Jeremy looked at Thomas as though he had misheard him.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father-in-law?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas nodded.<\/p>\n
I felt my face go cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer came automatically.<\/p>\n
My father had disliked Jeremy in the beginning. That much was true. He thought Jeremy was impulsive, underpaid, and too young to know what he wanted. But dislike was not the same thing as paying a man to destroy someone\u2019s job.<\/p>\n
Thomas watched me carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m telling you what I know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know my father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew Calvin.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t make this true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy stepped between us slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet him talk.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at my husband.<\/p>\n
His expression was not accusing.<\/p>\n
Not yet.<\/p>\n
That almost made it worse.<\/p>\n
Thomas gestured toward a cluster of chairs near the windows.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t something we should do standing up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fine standing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy sat anyway.<\/p>\n
Thomas lowered himself into the chair opposite him.<\/p>\n
After a moment, I sat too.<\/p>\n
The waiting room around us continued functioning. A television played a morning program with the sound muted. Someone near the vending machines laughed softly into a phone. A janitor pushed a cart down the hall.<\/p>\n
Ordinary life surrounded the three of us while Thomas prepared to tell me my dead father had secretly interfered with my husband\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
Jeremy leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat exactly did Calvin tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas rubbed his thumb along the edge of his watch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew Calvin through my uncle. They hunted together.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBack then.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore I got fired?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m listening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father came to Calvin several weeks before Lacey made the call.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow would Calvin even know my father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough the hardware business.\u201d<\/p>\n
That made sense in a way I hated.<\/p>\n
Before my father\u2019s store failed, he supplied contractors all over the county. Calvin could easily have been one of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Dad want?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted Jeremy off jobs that kept him in town.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas nodded toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted you pushed out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he thought Jill would leave with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt did to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad wanted me nearby.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy went still.<\/p>\n
I understood before Thomas explained.<\/p>\n
My father knew Jeremy had been looking for better-paying work.<\/p>\n
Some jobs required travel.<\/p>\n
Others were in Nashville.<\/p>\n
I remembered arguments from that first year of marriage.<\/p>\n
Jeremy wanted opportunity.<\/p>\n
My father kept telling me young marriages failed when couples left their support systems.<\/p>\n
At the time, I thought he was being protective.<\/p>\n
Thomas continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cCalvin told me your father believed if Jeremy lost steady local work, you\u2019d pressure him to settle down and stay close.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy stared at the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is almost the opposite of what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas\u2019s voice was quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou started taking work anywhere you could get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo your great plan was to make my life unstable enough that I\u2019d become stable?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t my father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked at me.<\/p>\n
I heard the correction.<\/p>\n
It felt like accusation even though it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he pay Calvin?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know the exact amount.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how do you know money changed hands?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw Calvin with cash.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat proves nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas reached into his coat.<\/p>\n
He removed an envelope.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is why I brought this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy took it.<\/p>\n
Inside was an old photocopy of a handwritten ledger.<\/p>\n
Calvin Reeves\u2019s company name appeared at the top.<\/p>\n
Most entries were ordinary.<\/p>\n
Equipment purchases.<\/p>\n
Fuel reimbursements.<\/p>\n
Subcontractor payments.<\/p>\n
Then, halfway down, one line had been circled.<\/p>\n
R. Mercer \u2014 consultation \u2014 $3,000.<\/p>\n
My maiden name was Mercer.<\/p>\n
My father\u2019s first name was Robert.<\/p>\n
My throat tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat could mean anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you know it didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas held his gaze.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Calvin talked about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo my uncle. I overheard them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy folded the copy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas stared at the carpet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat your father wanted you humbled.\u201d<\/p>\n
The word landed hard.<\/p>\n
I remembered my father saying it once.<\/p>\n
Not to Calvin.<\/p>\n
To me.<\/p>\n
Jeremy needs humbling before he ruins your life.<\/p>\n
I had forgotten.<\/p>\n
Or maybe I had chosen not to remember.<\/p>\n
Jeremy turned toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed.<\/p>\n
