"That's not nothing."
"No. It's not."
They stood in silence. Carrie thought about her own morning, the text from Gayle, the validation she'd needed for longer than she wanted to admit.
"For what it's worth," Carrie said, "Tom was good with Kevin. Didn't escalate, didn't take sides. Just held the line."
"I noticed." Lori almost smiled. "Meredith picked a good one."
The deck door opened, and Meredith appeared. She'd missed the confrontation, but she'd heard enough.
"You okay?" Meredith asked.
Lori managed a small nod. "Getting there."
"The girls are coming back from the beach in about an hour. Do you want me to handle dinner?"
Lori shook her head. "You don't have to?—"
"I know I don't have to. Do you want me to?"
Lori nodded, some of the tension going out of her.
Meredith headed upstairs, already pulling out her phone—ordering pizza, most likely.
Tom was on the deck when Lori finally went outside. The afternoon was fading, the light turning gold. He went back into the house, leaving her alone.
She'd checked the pool before coming out. Ethan was in the water with Max, not talking, just floating. She caught his eye; he looked away. Close enough.
She stayed there, looking out at the beach. The day crowd had thinned, replaced by the evening walkers and the die-hard sunbathers trying to squeeze the last light from the sky. A few surfers were out, catching small waves near the jetty. Down the beach, someone was flying a kite.
Meredith stepped out onto the deck and joined her at the railing without saying anything.
"You don't have to say anything," Lori said.
"I wasn't planning to."
They watched the water.
"When does it stop?" Lori asked. "The divorce was three years ago. And it's still not over. There's always something else."
"It ends when you stop giving Kevin so much power over you."
"One more year," Lori said. "Then Ethan's eighteen and Kevin can't use him as a pawn anymore."
"That's worth holding onto."
"It's everything."
They stayed there until the sun touched the horizon, until the sky started its slow fade from gold to rose to purple.
Ethan appeared at the deck stairs, towel over his shoulder. He didn't say anything at first, just walked over and stood next to his mother.
Lori reached out and touched his arm. He let her.
The three of them watched the last light leave the sky. Ethan didn't apologize for the blowup. Lori didn't push him to talk.
After a while, Meredith went back inside, leaving them alone.
