Page 86 of Big Island Neighbors
And she had scrambled to keep up with his expectations, always feeling like a better woman could have handled it all effortlessly.
Enough, she decided. Enough rehashing the past.
The thing now was to find a way forward.
Mitch walked in without knocking, but he did so with low confidence and a hangdog expression. The dogs greeted him enthusiastically while he looked around for the kids.
“Where is everyone? Where’s the van?”
“The girls are next door, and Cody’s making deliveries.”
He nodded and then gestured to the couch. “Can we talk?”
“Sure.” She perched on the edge of an old armchair as Mitch sat down in the middle of the couch.
“I want to move home,” he began. As if to head off any argument, he held up one hand. “Nothomehome. I know nobody wants me here. Just home to the island.”
“Good. The kids missed you.”
“Paige did, at least,” he grumbled.
Reassurances rose up in her throat, but she held back.
“I hated being so far from the girls. And I… I want to fix my relationship with Cody. I really do.”
“I want that too.”
“I got my job back.”
That surprised her. “Really?”
“Yeah. Well, nearly. Not the same exact position, but… you know. A job. Same branch.”
She nodded slowly.
“I’m staying with Bobby up in Hilo right now, but I’ll get my own place soon. Closer to Pualena, hopefully.”
“Sounds good.” She rose and fetched the packet of paperwork from the table.
“Is this what I think it is?” His hand shook as he reached out to take the folder.
“We need to sign these in front of a notary, but I thought we could look through them together first.” Tara tried to keep her voice steady, but she was terrified.
She desperately wanted to work this out between them, without involving lawyers and a judge. But she had seen enough divorces from a distance to know how rare that was.
He wiped furtively at his eyes as he read through the forms that she had filled out.
“You want to keep the house?”
“You know what this place means to me. You can keep your retirement accounts, and I won’t ask for child support. But I need the house, for me and the kids.”
He nodded and cleared his throat. “That seems fair.”
“I don’t think we need any custody schedule, do you? The kids can live here and spend as much time with you as you want.”
“As much as they want, you mean. Which isn’t much.”
She just looked at him, and he ducked his head.