He was asking me if I was okay after learning my father may have paid to get him fired.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cSame.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cCalvin didn\u2019t need much convincing. He already thought Jeremy was careless.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t careless.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy\u2019s voice sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n
That simple admission cut off the argument.<\/p>\n
I examined the photocopy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did this come from?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCalvin\u2019s records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do you have it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy uncle died six years ago. I helped clear his office. Some of Calvin\u2019s old papers were mixed into boxes from their hunting club accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds convenient.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought so too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why keep it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked at Jeremy.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause by then I knew what happened to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy\u2019s expression hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLacey.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe told you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you talk to her?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYears ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey had said she had not spoken to him in twenty years.<\/p>\n
Another lie.<\/p>\n
The exhaustion hit me almost physically.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many years?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeven.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou contacted her after promising Eleanor you wouldn\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Lacey contacted me.\u201d<\/p>\n
That changed the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked toward Lacey\u2019s corridor.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wanted to know whether I knew about the baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently everybody was revisiting the past except Jill and me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt the sting because it was true.<\/p>\n
While Jeremy and I lived inside what we thought was a settled marriage, the people surrounding our past had been quietly reopening old wounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Lacey tell you?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat she had found evidence I was the father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeven years ago?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe told us her mother\u2019s report confirmed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when she found it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo she knew seven years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy looked stunned.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot three?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He lowered himself back into the chair.<\/p>\n
That information hit him differently.<\/p>\n
Lacey had known long before the cancer brought him back into her life.<\/p>\n
Long before she let his guilt become the foundation of their strange second marriage.<\/p>\n
Jeremy whispered, \u201cSeven years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas watched him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy\u2019s voice was flat.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not the person whose apology I need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas nodded.<\/p>\n
I looked at the ledger again.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Lacey know about my father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause at the time, it was hearsay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I found the record.\u201d<\/p>\n
I held up the copy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is still not proof of intent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas\u2019s honesty frustrated me.<\/p>\n
I wanted certainty.<\/p>\n
Instead everyone had brought me fragments.<\/p>\n
Thomas continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s one other thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy laughed softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course there is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas reached into his coat again.<\/p>\n
This time he removed a folded letter.<\/p>\n
The paper looked old.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy uncle wrote this shortly before he died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor who?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas handed it to Jeremy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe mentions Calvin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy opened it.<\/p>\n
His eyes moved across the page.<\/p>\n
Then he passed it to me.<\/p>\n
The handwriting was shaky.<\/p>\n
Thomas\u2019s uncle described old regrets.<\/p>\n
Business favors.<\/p>\n
Money exchanged.<\/p>\n
Men doing things they later pretended were harmless.<\/p>\n
One sentence stood out.<\/p>\n
Bob Mercer wanted the boy separated from his daughter before they left town, and Calvin agreed to create enough trouble that no contractor around here would trust him.<\/p>\n
I read it twice.<\/p>\n
My father had wanted Jeremy separated from me.<\/p>\n
The room blurred.<\/p>\n
Jeremy took the letter from my hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cJill.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need air.\u201d<\/p>\n
He rose too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWant me to come?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer came too fast.<\/p>\n
His face changed.<\/p>\n
Not hurt exactly.<\/p>\n
Acceptance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
I walked away.<\/p>\n
Outside the hospital entrance, heat hit me immediately.<\/p>\n
I stood near a row of benches and tried to breathe.<\/p>\n
My father had been dead nine years.<\/p>\n
There would be no confrontation.<\/p>\n
No demand for explanation.<\/p>\n
No chance for him to tell me Thomas was wrong.<\/p>\n
Death had turned him into a fixed memory.<\/p>\n
And now that memory had cracked.<\/p>\n
I remembered Dad paying our electric bill that year.<\/p>\n
I remembered him telling me Jeremy needed to become more responsible.<\/p>\n
I remembered the quiet satisfaction in his voice when Jeremy finally found a local job.<\/p>\n
At the time, I thought he was relieved.<\/p>\n
Now I wondered if he was pleased his interference had worked.<\/p>\n
Except it had not.<\/p>\n
Jeremy did not leave me.<\/p>\n
He stayed.<\/p>\n
We stayed.<\/p>\n
