Page 76 of Soldier's Chrismas Hope
He was right, she had been lonely even though she was living with him. She had longed for a family. But she believed in marriage and did her best to make their life together a good one.
Maybe she was more like Edward than she thought, because even though it wasn’t perfect, it never would have occurred to her to leave.
And it certainly never occurred to her that he had seen past her smiles to the unhappy woman inside.
“You were meant to have children, Nora,” he told her with a sad smile. “You’re the kind of person who should have a nice big family, and I was in the way of that. And then along came these kids, like the universe was making a point to give you what you deserved. And I just… Well, I knew I couldn’t phone it in anymore—not for the kids, not for you. I couldn’t just go through the motions in order to stick with something when it was bound to hurt someone I care about.”
“I wish you’d talked to me this way at the time,” she whispered, a tear sliding down her cheek.
“It’s not in my nature to quit on anything,” he said, looking down. “I was in so much turmoil dealing with my own shame. It took me a long time to even be able to put it into words like that. I know that I handled it very badly with you.”
“But the important part is that you did the right thing,” she told him firmly. “The kids and I are just fine, and it’s so good that you did what you did before they came to live at the condo. It was a mercy on all of us, truly, Edward.”
He was silent for a moment before he continued.
“And that’s kind of my point here,” he said. “I did something out of character and I quit. And it turns out that it was the best possible move, right?”
She nodded.
“So then why can’t River do something out of character and stay?” he asked. “I was skeptical, too. But I’ve honestly never seen him like he is with you and the kids. I think our mother’s wrong on this one. I don’t think he’s going anywhere, Nora. I think you should give him a chance, have a real conversation with him. He might surprise you.”
Her heart lifted for an impossible moment before reality crashed back down on her.
“He already left,” she said simply.
“What?” Edward asked.
“Your mom said all those things, and then he told her she was right and walked out the back door,” she said, feeling defeated.
“Nora, I’m so sorry,” Edward told her, lowering himself to the loveseat next to her and pulling her into his arms.
She hugged him back, grateful that he was still a friend, even after all they had been through.
“I’ll be okay,” she told him firmly, knowing it had to be true, that she wouldmakeit true.
That was the real miracle of the children. Her heart might be in pieces, but she wasn’t going to sit around crying about it for long. Her mind was already racing with ideas on how to get them out of this house and backto the city with the minimum amount of pain and disappointment.
I will still give these children a magical Christmas, she promised herself.
Somehow.
21
NORA
Nora sat in the study for a few minutes after Edward returned to the living room, pulling herself and her thoughts together before going back out to face the kids.
Technically, she knew she needed to arrange a cab to take them back to River’s place for their things, and then back out to the city. But maybe it would be better if Mr. and Mrs. Young could stay with the children for a bit so that she could run over to the farmhouse alone to get their stuff, and avoid having the kids bump into River.
The hard part was coming up with a way to explain why they were leaving in such a hurry.
She didn’t like to lie to the children, but she was thinking that maybe she really ought to just tell them River wasn’t feeling well. If they thought he was sick, there was no chance they could take it personally that he wasn’t going to spend tomorrow with them. And he honestly did seem like he was feeling pretty miserable when he talked with his mom, even if it wasn’t physical.
“Nora,”Edward called suddenly from the hallway. “Come out here.”
Taking a deep breath and reminding herself that she could handle easing the children through all this, she slipped out of the office and down the hallway to the living room.
Edward, his parents, and the kids were all sitting by the Christmas tree.
