“Thanks, Luke, but I’ll be fine.” I love that he’s willing to help fight my battles, but I need to deal with Troy on my own.
Luke heads out shortly after five, and Troy and the kids arrive half an hour later. Claire’s eager to tell me about their trip to the High Park zoo, and Liam’s cranky in the way of a kid who’s just been woken from a nap.
And Troy looks nervous. His eyes are darting around the entrance hall, as though he’s afraid to look at me.
“You have a nice house,” he says politely.
“Thanks,” I reply curtly, before turning to Liam. “Come on, Liam. You can have bonus TV while I talk to your dad for a minute.” This perks him up immediately, and he runs for the living room couch. I hit play on a cartoon, give Claire the iPad, and lead Troy to the kitchen.
“Would you like something to drink?” I ask.
“No, thanks.” Troy takes a seat at the kitchen table and scrubs a hand through his hair. Picks an invisible speck of dust from his shirt. Taps his fingers on the table.
“You said there was something you wanted to talk about?” I prompt.
“Yeah.” His eyes finally meet mine. “You look good, Melissa.”
“Thanks.” Being well-loved by Luke Carlton will do that for a girl.
“Claire said you’re doing some teaching?”
“Yeah, I’m teaching math at a private school. Just mornings, while Liam’s in preschool.”
“Wow. I stopped taking math after grade eleven. Iwasn’t going to be a mathematician, so I didn’t really see the point.”
“A lot of people feel that way.”
I wait for Troy to suggest his spousal support payments should be reduced, since I’m earning some money, but he doesn’t. Instead, he just sits there awkwardly, drumming his fingers against the table. His usual confidence seems to have deserted him, and I start to worry that whatever he wants to tell me is going to be really bad. Maybe he’s lost his job, or been diagnosed with some awful illness. Whatever it is, I wish he’d just spit it out.
“What did you want to talk about, Troy?”
He lets out a breath. “I know the kids are supposed to be with you next weekend, but I wondered what you thought about bringing them to Toronto again? One of my colleagues gave me tickets toBeauty and the Beast, and I thought Olivia could take Claire. It’s gotten good reviews.”
I stare at him for a moment, surprised that he’s making such a big deal out of a request for an extra weekend with the kids. He mistakes my silence for disagreement.
“They missed a weekend with me when Claire was sick,” he says defensively. “So I thought?—”
“Yeah, Troy, it’s fine. I’ll drive them down Friday evening.”
“Thanks.”
“Is that all?”
“No. Olivia and I are getting married in the spring.” He blurts it out in a rush, then tenses as though he’s preparing for an attack.
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” he says warily. It’s clear he’d been expecting a different reaction. “You’re not upset?”
“No.” Of course, if I was upset, I would do mydamnedest to hide it from Troy, but in this case, it’s the truth. I’ve moved on.
Troy visibly relaxes. “I was dreading this conversation, you know.”
“I could tell,” I say with a chuckle, and I notice his hair is going gray at the temples. I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise; he’s thirty-five, after all. At twenty-two, Olivia’s closer in age to the students I teach than she is to Troy. “Be good to her, Troy.”
“What?” he asks. “Oh, uh, of course. Yeah. I plan to.”
“Okay.”
