“What do you call this?” Again he waved his arm around the room. “Our house is huge. You have gardens, privacy, a swimming pool, a tennis court. There’s plenty of space here.”
“I’m talking about space away from this place to think. To find out who I am besides your wife and Lucas’s mother. To decide what I want my life to look like five years from now.”
His nostrils flared. “In five years, you’re still supposed to be my wife.”
“I don’t feel like a wife even now.”
He shook his head. “This is crazy. Don’t I give you everything you could possibly want?”
“Except yourself.”
He planted a fist on his hip. “So we’re back to that.”
At least he remembered her attempts to broach the subject in the past.
“A marriage requires tenderness and affection and attentiveness from both people, Martin. All that matters to you anymore is the mill and your high-and-mighty image in the community. I know running a company with a long heritage is a serious obligation with significant demands, but it shouldn’t take precedence over the people you’re supposed to love.”
His lips thinned. “You have no idea about the pressures I’ve had to deal with.”
“I would if you’d told me about them. But you stopped sharing company information long ago. All I know is that the millhas become all-consuming. I don’t understand why you feel you have to prove anything to anyone at this point. Everyone knows you’re successful.”
A muscle ticced in his cheek, and he lifted his glass. Drained it in two long gulps. “I won’t look successful if you leave.”
His main concern about her leaving was how it would affect his standing in Hope Harbor?
Hurt and disappointment welled up in her.
Yet his response was one more validation of her decision to walk away.
“I’m sorry to tarnish your image, Martin.” She crossed to the couch.
“This isn’t about my image.”
“No?” She picked up her purse. Slung it over her shoulder. “Then whatisit about?”
“You. Us. Our family.”
“There hasn’t been anusfor a long time. Or a family. When did you last talk to Lucas?”
“He doesn’t return my calls or texts.”
“When did you lasttryto reach out to him?”
His cheeks grew ruddy. “He doesn’t want anything to do with me, even though I gave him everything he ever asked for.”
“Except your time.” She locked onto his gaze. “He neededyou, Martin. Not the newest smartphone or the latest game console or a sports car for his sixteenth birthday.”
“So you still blame me for the trouble he had in his teens.”
A sudden weariness enveloped her. “Some of the fault was mine too. I should have stepped in instead of letting you run the show. But I’m done following other people’s rules.”
He released a long, slow breath. “You’re actually going to do this?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you going to live? What are you going to do?”
“I’ve arranged to stay in the annex at Anna Williams’s house.And I got a job at the library in Coos Bay. My library science degree is outdated, but I’ve been taking online classes. After I prove myself there, I hope to move up from the clerk position I accepted.”
