She certainly wouldn't fault him if he came to that conclusion.
He hadn't spent decades building up his business to have a hateful ex cause this kind of disruption.
He'd lost four customers today.
Comped two meals.
Those four people could easily go online and mention the danger they'd seen. They could also tell family and friends to stay away. This one incident could be horrible for Yun and the Lone Star Diner.
It was all her fault.
Daryl was there because of her.
He hadn't just accidentally stopped by.
Daryl had done this for a reason.
She just didn't know exactly what he had in mind.
He did this for a reason.
She'd learned through the years of their relationship that Daryl might seem chaotic, but there was more going on under the surface.
Most of it was mean and secretly, she'd come to see him as evil.
So it was stupid of herself to believe that he'd taken the judge's orders to heart.
She should have expected something like this...
But she'd mistaken the silence as acceptance of their separation, and she was worried that her mistake might cost more for the people she cared for than herself.
And that... would hurt her more than any danger to herself.
She reached out and put her hand on Yun's shoulder. "You should go."
He turned his head and looked at her, his eyes narrowed and sharp. "I'm not leaving you with him."
Seaton had to make a decision.
She squared up her shoulders and stepped to Yun's side. "Daryl." An ache swelled in her chest, but she kept her hands down at her sides. She didn't want Daryl to know that she was struggling. "You were in the court when the judge said you need to stay away from me."
"That was some performative shit, baby. You had your moment. You got the big, bad judge to bang his gavel and say that I'm supposed to stay away from you. But how long are we going to play this game? You've had time to get it all out of your system. It's time to come home. The vacuuming isn't going to do itself. The garden looks like shit! If you keep this up, I'm just going to put turf in and fuck it."
Seaton wanted to laugh even as her face flushed red hot.
The garden? The floor?
His arguments weren't because he actually missed her or cared for her. It was that things around the house weren't getting done.
"I'm a person, Daryl. If you want the floor vacuumed? Get a Roomba. There are lawn services out there. I'm not your maid."
"Why should I pay for someone to do the things you always did for me?"
Her heart sank in her chest.
It was one thing to know that he was cold when it came to her.
It was quite another to know that he wanted unpaid help around the house.
