Page 29 of One Last Time
My lips part, and I speak. “You owe me aninterview.”
That was not what I was going tosay.
“Is that ayes?”
There are two choices. I’m so stupid and know exactly which one I’lltake.
“Fine. Dinner—for work only.” I tack on the last part, hoping to save myself a littledignity.
Noah’s chest touches mine, just a brush of his body against mine, and then he steps back, leaving me freezing. “I’ll see you tonight ateight.”
“For work,” I clarifyagain.
“Sure, sweetheart. Work itis.”
I may have just fallen in love with myjob.
Chapter Eight
Kristin
“Yes, Mom, I know.”I try to contain my frustration as I tidy the house. She’s been yammering in my ear for the last ten minutes about how hard it is to maintain amarriage.
“Then you should know that a divorce is ten times harder,” sheadmonishes.
I understand that my parents have the marriage of the century, but my father is a unicorn. He loves my mother so much that it’s almost painful to be around. I tried to pretend that I had even a sliver of that, but Ididn’t.
“You know what’s really hard? Being with a man who puts me down all the time. Loving someone who doesn’t love me back. More than anything, it’s hard when I know I can’t fix it because I’m never going to be good enough.” I pull in a heavy breath and fight back anytears.
“Oh,Kris.”
“I need you on my side,Mom.”
“I’m always on your side. Always. I just don’t want to see you do something rash.” Her voicecracks.
My mother and father have been there for me every step of the way. They are the kind of parents who should’ve had twenty kids instead of only me. There is no woman in the world who deserved to be a mom more than mine, but she couldn’t. She almost died having me, and Daddy refused to try again no matter how much she begged. I know she wants what’s best for me, but now that I’ve had time away from Scott, I see how bad itwas.
“It’s not rash. It’s been a long time coming, and honestly...” I sigh as I plop onto my bed. “I should’ve left yearsago.”
Mom goes quiet and then clears her throat. “I should’ve done moreearlier.”
“What?”
“I kept making excuses for the things he said.” Her tone is dejected. “I would tell your father how much I worried, but then I would rationalize itaway.”
“I did the same thing,” I admit. For years, I would find one reason or another to allow his behavior to continue. Then, after a while, I accepted it as normal and what I wasworth.
It wasn’t until Nicole made a comment about a year ago that I finally took notice of how wrong things really were. She asked me about what I would have said if it were Aubrey who was married to a man likeScott.
For the first time, I saw it from an outsider’seyes.
And I didn’t like a damn thing aboutit.
“I’m sorry, Kris,” my mothersays.
“It’s Scott who needs to apologize . . . notyou.”
We talk a little more about my job and how my first weekend has been without the kids home. I miss them terribly. Being in my home without them is weird, and I keep listening for Aubrey’s sweet laughter or Finn yelling at the videogame.
