I kissed her cheek, holding still until she pulled back first.I always let her pull back first.I’d learned that lesson like I’d learned so many others about how to behave with her.
“Drive safe,” I said, closing her door and stepping back for her to pull away before I went to my truck.
It was later than I wanted to be heading home, but Evie was out with Maddie and Katie, so I didn’t need to rush home.I stomped to my truck and turned toward Oscar’s house.I needed a reprieve.
“Hey,” Oscar said when he opened the door.He scanned me, scowling at the look on my face, and asked, “What did Hannah do now?”
I rolled my eyes and followed Oscar into his house.Situated on the opposite side of Amethyst Bay, Oscar’s house had a great view of the sunset.Floor-to-ceiling windows showcased the view past his living room, calming my frayed nerves as I stared out at the water.
Oscar came up behind me and held a beer in front of me, already open.
I thanked him and dropped onto the couch.This was why I showed up at his place.I always showed up at his place.
Oscar sat next to me, staring out at the water we’d spent our lives on.His life took a different path from mine, and he had a wife and son by the time I met Hannah.Around the same time my marriage blew up, Oscar’s wife Emily died.She was pregnant with their third child, but one day she was getting ready for labor and the next she and the baby were gone.
Being there for Oscar was the final straw for Hannah, something I never admitted to my friend.
After five minutes, I finally answered his question.“Brian has an event at their house the weekend of the graduation party.She moved everything to my house.”
Oscar’s eyebrows went up as he processed what I was saying and what I wasn’t saying.He chuckled mirthlessly.“Without telling you in advance, I’m assuming.”
I nodded.“Yep.”I sipped my beer, drawing a breath and letting it out slowly.
“You’re a better man than I am.I would have told her to fuck off by now.”
“No you wouldn’t have,” I argued.
Oscar sighed.“I would have really wanted to.”
“Who says I don’t?”
Oscar snorted.“You know she manipulates you all the time, right?She gets everything she wants from you.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“And you also know your divorce wasn’t your fault.”
I shook my head.“You and I both know it was.”
“Because you chose your friends?That’s bullshit.”
“It’s not because I chose my friends.It’s because Hannah always thought something was going on with me and Chris.”
“Which is a Hannah problem, not a you problem.”
I sighed heavily.I wanted to agree with him, but at the end of it all, my marriage ended because I couldn’t convince my wife I loved her and only her.Hannah didn’t like me spending time with Christy.She was convinced there was more to our relationship than just a friendship.It didn’t matter how many times I assured her there wasn’t, she didn’t let up.
At first, I laughed it off, thinking she was joking.I figured eventually she’d get to know Christy and see that there was nothing for her to worry about.Hannah never accepted Christy.It got to the point where Christy stopped coming over, and the only time I saw her was when we were all out.
When Hannah found out I met up with Christy once, she went ballistic.She threatened to leave me and take Evie with her if I continued to spend time with another woman while we were married.She said I had to choose.
Then Emily died.Christy was single, and the two of us spent more time with Oscar than we did with anyone else for the four months after Emily died.We took over all childcare for his two sons.I checked in with Hannah and saw Evie every day, but I pushed my marriage problems to the side to be there for my friend.
After four months, Hannah had me served with divorce papers.At Oscar’s house.
“I didn’t do the things I needed to do to make our marriage work.”
“You would have cut me and Christy out of your life?”
