone I knew.
Harry deflated a bit at her words, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "You don’t mean that.”
She looked at him square in the eye. “I do. Right now, I’m at peace with us. But if you keep pushing, I’m going to learn to hate and resent you.” She took a deep breath. “You made a lot of my years hard and miserable. I’m not going to let you ruin anymore.”
I saw it. I saw the moment something clicked with him. “I did do that, didn’t I? The last thing I want to do is keep hurting you.” He sighed. “So that's it, then? Just like that, we're done?"
"We've been done for a while now," Deva said gently. "It's just time we both accept that and move on."
"Fine," he said, kicking at a stray pebble on the ground. "If that's what you want."