For twenty-two years.<\/p>\n
A shadow fell across the pavement.<\/p>\n
Jeremy stood several feet away.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought you wanted to be alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWait.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stopped.<\/p>\n
I wiped my face.<\/p>\n
I had not realized I was crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou believe me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
No hesitation.<\/p>\n
That made me cry harder.<\/p>\n
Jeremy remained where he was.<\/p>\n
He did not touch me.<\/p>\n
I was grateful for that too.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad paid our bills that year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if he did that because he caused the problem?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy looked away.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve wondered.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just learned this five minutes ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had five minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite myself, I laughed.<\/p>\n
He almost smiled.<\/p>\n
Then my face tightened again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI defended him to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told you he respected you eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t believe that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy looked toward the parking garage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think people can do something terrible and still change later.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sentence carried too much history.<\/p>\n
Lacey.<\/p>\n
My father.<\/p>\n
Jeremy himself.<\/p>\n
Maybe me.<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that what you\u2019re hoping I believe about you?\u201d<\/p>\n
He met my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
That surprised me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping you decide based on what\u2019s true now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what is true now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat I lied to you for three years.\u201d<\/p>\n
He swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat I loved you the entire time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat I cared about Lacey.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat I made guilt more important than honesty.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that if you leave me over it, I\u2019ll understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
The honesty hurt.<\/p>\n
Not because I wanted him to beg.<\/p>\n
Because part of me still wanted the man I thought I married to appear and explain that everything had been a misunderstanding.<\/p>\n
That man did not exist.<\/p>\n
Jeremy existed.<\/p>\n
Complicated.<\/p>\n
Weak in some ways.<\/p>\n
Loyal in others.<\/p>\n
Capable of enormous kindness.<\/p>\n
Capable of enormous betrayal.<\/p>\n
The same person.<\/p>\n
The hospital doors slid open.<\/p>\n
Cynthia stepped outside.<\/p>\n
She saw us.<\/p>\n
\u201cLacey wants both of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I immediately knew something had changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHer doctor came by.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n
Cynthia looked at us.<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly twenty-four to forty-eight hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
The world sharpened.<\/p>\n
Cars.<\/p>\n
Heat.<\/p>\n
The sound of an ambulance somewhere in the distance.<\/p>\n
Jeremy closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
I felt the old instinct to comfort him.<\/p>\n
My hand almost moved.<\/p>\n
I stopped it.<\/p>\n
Not yet.<\/p>\n
We followed Cynthia upstairs.<\/p>\n
Thomas remained in the waiting area.<\/p>\n
Jeremy paused beside him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inside Room 714, Lacey looked smaller than she had an hour earlier.<\/p>\n
The oxygen line had been changed.<\/p>\n
Her skin was pale.<\/p>\n
But her eyes were clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou found out.\u201d<\/p>\n
It took me a moment to understand.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout Dad?\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas told Cynthia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor once?\u201d<\/p>\n
A faint smile touched her mouth.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor once.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pulled a chair toward her bed.<\/p>\n
I remained standing.<\/p>\n
Lacey looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t apologize for this one. Apparently you weren\u2019t involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to get ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
That nearly made me smile.<\/p>\n
She reached toward the bedside drawer.<\/p>\n
\u201cCynthia has the annulment papers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t need to do this today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her gaze shifted to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want it done while I can sign.\u201d<\/p>\n
I said nothing.<\/p>\n
Lacey continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked Cynthia to file an affidavit too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat affidavit?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAdmitting I knew Jeremy was married.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat could create legal problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The word surprised all of us.<\/p>\n
Jeremy stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t need to take legal blame to fix this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not taking blame.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m documenting the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could hurt Jill too.\u201d<\/p>\n
That got my attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
Cynthia stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cPotential questions about benefits, filings, financial representations.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Jeremy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat benefits?\u201d<\/p>\n
He went quiet.<\/p>\n
Lacey answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cInsurance reimbursements.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot what you think.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat phrase should be banned from this room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cynthia opened her briefcase.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were payments connected to spousal eligibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at Jeremy.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWere they legal?\u201d<\/p>\n
