Page 101 of The Ruthless and the Strong

Lizzie

I fidgetedwith the strap of my sleeves.

I was wearing a nice white blouse with black slacks, sitting in the kitchen, waiting for Sam to come over. His flight would have just landed a half hour ago, so he should be on his way now. I had thought about meeting him at the hotel where he was staying, but Sam had insisted on coming here for some reason, and I didn’t know how to tell him no.

So now all I was left doing was staying here, waiting for him to show up, and feeling like I was about to crawl out of my skin. Mason and Olivia had taken Hunter and Emma out to the park to give me and Sam a time to talk, and I was hoping to plan a time with him to see Hunter.

I looked at the time on my phone, letting out a frustrated groan when I realized hardly ten minutes had passed since the last time I checked, and I still didn’t know where he was.

I didn’t even know why I was so nervous. I would just have to sign the papers, and then he would send it to his lawyers and that was that. We’d already come to an agreement with child custody, child support, and dividing up the assets.

That part was easy, because the only thing that was under our name was the house, even though his dad had brought it for us. Sam was going to sell it and send half of the money he made from it to me.

I was planning on using it as a down payment to buy a house around here for Hunter to grow up in.

So everything was already taken care of. I shouldn’t be so nervous.

Yet when I heard the doorbell ring, my heart wanted to launch out of my chest and flop to the ground. I took in a shaky breath and brought my hand up to my hair, patting it down before I stood and walked to the front door and opened it.

Sam stood there, a folder tucked underneath his arm, and his hands shoved in his pockets. His eyes were dim and his posture subdued. He still looked the same, still the same athletic frame, only a little thinner. As if he hadn’t been eating properly. I shook my thoughts away. Sam was a grown man. It wasn’t up to me to make sure he was eating. His dark blond hair fell over his forehead. He was in need of a haircut.

“Hey,” he said.

I smiled a little. “Hey. How are you?”

He nodded and pursed his lips together. “I’ve been good.” His eyes took me in. After a beat, he said, “You look good. Beautiful. But then, you’ve always been beautiful.”

“Thank you,” I said, shifting on my feet awkwardly. After an unnaturally long pause, I moved out of the way. “Come on in.”

“Thanks,” he said and moved past me. I got a whiff of his familiar scent. He still smelled the same, and a wave of melancholy and nostalgia hit me. Our marriage was over, but it wasn’t like I could easily throw six years of my life down the drain as if it meant nothing.

I led him to the kitchen table and took a seat across from him. Sam looked around as if taking the place in with new eyes, even though we had spent two Christmases here before.

“How are Olivia and Mason?” he asked.

“Good. They’re enjoying their life, and Emma is pretty excited for Hunter to be here. She hero-worships him.”

He nodded, but he didn’t comment on that. I was hoping for some kind of reaction at the mention of Hunter’s name, but I got none.

“How’s Max?” he asked me, his eyes hardening a bit, before he brought his expression back to neutral.

“Sam. Do you really want to spend the entire time doing this?”

“What? It’s an innocent question.”

We both knew it wasn’t an innocent question. And I probably deserved the fact that he was throwing this in my face, but I didn’t want to spend the evening arguing with him in my best friend’s home. Our fights in the past had been nothing short of explosive.

“He’s good.”

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but I cleared my throat and pointed to the folder he had laid out in front of him. “Should we get started?”

After a brief second of hesitation, he nodded and handed it to me. “I already signed it,” he said. “Now all we need is your signature to make this official.”

I nodded but didn’t say anything more. At this point, I didn’t know what to say. Sam had been the one to bring up the divorce, and even then, I knew he’d only brought it up in hopes that I would fight him on it.

But toward the end of our marriage, I was just exhausted, and when he brought up the divorce, I didn’t feel heartbroken, but immense relief so strong, I was almost shaken with it. It was the first time in marriage I had been brave enough to admit to myself that I didn’t want to be married to him anymore.

I didn’t know if I ever had.

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