Page 52 of Don't Leave Me
I shook my head. “Not strange. Just not as familiar to me as it is for others. But I’m learning.”
“I see now she trusts you. But you know relationships can only work if the trust goes in the other direction, too.”
I looked at her. “You married?”
She laughed. “Hell, no. I didn’t trust that bastard for a hot second, and I was right. He cheated on me, so I divorced his ass. It’s why I can see other relationships so clearly from the outside.”
I laughed and sat across from her.
“Tell me what happened. Why are you just getting to know your son, who is already a year old?”
I thought of the crazy truth and the simple truth. “I was in prison for fifteen months for doing something rash. Now, I’m here to make up for that.”
I waited for her reaction. Waited to see the look of disgust and mistrust cross her face. Instead, she leaned forward. “What did you did you? The truth. No games.”
“I took some money I thought was mine in order to get Ashleigh, sorry Marie, out of trouble. The court said it wasn’t my money to take. That’s all. Nothing else.”
She leaned back and nodded. Judging me. Weighing my crimes. Considering if I was being forthright with her. “If I ask Marie, she’ll tell me the same story?”
“She’ll tell you it was her fault. It wasn’t.” As soon as I said it, I knew it was true. She would take the blame for that herself. I had to convince her to let it go.
“It makes so much sense now,” Sandra said. “The grief in her eyes. Anytime she wasn’t looking at Danny, there was always so much heartache in her, I thought my own would break from it. She was missing you.”
Everything. I missed all of you, Marc.
“You need to fix this,” Sandra said, as she stood to leave. “You need to make it so the two of you can find happiness together.”
“I’m trying.”
She frowned. “Try harder.”
“I’m open to suggestions,” I said, getting up and following her to the front door.
Again, she gave me that assessing look, only this time it went a little further down until, finally, it landed on my crotch.
“You know how to use that thing? Then try that.”
I blinked, because it took a second for her meaning to penetrate. Then I laughed. A full-out laugh. Something a couple months ago wouldn’t have been possible. Sandra lifted her hand in a wave as she walked away, and, two hours later, Ash came home to find me on the floor playing with Danny.
For my efforts, I was invited to stay for dinner.
* * *
Later that night
Ashleigh
I was nervous, and I didn’t know why. The day couldn’t have gone any better. I filled the orders on time and had a busy day of customers. I was mostly worry-free knowing that Marc was watching Danny. Checking in hourly had helped to alleviate any fears that cropped up.
Danny was adjusting easily to having Marc in his life, and the idea of having him close by for when things, like life, happened, seemed too good to be true.
Which was probably why I was nervous.
That, or I thought he was going to claim his prize tonight and kiss me.
Would it feel different? Would my new perspective as an independent person who had let go of Marc, change our chemistry somehow? Would it be like kissing a stranger, instead of kissing the boy, the man, I’d known forever?
I had so many questions, I was tempted to tell him to just do it already and get it over with.
