“I told you, we’re going to go to the American Girl store and get you a new doll, then we’re going to get ice cream and have a little hotel party, just us.”
“But Daddy likes ice cream,” Alison stated.
“Daddy has to work,” Amanda stated.
Pouting, she crossed her arms and slunk back in her seat. “That’s not fair.”
“What about me?” Jackson demanded. “I don’t want a doll.”
“We’ll get you a toy, too, don’t worry about it,” Amanda said. Glancing in Ethan’s direction, she held his gaze only for a second before looking away again.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow?” he asked.
She nodded her head, but not with much conviction. Since he couldn’t argue with the kids listening, he took a step back and redirected his gaze to the backseat with a manufactured smile as he waved goodbye to his kids.
Once the car was out of view, he was consumed by emptiness.
It had been a longshot, but he had hoped that somehow he could convince Amanda not to go, find the words to explain things to her in a way that she would understand, even if she was still furious at him.
Even worse, when he had helped carry the suitcases out to the car, she hadn’t seemed furious, just tired. Defeated. As if she had already lost a battle that he wasn’t even aware they’d had—or that she’d won, but it didn’t feel much like winning.
It was impossible not to worry that once she left, she wouldn’t come back.
How could he expect her to come to terms with what had happened when he had barely even done that himself—and he’d had five months?
Such a short time ago, his life had been intact.
Now everything was a mess. Not only had he wrecked everything they’d built together, but he didn’t know how to fix it.
What if he couldn’t? How would she ever be able to trust him again? What did she see now when she looked at him?
If he just gave her some time, maybe everything would be okay.
It felt like a lie even as the thought went through his head, but he had nothing else to hold onto, so he had to try to believe it.
Since he was still rooted to the spot he had been standing in when he watched his family disappear, he knew as soon as he saw headlights turning into his driveway that it was Willow.
Practically before she even turned the car off, she threw open the door and jumped out.
The mere sight of her filled him with a relief he didn’t completely understand. A moment earlier, he wouldn’t have said that he wanted to see her, but now that she was there, she felt like exactly what he needed.
Wordlessly, she approached him and threw her arms around him. One arm tightened around her waist while the other tangled in her hair, holding her against his chest.
“Are you okay?” she finally asked, quietly.
“Yeah,” he murmured.
Willow hesitated. “I drove by the first time. I saw suitcases…”
He nodded slightly. “Amanda left.”
Tucking her head down into his chest and squeezing him, she said, “I’m so sorry.”
“Not your fault.”
“I mean, it kind of is,” she replied. “I didn’t know what to say, I just didn’t want him to hurt you. I figured you could explain after the fact…”
“I tried, but it’s not… I mean, you know how fucked up it is, how do I explain that?”