“Josh.” She turned towards him. “We weren’t going to tell you this until after the wedding, but your father and I are getting a divorce.”
Before Josh could speak, his dad growled. “No, we’re not.”
His mum swung back to him. “Yes we are. I filed before we left.”
The air in the room became charged. “You what?”
“We talked about this. We agreed. I filed.”
“We didn’t talk about it.”
“I asked you if that was what you wanted. You didn’t say anything. So I took that as a yes.”
His father jumped to his feet. “You took that as a yes?”
“Calm down,” Josh said to both of them. It was pointless.
“Well.” His mother was so furious, Josh half expected to see lightning bolts coming off her head. “As I keep telling you. I can’t read your mind. If you don’t talk, I have no idea what you think. Or what you want.”
His father thudded a fist on the table in front of him. “I don’t want a bloody divorce.”
“Tough!”
Josh stood up and put up his hands between them. “Maybe we should all take a minute to calm down?”
“I am calm,” his dad bellowed.
“Yeah, I can see that,” Josh told him.
“See”—his mother pointed in the direction of his father—“this is exactly what I’m talking about. I tell you what I want and you ignore me. I ask what you want and I get silence. Give me one good reason why I should stay with you?”
“Because you made a vow, woman. How about that for a reason?”
“I vowed to stick with Andrew McInnes. The man who made me happy. Who made me laugh. Who talked to me and spent time with me and did things with me. That man I would stay with. Unfortunately, he’s long gone and I don’t have a clue who you are.”
She stormed around the counter and headed for the door.
“Come back here,” his father snapped. “We’re not done.”
“As I keep telling you,” his mother said calmly, “I am.” Then she was gone.
Josh watched his father as the anger waned. His eyes flicked between panic and pain. “What the hell am I supposed to do with that?”
Josh took a deep breath. “How about you give her some of the stuff back that she loved when she made those vows? Maybe that’s a good place to start?”
All the fight went out of him. He slumped to the table. “I don’t know what happened. Things used to be good.”
Josh placed a reassuring hand on his dad’s shoulder. “You want her back, don’t you?”
The depth of pain in his father’s eyes made Josh stagger. “She’s the love of my life.”
Josh patted his dad on the back. “Maybe she needs to feel like it?”
He wasn’t sure his dad heard. The man pulled his cold cup of coffee towards him and stared into it. Josh ran a hand over his face as the drilling started. It felt like it was happening in his head. Enough was enough. It was time to deal with Caroline and her “restoration” plans.
He dug his phone out of his back pocket as he walked across the kitchen and scrolled to Caroline’s cell number. He got voicemail. He gritted his teeth. The whir of the circular saw started as he pushed through the kitchen door. He found the community centre number and hit that.
“Community centre, what do you want?” barked the voice in his ear.