I lower the window, and as soon as she’s a few steps away, she says, “I need to talk to you. Can you come in for a few minutes?”
Her tone gives nothing away.
I nod, turn off the engine, and step out of the car, my fist tightening around the key.
She’s going to tell me she’s dating that bastard.
She’s going to tell me she wants to introduce him to our kids, and soon they’ll like him, maybe even prefer him... and Alicia will change her mind once he starts spending time with them in this house. She won’t want to spend weekends with me anymore.
“Colin?”
I lift my head and only then realize I’m standing in the middle of Ceci’s living room, with no memory of walking here.
“Hm?”
“I said we can talk in my office. This way.”
She opens the door, and my attention is drawn to the large window flooding the room with moonlight. A single lamp glows on her desk, giving the whole space a cozy feeling.
Ceci steps in behind me and turns on the overhead light.
The first thing I notice are the tall white bookshelves lining the walls, filled from top to bottom. Everything in this room is so... her. The plant by the window, flowers on her desk, the wide window bench with its earth-toned cushions.
I can see her there in my mind, sitting with a book in her lap, or biting her lip the way she does when she’s concentrating, scribbling notes for a new article.
My eyes land on a smaller shelf, rows of binders neatly organized in alphabetical order, and my stomach tightens.
“Don’t you want to sit?” Ceci asks, gesturing toward the small couch by the opposite wall.
She takes a seat in one of the chairs in front of her desk and, without wasting a second, says: “I’m going on a five-week tour through Europe. I leave in the second week of September.”
My heart stops. I sink further into the couch, feeling like I might actually be sick.
“I... I don’t think I heard you right.”
“Five weeks in Europe,” she repeats calmly. “I leave in the second week of September.”
I don’t know how, but this is worse than anything I’d been imagining.
He’s taking her.He’s going to take Ceci on a tour across Europe while I can’t remember the last trip we took together before everything ended.
I stand up abruptly. “How? Why? And the kids... who’s going to take care of them?”
She doesn’t answer immediately. I stop pacing and turn toward her.
“Colin, sit down. And please lower your voice.” Her tone is perfectly controlled. “I don’t know if Alicia is still upstairs, and Ethan and his girlfriend are in the backyard. They could come in at any moment. I don’t want them thinking we’re fighting when all I want is a civilized conversation.”
I force myself back onto the couch and take a deep breath. “Ethan has a girlfriend?” I ask, only now fully processing everything she said.
“Yes. It’s recent. He brought her here to meet us last week.”
To meet her. And Alicia... Not me.
“Dalila Barrett,” she adds. “Her father does business with Oliver. Maybe Oliver can tell you more about the family. I don’t know them well yet.”
I nod, completely thrown off. “You want to travel in September, but Ethan’s starting college and Alicia has school and...”
“And I’ll be here for their first week,” she says, not leaving room for argument. “I’ll help Ethan move into the apartment he’s sharing with his friends. I’ve already planned everything. I’m not going to miss any important moments in their lives. And part of this trip is work-related too, for the blog and possibly for an article I started discussing with my editor.”
