Page 132 of When We Were Young

“Simon’s getting ready. He’ll be down in a second.”

“Okay.” I let myself lean back into his embrace as I frost a few cupcakes from the first batch that came out of the oven earlier.

“Lizette...” His voice is tentative.

I sigh. “I don’t want to rehash the whole thing, so you’re going to get the basics, and then I need it to be done. Okay?”

“Okay,” he whispers near my ear.

“It was right before we moved here from Elladine. He found me there and inserted himself into my life, so I decided to close my bakery and go. When he found out I was leaving, he was enraged. That’s when he did it.”

“Hit you?” Holden’s voice quivers with fury.

“He didn’t hit me per se. H-he grabbed my upper arms and squeezed. And he... he shook me some.”

Holden cocoons me in his arms even tighter.

“Simon walked in and saw it. That’s all there is.”

I hear the upstairs door close and the patter of Simon’s little feet coming down the stairs, growing nearer every second.

“An ex?”

I tense. Then I step out of his hold and pivot to look at him. He doesn’t know. I just assumed he’d figure it out. I take a deep breath, then release it.

“Landon,” I whisper. “It was Landon.”

“I’m ready!” Simon yells as he walks into the kitchen.

Holden plasters a forced smile on for my boy, but I don’t miss that he clenches and unclenches his fists several times before he stops. Simon is bouncing with excitement when he looks to Holden.

“Are you ready? I don’t want Layla and Frankie to play with the chickens without me.”

“All right, buddy. You guys had better get going then.” I kneel and hug him.

“‘Kay. Don’t take too long to come. And don’t forget the cupcakes. Please.”

I laugh at his excitement. Oh, to have that kind of energy again.

“I won’t. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Save a hot dog for me.”

“Gotcha. Now I’m gonna go wait by the door in case you two want to kiss goodbye,” Simon says cheerfully.

“I love you,” Holden says.

He leans in and presses a soft kiss to my lips and then my forehead.

“Bye. I love you too.”

I want the conversation about Landon to be done, but I can see on Holden’s face that it’s weighing on him.

“We can talk more later. I don’t want to give it much more of our time and energy, though. Okay?”

Holden cups the side of my head with his strong hand. He’s quiet for several long seconds, staring off into space. Then he looks me in the eye and graces me with a subtle smile.

“Okay. I’ll see you soon.”

Holden and Simon leave, and I’m only a few feet away from the door to lock it when Simon comes racing back in.