Ember
“You have to leave Katie; there isn't anything for you here,” I tell her. We’re sitting in my parent’s backyard.
“What do you mean?” she asks as if it is so natural for her to be here talking to me.
“You asked for a divorce. I gave it to you. We have not spoken like this in what...three years?”
“That was just a bump in the road, Ember. You can’t hold that against me.”
“Yes. Yes, I can. You turned our lives upside down, and even after that, I tried to reach you, tried to be there for you, but you shut me out.”
“I was going through a tough time.” She adjusts her skirt, shifting in her seat. “Is there someone else?”
“What the fuck does that have to do with anything?”
“So the answer is yes then.”
I lean back in my chair, lacing my hands behind me and closing my eyes. “Katie, we’ve been over for a long time.”
“Not to me, we haven’t.” She places a hand on my leg.
“Why’d you leave the hospital?”
“I was cleared to leave, Ember. I told you that.”
“No. No, you were not cleared to leave. I made a few calls, and your doctors are really worried about you about the progress you’ve made.”
She stands, her hands forming fists at her side. “You had to check up on me?”
“Yes, Katie, I did. Because for as long as I have known you, you’ve lied, manipulated, and literally fucked me over.”
“What about Bailey?”
How dare she mention his name? How dare she bring him up?
“I am not going to talk about Bailey, Katherine. I am not going to go down this road with you again. I will drive you back to Seattle tomorrow.
I stand and leave her sitting in the garden. I feel a tremble in my hands when I climb into my truck and hold onto the steering wheel.
* * *
It’s late,and Shelby told me to leave, and I did as she asked. But this is not a promise I made to her; it’s one I made to Brody. The wood has already been sanded and treated, so it’s pretty easy to get the structure together. I’d hoped to do this with him, but time and circumstances weren’t on my side.
I tie the platform we built the other day by rope to the tree, then use the raft ties to secure it in place. I make the braces and attach the pulley. It is a hell of a lot of work for one man, but I had seen my dad do this a dozen times, building treehouses in the neighbourhood when I was growing up.Dad.
“Did you really think you were gonna get this done alone?” he whispers, walking into Shelby’s backyard half an hour later.
“Yeah, well, I’ve done a pretty decent job so far,” I tell him.
“Why’re you doing this, son?” he asks seriously, sifting through the tools.
“Because I don't break a promise, Dad. And I’m driving Katherine back in the morning. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone for.
“You mean you don’t know if you’re coming back?”
I wonder how he knows me as well as he sometimes does?
“I don’t want to be the reason Shelby’s uncomfortable in her own hometown.”
