Nothing But This (Broken Pieces 2)

“I’ve been consulting with a divorce lawyer,” she said, forcing calmness into her quivering voice. Clara’s cries had become near shrieks, and she needed to get rid of him so that she could take care of her baby. “You’ll be served papers very soon. Sign them.”

“Libby, I know I fucked up,” he said softly. She could see sweat beading on his forehead and in the stubble above his beautifully curved upper lip. He was incredibly pale and looked thinner than when she’d seen him last. His suit—usually immaculately fitted—looked too roomy on his broad, loose-limbed frame.

“This was more than a fuckup, Greyson,” she said. “You spent seven months hating me, resenting me, thinking I was a cheat. Seven months! My pregnancy wasn’t the easiest—I needed you. And you were never there. And the worst thing was I made all these stupid excuses for you. I didn’t see the truth until it was too late. You hated me, hated my baby . . . because you thought she was someone else’s, while thinking that I was a conniving, cheating slut.”

“I thought . . .”

“Yes, yes.” She waved her free hand impatiently, the cell phone light bouncing wildly in the dark before coming to rest on his face again. “Infertile. And yet when I announced my pregnancy, instead of doubting your original diagnosis, you just immediately assumed the worst of me. Maybe, just maybe, you should have had yourself retested instead of instantly thinking that the woman who was a freaking virgin before you charmed your way into her bed cheated on you. Within just weeks of our first time.”

“I have a lot to make up for.”

“Let me just stop you there. You have nothing to make up for, because there won’t be any ‘making up’ here. We’re done. In fact, I’m not sure we ever started. Our marriage was a farce from beginning to end. I see that now. Please leave. I have to get my baby in out of this cold.”

She put deliberate emphasis on the possessive pronoun.

“I have nowhere to stay,” he said softly, and she laughed at that bit of nonsense.

“A man like you always has somewhere to stay, Greyson.”

“The hotel is fully booked.”

“And you assumed what? That I’d let you stay here? Don’t be ridiculous.” She shook her head and stepped around him, bracing herself in case he chose to touch her. But he let her pass without any interference, and she released a tense breath as she continued on her way to the front door.

She unlocked the door and stepped inside with a relieved sigh. Instead of switching on the porch lights as she’d originally intended, she twitched the lacy curtain over the door’s glass panel aside and watched as he stood there for another long, endless moment. Just staring at the front door. Finally, he scrubbed a weary hand over his face, and his shoulders slumped as he slowly turned around and walked down the darkened path toward the parked car that she hadn’t even noticed as she’d driven up to her house. She would have to be more vigilant in the future.

Her phone buzzed, and she looked down. It was Tina. She was tempted to ignore the call, desperate to calm her agitated baby down, but curiosity got the better of her.

“Hello?”

“Be warned,” her friend’s breathless voice said urgently. “The Twisted Twins are in town! Harris just showed up at my door.”

He had? Why was Harris in town? Was he here to offer support to his douchebag brother? And why go to Tina first?

“I know,” Libby responded. “Greyson was just here.”

“Fuuuuuuuuudge! What did he say?”

“I don’t care what he wanted to say,” Libby said defiantly. “I told him to shove off and never come back.”

“Good girl,” Tina said firmly.

“Why was Harris there?” Libby asked curiously.

“Ugh, I’ll tell you tomorrow. I’d rather not go over all of that again right now.”

“Okay. Sleep tight.”

“Are you okay, Libby?” Tina asked, her voice brimming with concern. “Do you need me to come over?”

The offer brought tears to Libby’s eyes, and she blinked them away impatiently. These moments of unwavering friendship meant the world to Libby, but Tina confused her. How could someone be so kind and considerate one moment and then completely flaky and unreliable the next? She never knew if she was going to get her best friend or some other version of Tina. The version who didn’t want to be around her baby and who couldn’t be trusted to do the simplest of tasks. Tasks imperative to the survival of their business.

Sometimes it felt like she was surrounded by unreliable people. The only one she could truly rely on to be completely consistent was Harris. And even that usually dependable relationship was floundering a bit after everything that had happened between her and Greyson. Even though he hadn’t said as much, she knew that Harris’s loyalties had to be split between her and Greyson. And that had to be placing a great deal of strain on him as well as their friendship.