Only One Night (Only One 3)

“You’ve reached Evelyn. I can’t take your call right now. Leave a message, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.” I smile as I listen to her voice.

I wait for the beep and then speak. “Hey, it’s me. Just wanted to hear your voice. Talk to you soon.” I hang up and send her another text.

Me: Are you okay?

I get up, going into the cinema room, and sit down to play a couple of games with Jaxon. The whole time, I’m watching my phone, waiting for her to text me. Murielle doesn’t come in at all, and when we walk down for lunch, I see that she isn’t there.

I pick up my phone and send Evelyn another text.

Me: Getting a bit worried. Hope you are okay.

An uneasy feeling comes over me and the rest of the day goes by at a snail's pace. I feed Jaxon dinner, and only when he’s going to bed does Murielle finally come out of her room.

“I have a meeting with Becca,” I lie to her. “I’m leaving after I put Jaxon to sleep.”

She looks over at me. “You’ve been having a lot of meetings with Becca lately.” I ignore her question and tuck Jaxon into bed. I change into jeans and a shirt.

I call her one more time before I show up, and it still goes to voice mail. My stomach is in my throat, thinking that something happened to her, and I wasn’t there for her. I see her car in her driveway, and I breathe out a sigh of relief.

I jog up to her door and ring the bell. My heart speeds up even more when I hear the locks. The smile on my face can’t help but come over me when I see her there. “Hey,” I say, walking in. I wrap my arm around her waist, and I notice a change in her right away.

“Hi,” she says, her hands staying on my arms and not going around my neck. She usually puts her head back so I can kiss her, but this time she doesn’t.

“I’ve been calling and texting you all day,” I say, releasing her.

“Yeah, I saw. I was with my parents at a family lunch,” she says, stepping back. And I’m suddenly jealous that she had family time.

“That sounds nice,” I say, and the whole room is filled with tension, and I hate it. “What is going on right now?”

“I think we need to talk,” she says, and I see her cross her hands together.

“What is going on right here?” I ask, my heart hammering in my chest.

“I can’t do this,” she tells me, and I see the tears come out of her eyes. “No matter how much I try to think I can, deep down inside me, I can’t.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask, and I want to hug her. I want to sit down and hold her in my arms.

“You said you had a function. What you didn’t tell me was that your picture with your wife would be splashed all around social media today,” she says, and I’m so confused.

“What?” I ask her, and the blood drains from my body when she shows me the picture of Murielle and me. The only picture I took with her. I look back up at her, and my heart hurts. “It’s not what it looks like,” I say, my voice going low.

“That is the whole thing,” she tells me. “I hate feeling this way. I hate that I feel this way. I hate that I ignored you all day because I had to process this. I hate that I doubt myself. I hate that I doubt you,” she says, using the back of her hand to wipe away another tear. “I just . . .”

“I was making sure she didn’t fall,” I say. She has to know that at least. “Nothing happened. Nothing. I left her sleeping in the car.”

“But it’s not just last night,” she says. “It’s about you going home to her. It’s about you sharing a life with her.” She looks at me. “Put yourself in my shoes. How would you feel knowing I was going home to someone else? Knowing I share a life with this person and sleep under the same roof as him.” My stomach hurts, thinking about it. My stomach sinks just thinking about kissing her good-bye and knowing she would go home to someone else. “Bottom line. You’re not divorced. You are still married.”

“Evelyn.” I say her name in almost a plea, praying she just gives me a little bit more time. I just need more time.

“I won’t be the one who makes you chose. I will not be that person.” She shakes her head. “I won’t ever let you choose between your son and me because the only answer should be your son. Always. So I am going to walk away.” My heart literally breaks, the pain coming so fast I have to put my hand to my chest. “Maybe it was never meant to be.” I want to yell at her and tell her no, it’s meant to be. That this thing between us is strong for a reason. “All day, I kept thinking that there was a reason, but then I couldn’t think of one.”