Page 41 of The Drummer's Heart

“But that’s the life you signed up for when you agreed to marry him, wasn’t it?”

Guilt hit me as her words sank in. She was absolutely right. I’d agreed to marry him knowing his career could take off, and when it did, I couldn’t handle it. I’d had a hand in the demise of our relationship. Her words were a reminder of myown weaknesses and insecurities—a reminder that if Atticus had given in to his past thoughts about not existing, my actions could’ve caused far worse than just the end of our marriage.

When I didn’t say anything, she added, “Is it because of your dad that you can’t fully trust Atticus?”

There was no doubt that my father cheating on my mother had a huge impact on me. A man I’d trusted implicitly had ultimately betrayed us both. The man I trusted most in this world had lied to me, and everything I’d thought to be true simply wasn’t.

I nodded. “That definitely affected me, Mimi. It’s a trauma I still haven’t properly worked through. As much as I want to be a confident person, I do feel like what Dad did has impacted my ability to trust people.”

She struggled to speak as she looked me straight in the eyes. “Atticus isnotlike your father. I can see how much he loves you. I knowyouhave to believe that, though, for it to matter. I’ve observed many people in my lifetime, and I’ve never seen anyone look at someone the way Atticus looks at you.”

I shut my eyes. What she’d said was true. I felt it in every inch of my soul.

The front door opened, and I heard footsteps.He came back. Atticus couldn’t have orchestrated his return better considering what I’d told my grandmother about him being at the store. The timing was perfect.

Atticus stood at the doorway. “Hey, Mimi. What are you still doing up, beauty? You were asleep when I left.”

“Well, Nicole and I were just talking.”

“You were, were you?” He bent to kiss her forehead.

I wondered where those lips had been tonight. I searched his face for signs of lipstick, examined his hair to see if it looked out of place. It didn’t, really. My eyes landed on his big, beautiful hands as I wondered where they’d been tonight, too.

“What did you get from Walmart?” she asked him. “You don’t have any bags.”

Atticus looked over at me and lied, “Uh…just a few things for the house. I left the bag in the car because I’m feeling too lazy to put anything away tonight.”

“Next time you’re out, can you please get me some starlight mints? The green and white ones?”

“Of course.”

She nodded and closed her eyes. “You two can leave me be. Shut off the light on your way out.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

Atticus and I walked silently down the hallway. The tension in the air was thick as my heart thundered in my chest, jealousy pumping through my veins.

I headed straight to the bedroom and planned to give him the silent treatment while he hopefully stayed in the kitchen. But when he followed me into the room, I couldn’t help but whisper, “How was your girlfriend?”

He shut the door behind him. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

“She sure acted like it, showing up here and looking at me with daggers in her eyes. Doesn’t she realize we’re not together anymore? What’s her problem?” My tone was filled with spite. I knew I must’ve seemed jealous. But I was. And I hated this feeling.

“Well, I never told her what I was doing in Monksville. And Doug stupidly gave her this address because I had him order the drums to be sent here. And you and I were apparently photographed while we were out the other night. Somehow she saw those photos.”

“Great.” I huffed. “So she, what, thought you were having an affair with me?”

“She was jealous, yeah. Came to confront me about it.”

“Did you set her straight?” I crossed my arms. “You told her there’s absolutely nothing going on between us?”

“I ended things with her, actually.” He looked down at his shoes. “Not that there was much to end, because I thought we’d had an understanding about not being in a relationship, but apparently that wasn’t clear enough to her.”

A wave of relief hit me. “So that’s why you were gone so long? You were breaking up with her this whole time?”

“You can’t break up with someone you’re not with. But yes, I was ending our limited relationship.”

“How did she take it?”

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