I even wonder if the stress of what happened that night at dinner is to blame. Maybe I did this by treating her so callously, by denying my instincts.
“I’m the one who’s sorry,” I continue. “I was cruel, and I took my hurt out on you. The way I behaved was terrible. I regret it.”
At last, she lifts her head, but the fight has drained out of her.
“It doesn’t matter now,” she says, defeated. “We have no relationship anymore. You guys can leave.”
Arthur wastes no time in wrapping his arms around her, tugging her closer to him.
“Of course we have a relationship,” he says, his voice breaking with the force of his emotion. “Losing the fawn doesn’t change that.”
Bennett runs his hands through her hair, and I find myself envying them. That closeness, that intimacy, is what I’ve been missing for weeks now.
“We care about you, Bree,” Bennett says, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. “We always will.”
I push down my jealousy. Seeing this, I realize how much I have hurt all three of them by demanding they stay apart. My husbands care deeply for this woman, and I cut her out with a knife. Sure, I had my reasons to be upset, but what I did that night… I need to atone for that. To show I can be trusted.
“Have you eaten?” I ask, drawing their attention.
Bree’s mouth works, but no sound comes out at first. Then she shakes her head. “No. Not today.”
I glance out the window, where it’s gone dark out.
“All day?” I whip out my phone and pull up a delivery app. “I’m ordering dinner.”
Bree
Whatever I expected when the three of them showed up at my doorstep, it wasn’t this. Jack wanders off into the living room as he orders some food for me, not even asking what I want. Not that I could put it into words if he did. My whole body is an empty hole.
I haven’t said it aloud, but the cramps are almost unbearable. I’m wearing two pads at once to staunch the blood flow, and I feel like a husk of myself.
Bennett and Mangelli don’t leave my side. Bennett gets me water while Mangelli keeps his arms wrapped around me, rooting me to him. I didn’t know how comforting it would be to have them here, and now I don’t want to let them go.
I can’t nurse that feeling, though. They’ll leave once they feel like they’ve met their responsibility to me, and that will be that. Jack will make sure of it. He’s only acting contrite because of the miscarriage. It has nothing to do with me.
Soon, the food arrives and all three of them sit at the table while I eat awkwardly. It tastes like ash, but at least it’s something.
When I’m finished, I sit back and sigh. “You guys can go,” I say. “I’m really all right.”
Mangelli furrows his brow. “I’m not leaving.” Then he shoots a look at Jack. “I’m staying the night.”
“Then I am, too,” says Bennett, puffing his chest out.
Jack exhales and closes his eyes. “I’ll sleep on the couch. If that’s all right with you, Bree.”
What? He wants to stay over, too? I don’t know how I feel about that. He hates me. Why would I want him under my roof?
But I don’t have the energy right now to fight. I nod wordlessly and get up from the table. Mangelli handles the leftovers while Bennett walks with me down the hall to my bedroom.
I’m going to lose many nights’ work because of this, and payments from DreamTogether will stop. The stipend was nice while it lasted, I suppose.
I flop down on my bed, drained and exhausted. Bennett moves the blankets out from underneath me, then crawls in beside me before tucking me in. Mangelli appears soon after, and he helps himself to the other side of the bed, even though it’s just a queen.
“Get some rest,” he says, brushing a lock of hair away from my face. “We’ll be here with you until morning.”
When I look up, Jack stands in the doorway, a regretful look on his face. Then he dips his head respectfully and vanishes.
With Bennett and Mangelli both curled up against me, it’s easy to fall asleep.
