Her brain lit up with pleasure at her first bite of grilled chicken. She closed her eyes to savor it, then spooned up a big bite of veggies and poi.
She realized that for the first time in ages, she could reallytasteher food again. Eating didn’t feel like a chore.
Laurie looked around at the family and neighbors that filled the back lot, and tears of gratitude pricked her eyes. She had regained her appetite for food and her appetite for life, all thanks to her community.
And now she could pay it forward.
29
Oakley
One night after putting Hayden and Harper to bed, Oakley walked out to find Trent waiting for her at the kitchen table.
They had been tiptoeing around each other ever since he returned from the mainland, hardly speaking save for basic communication about logistics and a few words in front of the girls.
Their daughters had hardly noticed – which was a relief on the one hand, but on the other…. Oakley found it unsettling that Hayden and Harper were so used to this gulf between their parents that they were unbothered when it grew even wider.
Grief and relief churned together in her chest as she sat down across from her husband. He so rarely made himself available to her. Lately he had been working late and passing out on the couch; she had hardly seen him at all.
Maybe he was finally ready to work through this.
She reached for his hands, but he pulled away.
“I want a divorce,” he said without preamble.
The words, so quietly spoken, hit Oakley like a bucket of ice water.
“What?” she asked.
“It’s time, Oakley.” His eyes were fixed on his hands, which were folded together on the table in front of him.
“I don’t understand.”
“You can’t be surprised.” Finally, he lifted his eyes to meet hers. There was no grief there. No remorse. Nothing but a faint, simmering anger. “This was a long time coming.”
“I know that we haven’t been… connecting lately. But that doesn’t mean we should just throw in the towel. I want to fight for us, Trent. Don’t you?”
“No.”
She stared at him, speechless.
“It shouldn’t be a fight, Oakley. It shouldn’t have to be a fight. It’s better to just accept things as they are.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Don’t you?” he asked bitterly. “You haven’t paid attention to me in years.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“Okay, you throw me a bone now and then. But I’m not your priority. I haven’t been, not in a long time.”
“I mean… we’re parents. The girls are our priority. Both of ours.”
“You took it further than that, Oak. You checked out of our marriage a long time ago.”
“I didn’t check out! I’m right here! You’re the one who hardly spends time with us anymore.”
“Do you even hear yourself?”
