“Mom didn’t just wake up one day and end a nineteen-year marriage,” I say. “Something happened.”
“Yes,” Dad says, his voice tired. “We were miserable.”
Mom inhales sharply, but he keeps going.
“Your mother just had the guts to do what I couldn’t.”
“Then why,” I press, “did you tell us abouthimwhen you told us about the divorce?”
Mom answers before Dad can.
“I thought your father might date men after and-”
“And the taunts about Manuel?” I cut in.
She flinches.
“It was just words,” she says. “I didn’t think they’d actually… get together.”
Dad rubs his jaw.
“So why,” I ask her, “have you been so vocal about them?”
She swallows.
“Because I was worried,” she admits quietly. “That your dad had just… bided his time with me.”
“I didn’t,” Dad says firmly. “I loved you. For a long time, I did.”
I look at Darren.
“Do you believe this?”
He glances at Simone, then back at me.
“You weren’t home those last years,” he says carefully. “They fought. A lot.”
My stomach drops. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
Mom’s voice softens. “We didn’t want to worry you. You were already in a war zone and…”
And.
The word hangs there.
I look around the room. At all the faces watching me and I just deflate.
“I can’t believe this,” I mutter walking away.
I barely sit down before the door opens again. I don’t turn from the window assuming it’s Jess.
Dad’s voice makes me jump when he asks, “Can I come in?”
I nod without looking at him.
“Are you alright?” he asks.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I say flatly. “Everything’s fine.”
