Three rings in, she sighed.
He wasn’t going to answer.
Not surprising, since he often let her calls roll, though on occasion he picked up.
Too bad today hadn’t been one of those times.
She’d have to go with Plan B—text him and ask him to call her. Email would be a last resort. What she had to say wasn’t—
“Hi, Mom. What’s up?”
Her heart tripped at his cool greeting.
“Mom?”
“Yes. Sorry.” Her words came out choppy. “I’m here.”
“You okay?” There was a thread of caution in his question.
“Yes.” She stood. Swallowed. Began to pace. “I, uh, have some news.”
“Okay.” His tone was wary.
There was no easy way to lead up to what she had to say, nor predict what Lucas’s reaction would be in light of his estrangement from Martin and mere tolerance of her.
It was possible he wouldn’t even care about the split.
But whatever his reaction, he deserved to know what had led her to take this step.
She paused beside the window. Looked past the table and two chairs on Anna’s patio, toward the well-kept yard beyond. Fisted her free hand. “I’m not living with your father anymore. I left yesterday.”
Silence.
She waited him out.
A full ten seconds ticked by as he digested her bombshell. “Are you guys getting divorced?”
“That’s not on the table yet. Right now, we’re just separated.”
“Man. Did he go ballistic?”
“No, but he wasn’t happy.”
“I bet. You always fall in line with Dad. Even when he’s wrong.”
Her stomach clenched.
Lucas was right—and he’d paid a price for her acquiescence.
If she’d been more assertive while he was in high school, maybe he wouldn’t have ended up in trouble with the law or lost a year of his life in a juvenile detention facility. Maybe Martin would have seen the light and been the father Lucas needed. Maybe Lucas wouldn’t be far away at a college in Texas, waiting tables to pay his bills as he forged his own path.
So many lost opportunities.
Her vision fogged.
Neither she nor Martin had been good role models for their son.
But lamenting the past was fruitless. All she could do was try to make a new start.
