Page 96 of The Art Of Starting Over

“That was his name. No one ever called him Tremaine. Especially his friends.”

“Crow’s a silly old nickname.”

“Not to him, Chad. It was his name, and as his son-in-law, you should’ve known that. But the truth is, you didn’t, because he didn’t like you, and he wouldn’t want you in his home.”

“Devorah . . .”

“Stop saying my name. You give me the ick when you say it.”

“All right. What do you want me to call you?”

“I don’t. I want you to go.”

“Not until we talk.”

“We have nothing to talk about.” She wanted a glass of water but didn’t want Maren to hear them talking. Knowing her daughter, she would be sitting under the window, trying to listen. Devy held her hand to her forehead and sighed. “Please just go.”

“Listen,” Chad said as he walked closer to her. “I know I did some things—”

The way he said “things” had Dev laughing.

“And I’m paying the price by my family packing their things and coming out here to stay.”

“Are you kidding me right now?”

Chad shook his head. “Have you ever known me to joke about my family?”

Devorah stared at him for a long time.

“Yes, actually, when you cheated on me with Ester. No, I take that back. My father said you shit on your family.”

“I made a mistake,” Chad said, pleadingly. He clasped his hands together, as if he was about to pray, when in reality he was begging. “I regret everything that’s happened, and I’m sorry. Can we please sit down and talk?”

She shook her head but sat in Crow’s recliner anyway. Chad sat across from her, perched on the edge of the couch as if he was going to make a run for it.

“Talk,” she said.

“When I got the papers ...” He paused. “It was like an anvil had been set on my chest. We had the perfect life, and then—”

“You slept with my best friend, and then you told me you were moving in together.”

Chad hung his head. “Regardless, when I saw those papers, I realized this wasn’t what I wanted, and I knew I had to make a change.”

“And Crow’s death just happened to be your light bulb moment?”

“Is there a more perfect time to bring your family home?”

“Excuse me?”

“Come on, Devorah. You can’t honestly tell me you plan to stay here.”

She nodded, and he stood.

“And do what? Bartend at the Lazy Lamb?”

“It’s better than being the laughingstock of the PTA, Chad. How can you expect me to show my face there, huh? After what you did.”

“Because it’s better than living in this time-forgotten town.”

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