“I’m with Percy now. We’ve been together for over a year. I don’t want to waste any more time on a woman who’s no longer attractive to me.”
I remembered how the baby had shifted against my shoulder.
I remembered how my knees had locked so I wouldn’t fall.
“Mom?”
I blinked back into the kitchen.
“A woman who’s no longer attractive to me.”
“I’m okay, honey. Really. Your brother deserves a perfect day, and I’m going to give it to him.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
She kissed my cheek and left.
I stood alone again with the mental list of things I had to buy, arrange, decorate, and pretend I could handle without breaking.
“Your brother deserves a perfect day.”
But first things first.
I texted Jordan to invite him to the party.
“Ethan wants the whole family there,” I typed.
A short while later, my phone buzzed on the counter.
I saw Jordan’s name light up the screen.
Something inside me tightened before I’d even read a single word of what he’d sent.
I texted Jordan to invite him to the party.
Jordan’s message was short and sharp.
“I’ll bring Percy. She’s part of my family too.”
I read it three times before the words fully landed.
My chest tightened.
I set the phone down and stared at the pool skimmer in the shallow end, trying to breathe.
“Mom, are you okay?”
I read it three times
My son stood in the doorway, wet hair plastered to his forehead.
I forced a smile.
“I’m fine, sweetheart. Just finalizing details for your big day.”
He studied me for a moment longer than I wanted him to.
Then he disappeared back into the yard.
That look, the way my fifteen-year-old already knew when I was lying, it broke something loose inside me.
I forced a smile.
