Page 109 of A Me and You Thing
The driver lets me off at the dock. I roll my suitcase over the boardwalk as it thuds over each crevice. The boat might be out on a charter and I’ll have to wait for it to return.
Luck is with me as I approach and see our boat bobbing in the water. The place where I met Sawyer Denali, the place where he proposed, the place where I’m positive Josie and Jordyn were conceived. The boat has always held a special place in my heart. We made a lot of memories on it over the years.
But when I’m face to face with our boat, I stop dead in my tracks. Suddenly, everything I need to know is right in front of my eyes. I guess it always has been. I’ve been so blind. I had hoped to come home and get my life back. I now see it’s not possible. No way.
I stare for a long time, frozen in place, as thoughts whirl through my mind. Our boat, no, Sawyer’s boat is no longer named Quinn. It has a new name.
Breezy.
And that says it all.
Chapter Thirty-one
Bree
I THINK I now understand the meaning behind temporary insanity. I experienced it firsthand today.
Jordyn is whimpering in the backseat like a wounded animal, and I can hardly stand it. All I want to do is hold and comfort her.
And cry right along with her because I know I just made a huge mistake.
Just as Quinn ran into the house to get her shoes and lock the door, Sawyer pulled up at the curb. I buckled Jordyn into her car seat as carefully as possible. She objected, but not with much effort. I kissed her forehead and reassured her that everything would be okay.
“Where’d Quinn go? Did she decide to come too?” Sawyer had asked.
It was a defining moment, a moment wherein I had a choice to make.
“No,” I said. “Of course not. Let’s go. Hurry!”
I shouldn’t have said those words. I knew it the moment they left my mouth.
But I didn’t retract them.
Instead, I got in the car as fast as possible. “Go!” I said again, hoping to avoid Quinn.
I told myself I wanted alone time with Sawyer and the girls, that I deserved it. Her family has been mine for two years. How do I let them go? Quinn and I, we’re not soldiers switching turns on guard duty. It doesn’t work that way.
Just as we were driving away, Quinn made an appearance on the front porch, looking stricken.
I can’t get her expression out of my mind. It’s weighing on me. Heavily.
For a moment, I thought she was going to run after the car. She didn’t. Instead, she stared after us and it was a truly tragic sight.
Sawyer was concentrating on his driving as we drove away from the house. He didn’t even notice his urchin wife watching us with puppy dog eyes as we left her behind.
We’ve fallen into our usual roles. I’m easily the cunning Scarlett to her sympathetic Melanie. I can’t imagine how she’s feeling right about now. I think traumatized might be apt. I know I made a terrible choice. How could I have been so cruel? What was I thinking?
But my shame doesn’t end there.
As we continued driving down the road, Sawyer made so many turns, I had no idea where we were. “Where are we going?” I asked.
“There’s a brand-new urgent care that just opened. It’s only a few streets away. We’ll go there.”
His phone rang, startling us. With his eyes on the road, he took it out of his pocket and handed it to me. “Answer for me, please.”
I stared at the name on his screen. QUINN. Her name was followed by several heart emoticons. The sight made me frown.
It was another defining moment. I probably could’ve redeemed myself at that point. But I chose to make another wrong decision.