He hesitated.<\/p>\n
That was enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe disclosed our situation to Cynthia.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t what I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy looked toward the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome forms listed Lacey as my spouse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she was legally listed as your spouse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile I was also your spouse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo now this is not only emotional betrayal. There may be fraud attached to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cynthia intervened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat determination has not been made.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it could be.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cJill, none of this touches your finances.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not the point.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, Jeremy. If someone investigates this, our names are together.\u201d<\/p>\n
His expression changed.<\/p>\n
He had thought about that.<\/p>\n
Of course he had.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow bad?\u201d<\/p>\n
Cynthia answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cPotentially manageable. Potentially not.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed once.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds reassuring.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt isn\u2019t intended to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why I wanted the affidavit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She opened her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t decide for me anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sentence stopped him.<\/p>\n
It echoed mine.<\/p>\n
I saw him recognize that.<\/p>\n
Lacey looked toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you don\u2019t have to protect me either.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not planning to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her breath rattled softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want everything corrected.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cynthia laid several documents on the rolling table.<\/p>\n
Annulment petition.<\/p>\n
Affidavit.<\/p>\n
Estate amendments.<\/p>\n
Medical directives.<\/p>\n
A stack of paper trying to impose order on twenty-two years of chaos.<\/p>\n
Lacey picked up the pen.<\/p>\n
Her hand shook.<\/p>\n
Jeremy instinctively reached to steady it.<\/p>\n
She let him.<\/p>\n
For a few seconds, the two of them held the pen together.<\/p>\n
I watched.<\/p>\n
It hurt.<\/p>\n
But not in the way I expected.<\/p>\n
There was affection there.<\/p>\n
History.<\/p>\n
Grief.<\/p>\n
Not a stolen marriage.<\/p>\n
Something stranger.<\/p>\n
A goodbye between people who had spent too long confusing guilt with love.<\/p>\n
Lacey signed.<\/p>\n
Once.<\/p>\n
Twice.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
Then she pushed the papers toward Cynthia.<\/p>\n
\u201cFile them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cynthia nodded.<\/p>\n
Jeremy looked at the signature.<\/p>\n
Something in his face broke.<\/p>\n
Lacey saw it.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou gave me what I asked for.\u201d<\/p>\n
His jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI shouldn\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe not.\u201d<\/p>\n
She smiled faintly.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you did.\u201d<\/p>\n
He bowed his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cJeremy.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI release you from the promise.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat promise?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
He did not answer.<\/p>\n
Lacey did.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one he made the day we married.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt dread settle again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you make him promise?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey\u2019s eyes stayed on Jeremy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat if my cancer became terminal, he would stay until the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy whispered, \u201cI remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I will.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lacey shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want you here because of a promise made from guilt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy stared at her.<\/p>\n
She looked toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want him to leave with his wife tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words hit all three of us differently.<\/p>\n
Jeremy looked at me.<\/p>\n
I did not know what expression he found on my face.<\/p>\n
Lacey continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd tomorrow, if Jill chooses to bring you back, then you come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not leaving you alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t be alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas stood suddenly in the doorway.<\/p>\n
None of us had heard him approach.<\/p>\n
Lacey looked at him.<\/p>\n
For the first time, the anger left her face.<\/p>\n
Thomas\u2019s eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll stay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy stared at him.<\/p>\n
The biological father of the child they lost.<\/p>\n
The man who had become part of the fracture between Jeremy and Lacey before any of us understood it.<\/p>\n
Lacey looked from Thomas to Jeremy.<\/p>\n
Then to me.<\/p>\n
Twenty-two years of history had finally put all four of us in the same room.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood,\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen tonight, everybody stops paying old debts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeremy looked at Thomas as though he had misheard him. \u201cMy father-in-law?\u201d Thomas nodded. I felt my face go cold. \u201cNo.\u201d The answer came automatically. My father had disliked Jeremy … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25704,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25719"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25784,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25719\/revisions\/25784"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}