Page 92 of Legal

“Seriously?” She rolled her eyes. “Boot his ass out tomorrow.”

I brought her into the sunroom, and we sat down on the couch. The others were far enough away, but I wanted more privacy. “It’s really not that bad. He’s gone at the office a lot, and when he is there, it’s been nice reminiscing about Daniel.” I didn’t mention my two-day temper tantrum.

“And what if Chase comes around and sees him living there?” No. I did not want to talk about this. That wouldn’t happen because we were over. “I saw him yesterday.”

It felt like a shock wave crashed over me. “What? Oh, no, Perry. Tell me you didn’t.”

“Settle down.” She placed her hand over mine. “I wasn’t there to pry. The prize, remember?” Like she couldn’t have disregarded that he won. He would have never known. “I went up to the school and gave him a beer stein. No biggie. But I have to tell you, he looked like shit warmed over.”

“Shit’s already warm. Bad metaphor.” My heart would not calm down, racing as fast as it could to the finish line. I wanted to hear everything. Every little detail. But what would that accomplish?

Perry shook her head and rolled her eyes again. “I think you get what I’m trying to say. He looked like you should right now, like he was half dead. At least he’s doing things the right way and mourning you instead of skipping through the tulips.”

“God, Perry. No one died. Neither of us should be in mourning.” I thought of Hazel and wondered how she was doing. “Did you go into the classroom?”

“No, I found out what time he was done, then waited outside. There was this blonde bitch there giving me the stink eye when she saw me talking to him. I wanted to run her over.”

I laughed. “That’s Cassie. She has a thing for him.” Maybe she’d get a chance to do something about it now. Would Chase be receptive? He said he wasn’t interested before, but that could all change now. Little daggers shot into my chest. I hoped the tips were poisoned, so I’d go comfortably numb.

“You’re not hiding it very well, Jills. You can’t stand the thought of anyone else being with him. Not when he was meant for you.”

“Just stop it, Perry, okay? Please?”

“I’m trying to be patient with you, but I think this is all a huge mistake. This is not the time for you to be stubborn and let him get away.”

“The only mistake was letting him into my heart to begin with.”

And the only right thing I did was let him go.

Mike’s one week tops turned to two. I didn’t force him out the door as Perry suggested, nor did I encourage him to stay. I just let things be. I went through the motions of my day, making calls and meeting clients. Closing deals and keeping my shit organized. My emotions were even-keeled, and I’d had no more outbursts.

Overall, I was doing damn well, and I was proud of it.

“Remember when he climbed that tree?” Mike was standing by the window, looking out at the small white oak. “He got all the way up no problem, but was scared as hell to come down.”

I smiled. “I remember. You had to climb up there and hand him to me.”

“We were so good together, Jillian.”

“We were good at being Daniel’s parents.”

He turned around and came over to me. I was collapsed on the couch after taking a three-hour walk. “Is that all you think was to it?”

“You don’t?”

“No, we had more going for us than just parenting.”

I had no idea where he was going with this. Was he in a coma all these past years? “There’s a reason we divorced, Mike. We gave Daniel what he needed, but we didn’t have what it took to sustain our marriage after he went to college. I’m not telling you anything you don’t know.”

“I know I was working a lot, building my practice. And then when you started your business, I wasn’t very understanding of all the time you put into it. That was my fault. It was hard for me not having you always there anymore.”

I nodded. “I know, but I just wanted to do something that was all for me after all those years of being a mom and wife. It all happened for a reason, Mike. There’s no purpose to rehash everything.”

“I disagree. I need to apologize. You gave a lot to us, and I should have been more accepting of what you wanted. Instead, I started scheduling later appointment hours to keep me away more. That just pushed us further apart.”

What is up with him? He’s being all introspective.“But then you wouldn’t have met Candace.”

He looked at me stone-faced and sober. “You need to know, Jillian. I was never unfaithful. I know there’s been some question about that, but I told Candace that nothing would ever happen between us until you and I were divorced. If nothing else, I want you to believe that. No matter how much she tried, I wouldn’t break my vows to you.”

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