Page 77 of Just My Ex

“Yes. I’ve booked my flight. I’ve got to clean up all the wet confetti and figure out what to do with that old toilet.”

“Remember this?” Alec says to Henry, holding up a photo.

I’m starting to see the wisdom in this activity. Alec’s not happy about it, but they’re making progress, those two.

“Valentine’s Day boxes?” I squeal. Six boys are holding up their shoe boxes papered with those white paper doilies.

“Milo wasn’t in school yet, so I helped him make his.” Celine grins and reaches out a hand. Alec gives her the photo.

“You wanted the plastic eyes.” Henry looks at Alec before turning to me.

“I glued like thirty eyes all over that box. That was creepy for a five-year-old.” He smiles, briefly, before looking away.

I stand, twist my torso to pop my back and walk to Celine, who holds out the photo for me.

“Ah. Yours is in the shape of a car,” I say to Henry. “Makes total sense.”

I show the photo to Navie. “Look at Daddy and his Valentine box.”

But this only causes Navie to talk about her own Valentine box and then I have to explain to her that Valentine’s Day is still about nine months away.

Thank goodness. Valentine’s Day totally sucks as a new divorcee. Still, I can’t help but think about the possibility that maybe that will be different this next time?

I don’t know. There’s still so much to figure out, I can’t get my hopes up.

Can I?

Soon, I find a photo of Henry and Alec drenching wet on the beach at Longdale Lake. Alec looks about ten. That means Henry was fourteen. They have their arms slung around each other.

“They were inseparable back then.” Celine’s eyes grow misty.

Alec shifts in his seat, his jaw hardens.

“That’s the day I swam across the lake, from the west shore to the east shore.” Alec looks at Henry. “I made him promise he wouldn’t tell Stella. Or Sebastian.”

“I jogged the perimeter, watching him. When I couldn’t see him anymore, I thought he’d gone under. That’s when I dove in.” Henry’s jaw matches Alec’s. It’s a stare down of the finest order.

“There was no need. I was fine. You just couldn’t see me because of the grade of the beach in that part.”

“I didn’t know that. When you can’t see your brother while he’s swimming in a lake, you panic.”

“And when Stella came to pick us up, she saw us swimming back. We never told her it was an attempt to save my life.” Alec’s smile is tight.

“She took the picture and later sent it to our parents. Little did they know Alec had just almost died,” Henry says. “They thought we’d just been for a leisurely swim.”

“But I can see it,” I say. “You guys are smiling so Stella wouldn’t know. But I can see the fear in your eyes.”

Henry and Alec look at the floor.

“You’d veered off-track,” Henry says. “It was supposed to be a straight shot, maybe fifty yards from the south side all the way across.”

“Sorry I couldn’t swim in a perfectly straight line.” Alec holds up his hands.

“It was a stupid thing to do.” Henry’s nostrils flare.

“You want to talk about stupid? How about joining the CIA or whatever it is you do and cutting yourself completely off from the family? Now that’s stupid.”

“The CIA?” Henry stands and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “You think I work for the CIA?”

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