117. Meet me halfway
117
MEET ME HALFWAY
Neil
I paced the kitchen floor and chewed on my nails. Toby was at school and Daire had taken Charlie to the park so I could, in theory, make as much noise as I wanted. Nate might have something to say about that if I jumped up and down considering he was at home on the first floor, one floor below me.
We were at a crossroads. And by we I meant me and Martin. We could either agree to part and live separate lives—not that that was possible because of our boys—or we could work on what was left of our relationship. Right now, it was in tatters.
We’d fought over so many things and at this point, I’d given him the benefit of the doubt regarding the blind item and him being caught kissing someone. I couldn’t put faith in a gossip columnist over my mate and father of our kids.
I hadn’t even known what a blind item was until Ivor explained it was something a gossip columnist wrote that didn’t name anyone. It might be true, or false or something in between. Habitual gossip readers loved trying to work out who the people were in a blind item.
What I hadn’t been prepared for was the rage and jealousy I’d experienced when I read that titbit of gossip and it had me wondering how many lives had been torn apart by unknown and unseen gossip bloggers sharing truths, half-truths and lies.
Our family was not going to be one of them. If Martin and I decided to part, it would be after we had worked on our relationship.
“Knock, knock.” The door was open and his voice as he stood at the entrance to his former home was more timid than I’d heard it in a while. Maybe since those early days when we first dated.
“Coffee?”
“Please.”
He closed the door which was a good idea because again, Nate probably didn’t want to hear us discussing the state of our relationship. I wasn't looking forward to it and it was my life.
Deciding to get straight to the point, I asked, “Do you want to be with me? To be my mate and for us to be a family?”
He fisted both hands on the kitchen table. “Why are you asking me that?”
And we were off to a bad start. “Please Martin, I’m just asking for clarity. Fine, I’ll go first. I’ve given this a lot of thought and yes, I want us to be together. I love you.” I grabbed a cookie from a packet and shoved it in my mouth, before pushing the packet toward my mate. Munching on a cookie was a good distraction while I waited for Martin to reply.
“Yes. I miss you and being with our sons. I want my old life back.”
And there was the kicker. My mate expected me to agree to let him into our home and take up where we left off. He didn’t understand that he couldn’t expect to be handed his old life back and for everything to be the same. He needed to work on himself and we had to come together and thrash out our issues.
“Before that can happen, I want us to speak to a couples’ therapist.”
“What?” His hand holding a cookie froze. “No. I’m not sharing details about our private life with some shrink.”
I rubbed my eyes with the heel of my hands and took deep breaths in and out. “We haven’t had any success getting through this situation by ourselves. If you want, you can have private one-on-one sessions with you and the therapist and I’ll do the same.”
“No way.”
“You have to meet me halfway, Martin. I’m not budging on this. We attend therapy to try and save our relationship or we’re done.”
“Meet you halfway.” He slammed his fist on the table, making the plates and mugs jump and coffee spilled onto the surface. “I’ve been doing what you asked me to and what have you done?”
I got up slowly, not wanting to make any sudden moves, and turned my back. Looking at my mate’s face would make me more furious than I already was. Making sure my voice was as even and calm as possible, I said, “I’ve done everything I can to make sure Toby and Charlie feel loved and they understand you not being here has nothing to do with them.”
While Charlie was too young to comprehend why his other dad no longer lived with us, I’d given him extra love, hoping he would feel secure when Martin disappeared from our home.
“I’m the one who makes sure you’re on time to pick up Toby and take Charlie out for a few hours. I’m the one who takes them to their doctor’s appointments and cuddles them in the middle of the night if they have a bad dream.”
He interrupted me. “Because you kicked me out.” He was screeching now and there was no point telling him to shush. The whole neighborhood must have heard us arguing.
“Because you ignored us long before I asked you to leave. You acted as though we weren’t important and expected me to do everything. Well, now I do and from what I see, the kids are doing okay.”
After grabbing the back of a chair, I lifted my gaze and stared into my mate’s eyes. “It’s your decision. We attend therapy or we’re over.”
Archer
The phone dinged. I didn’t want to look at the message because I knew who it was from. But if I didn’t, he’d phone, or bang on my door. Because the person texting me was Ryder. The message would start with. Did you remember…? Or Don’t forget…
Not only was my stag shifter friend supposed to be taking it easy, but I’d taken over the app business and he had to learn to butt out and relax.
In my head, I took a bet as to what the message would say before glancing at it. It would be a Don’t forget text. And I won the bet with myself.
I understood his reasoning for being on my case. Ryder was bored because Ivor ran his original company, and he had no work. He was frustrated and scared regarding his cancer treatment and the future. And he used to run the business from home.
Now I was working from my new house next door to Sunshine Manor. If I peered out the window, I’d catch Ryder staring at me. These days I kept the curtains closed so if I needed to take a coffee break or feed the kids, he wasn’t judging me. Not that I thought he was doing that but it was a little uncomfortable.
But I was enjoying the work. It was more of a challenge than dealing with the divas some of Daire and Micah’s reality stars had become. Now they’d handed the original motel to a homeless organization and were deep into another project. I'd hired them an assistant so I could take on Ryder’s business.
Another text came in. There was no way I could continue the job if Ryder second-guessed me. Either I took on the role and he stepped back or he found someone else.
Meet me at the gate . He wouldn't need any more details. As well as putting a gate in the fence between his place and the manor, Daire had done the same on the other side so we could walk between our new home and Sunshine Manor.
Both of us had kids at home. Elune and Dyani were enrolled in day care three days a week but today they were at home. And I had Jasper as well. With Ryder undergoing treatment for his cancer, Ivor would have taken their daughter to work, but he had a big meeting this morning at a client’s office.
My two were napping and I had my phone with the baby monitor app. Stepping into the garden for a few minutes wouldn’t be a problem.
“What’s wrong?” Those were the first words out of Ryder’s mouth. He had Dyani on his hip. “Something gone ass up?”
“Yes and no, but not in the way you think.”
He leaned against the gate. The shadows under his eyes spoke of his exhaustion. “Do you trust me to run the business and to come to you if there’s anything I can’t deal with?”
“Yes. That’s why I hired you.” Technically it was Ivor who did the hiring but I wasn’t going to point that out.
“Then let me do my job and you do yours?” I placed a hand on his arm.
“But I don’t have one. A job.”
“Yeah, you do. It’s to get well. And that means resting.”
He sighed. “That’s harder than any job I’ve ever had.”
“Trust me to do what you asked me to. And you go home and take a nap with your daughter.” Dyani’s eyes were closing as she gripped her father’s shoulder.
“Sorry. I’ve been interfering.”
“It’s your baby, Ryder. And it will always be. But for now, be selfish. Think only of yourself, your recovery, and your family. That’s your job.”
“Okay. I’ll try.”
After giving him a kiss, I went inside and the phone beeped. What now?
Thanks was all it said.