“Nope. I was just thinking about us and how supportive you’ve been about the store, and then you called.” I turned into the parking lot and drove straight to the back.
“Have you made it to the store yet?”
“Parking now. When are you coming home?”
“Late flight tonight.” Ever since Carter had been caught in a lie about his whereabouts, he’d been open about his travels. Facetiming me whenever he landed or made it to his hotel. He wanted to rebuild my trust in him, and we were in a good place now. “Think you can make me some of your special hot chocolate and extra marshmallows tonight?”
“Add the peppermint stick?”
“You know it.” He paused. “The twins still with Grey?”
“Yeah. I’m grabbing them after I leave the store.”
Carter and I were still trying to figure out the best time to tell the twins about Grey, but we still had time. Grey didn’t mind being known as the Coach for now, either. Ethyn had been going to practice with Elle and had been enjoying running. Grey had been more than open to getting to know his daughter’s twin and training them both. Although the two men hadn’t been in each other’s presence since the ESPN party, they were cordial when they mentioned each other.
When I walked into the store through the back, my new manager, Manuela, who was prepping training manuals for tomorrow's new employee orientation, smiled. “Your husband sent you a gift. Ooh, I can’t wait to meet a man like him.”
I smiled. “He’s a handful. Trust me.”
Carter replied, “I heard that. Tell Manuela I said ‘hi.”
“Carter said, “Hi.”
She blushed, and I understood the reaction. No denying that my husband was handsome and fine and would probably continue to look that way until he was old and gray. Meanwhile, I prayed that I hadn’t peaked before I hit thirty.
“Where’s the gift?”
Carter accused, “You must have parked in the back, or you would’ve seen it. I thought you would start parking on the side?”
“It’s not nighttime yet, and I will once the store opens. Is that okay, Daddy?”
He grumbled, “Just concerned not being controlling.”
I relented as I walked through the fully stocked store. “I know, and I appreciate it.”
I walked outside, and Manuela followed behind me, beaming.
“Look up,” Carter ordered.
I glanced up and saw my glowing green sign at the top of the building. I’d been arguing with the sign company for weeks, and they told me it wouldn’t be ready until after the grand openingbecause of miscommunication between two companies. I’d been on the phone complaining in the office while Carter worked on the business plan for a veterinarian clinic he’d decided to open next year. He watched, amused, and didn’t intervene as he would’ve been apt to do in the past.
My heart swelled at his thoughtfulness. “Thank you. This whole sign business stressed me out because I wanted everything perfect for the grand opening.”
“I know. Wanted to give you something after taking away so much,” Carter said quietly.
After he kissed me in the office, he was finally honest and real, that he wanted what the marriage represented more than he wanted me. He wanted to hold on to me because I'd been good to him and our children, but he recognized it wasn't the deep love that he'd wanted for himself. We were divorcing and had no intentions of telling our families until the summer. We wanted our children to be the first to know and to have a chance to grieve or feel as they wanted, without the pressures of school. We’d even planned a month-long trip anywhere they wanted to go as a family to tell them about our pending divorce. Carter had nixed moving to Dallas because we didn’t want to disrupt their lives more than our divorce would, and with the new raise, he had fully embraced Los Angeles as our home. Plus, Grey and Elle grew closer every day, and we didn’t want to take them away from each other.
Carter and I continued to sleep in the same room and kept the door locked so our children wouldn’t see their father sleeping on the sofa. The good vibes of friendship replaced the sexual attraction between us over the last few weeks. After countless conversations, we decided it was best that we end our marriage when we realized that our mutual desire for a lasting union at all costs ultimately destroyed it. We were young and idealistic about what it meant to be married withoutprobing deeper to see if we should be tethered together. My pregnancy just further solidified the push to get married when we really weren’t ready. I still deeply loved Grey. And Carter had unresolved issues with Chelsea that haunted our marriage until we were forced to deal with them eight years later.
Ironically, we could talk about our real feelings now that we accepted it was time to move on. While Carter and I were watching TV alone in the family room one night, Carter confessed that sex just made the connection with Joi that much stronger. He had been irritable with me because he missed her and realized he loved her in ways he hadn't loved me. I finally admitted that I had had sex with Grey again. His temper flared, and we argued hotly until I reminded him it was all his ego because he'd had a secret family and had already cheated on me. I ended the argument when I reminded him that if I could hear how he slept with another woman, he could hear about Grey and me, too.
After we calmed down, he asked if we had a chance at love again, who would we choose? Unsurprisingly, I chose Grey, and he decided on Joi. He grudgingly acknowledged that Grey had been the better choice for me, and he could appreciate that Grey had made an effort to get to know and embrace Ethyn, too. Because of Elle’s focus on track, Ethyn wanted to know more about football, which Carter loved. It looked like we would have two more athletes in our family.
“You’ve given me more than I could possibly hold, Mr. St. Patrick.” I grinned. “This sign is everything. Thank you.”
He warmly replied, “You're welcome. We had to have it ready, anyway. We don’t need Mama with her nose turned up as she walks around the store.”
I moved away from Manuela, who still admired the sign and took photos. “Your mama might be the only one happy about our divorce. Probably blame me for not loving you enough.”
