Page 34 of Embers in Our Souls
I nod and begin walking toward the living room. Right as I turn around to explain why this divorce has taken so long for me to initiate, there’s a knock at the front door. I can’t help the confused look I give Tyler.
“Give me a second to see who that is.” I start making my way to the door.
The moment I open it, Noah walks through it, stomping his feet. I can tell he’s visibly upset.
“Noah, baby, what’s wrong?” I ask him.
“Harley isn’t my best friend anymore!” he exclaims as he walks through the house.
I wish I could say this is a new occurrence, but the two of them go through these highs and lows pretty frequently. Harley’s mother and I have become mediators at this point.
Before I can explain Tyler’s presence, Noah walks into the living room and halts when he sees Ty standing there. Noah’s anger is soon forgotten.
“Hunter, did you come over to hang out with me?” Noah exclaims.
“Hey, buddy. How are you?” Tyler purposely avoids Noah’s question.
“Good. Do you want to play with me?” Noah’s smile is infectious.
I can see Tyler’s eyes shift to me for a second before focusing back over to Noah. I give a slight nod, knowing our previous conversation will have to be put on hold yet again.
“As long as it’s okay with your mom.” Tyler juts his chin in my direction.
Noah swings his gaze toward me, his eyes pleading without words. I relent without a fight.
“Of course, baby. But the moment Tyler says he has to leave, we aren’t going to complain, right?” I give him a stern look.
“Yes, Mom.” Noah looks up to me, his big, brown eyes proud and excited.
I can see him jumping in place. I watch the interaction unfold, Noah walking over to Tyler, but I’m unable to hear what they say to one another.
Ty gets down to eye level and puts his fist out and Noah bumps it. They say a few more things to one another before Noah runs off to grab something. When he returns, Darth is prancing behind my son. With the commotion earlier, the cat was probably hesitant to come out, uneasy to greet someone new. Now he’s willing to take on the challenge with Noah here to greet Tyler.
“This must be Darth,” Ty says.
“Yes,” Noah looks behind him. “He’s shy.”
Tyler puts out the back of his hand for Darth to inspect. Unlike Julian, Darth seems unfazed and moves closer to Tyler for pets. It’s hard to hide my shock.
Noah beams. “He likes you! Mom, look. Darth likes Hunter!”
“Yeah, I see that.” I try to show enthusiasm, but inside, I feel a mixture of emotions.
Before I’m able to let myself feel too deeply about what this can mean, my son shows Tyler the football he brought from his room and announces they’re going to play. “Hunter’s going to teach me how to throw a football, Mom!”
The smile on his face is infectious. I know how much he’s wished to have a father-figure in his life to have these little moments with and the second he has Tyler under his roof, he asks him to throw a ball with him. Ty looks over at me and it takes everything in me not to let the smile break through that I’m fighting to contain.
He’s starting to break me at the seams. I’ve glued myself back together after years of building these cement walls up once he tore me down. I can’t let my husband see through my cracks because if I fall in love with him again—I might not pull myself out.
CHAPTER 18
Indiana
9 YEARS AGO
July 28, 2016
Dear sweaty Tyler,
