He releases a weary sigh. “You know what I mean.”
I stare at him—this man I’ve known since I was seventeen. The one who used to sneak into my parents’ backyard to dance with me under the Christmas lights. The one who promised we’d be partners.
Back then, I thought partnership meant equal.
Now it just means I keep things running while he saves lives.
Dr. Hero.
Rhys works at Camden Memorial Hospital, a gleaming healthcare institution in the heart of the city that everyone in Baltimore name-drops with pride. Camden is where reputations are made, egos are fed, and families like ours quietly orbit around the man in the white coat.
My eyes wander to the door where Finn’s cleats lie, dried in mud from his game.
Mikaela’s half-finished art project, which I was helping her with, is spread across the dining table, and there’s glitter everywhere.
They’re both upstairs, pretending not to hear us.
And somehow, in Rhys’s version of our life,Iam the problem.
The subtext:“That Jayne, she’s always complaining about one thing or the other.”
My voice drops.
“Rhys, do you even know what time his practice ends?”
He blinks. “Whose practice?”
I hold back a groan that’s threatening to engulf me. “Finn’s.”
He shrugs, like it’s a pop quiz question he didn’t study for. “Five-thirty?”
“Seven.”
He looks at the clock. It’s almost eight-thirty.
I raise both eyebrows and give him a pointed look.
He looks at me, irritation swirling in his eyes.“Jayne, come on?—”
“This isn’t about you being in surgery, Rhys,” I interrupt, because Ireallyneed to get my point across. “This is about you taking some responsibility to make our family function.”
He straightens, defensive. “You think I don’t care about my family?”
“That’s not what I said,” I reply carefully.
Yes, Rhys, that’s exactly what I think.
“That’s what I heard,” he spits back.
I shake my head, apathy slipping in where anger should be.
I’msotired of having the same conversation in fifteen different ways with Rhys.
If I say something now, he’ll get defensive and accuse me of portraying him as a bad husband and father.
Then I’ll apologize.
Then he’ll say I’ve hurt him.
