Chapter 6
“You what?”
My head is spinning. I can’t believe what Jeremy just said to me. He wants a divorce? How is that possible? Yes, we might sometimes argue over a toilet seat left up or who used up the last of the ketchup. But divorce? That’s ridiculous.
“I’m sorry,” he says, although there’s a tightness in his voice that makes me think he’s not sorry at all.
“I don’t understand.” That is the understatement of the century. “How could you say that? We’re happy together!”
“I’m not happy. I haven’t been happy in a long time.”
“But…” My fingertips have started tingling—I’m breathing too quickly. “What about what you said yesterday? About the renovation and…”
Jeremy doesn’t answer, and it suddenly hits me what happened yesterday. Teddy was never confused—they never packed last night.
“You only told me that to get me to move out.”
His brown eyes meet mine. “It was just easier that way.”
“Easier for you!”
“Right.” His voice is so quiet and calm, it makes me want to shake him. “I don’t want to disrupt Teddy’s life, and I know you don’t either.”
“So you just kicked me out of my own home?”
“It’s my home, Naomi.” His jaw tightens. “I bought it before I even met you. And this apartment is mine too, but…well, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need to. I’d never let you be homeless.”
“Gee, thanks!”
He doesn’t say anything to that, simply drops his eyes.
I lean against the armrest of the sofa, since my legs feel a bit weak. This doesn’t make any sense. I don’t understand how Jeremy could just suddenly decide that he needs to get a divorce. The only way it makes sense is…
I tug at a strand of hair that sprang loose from my unstylishly messy ponytail. “Is there somebody else?”
He hesitates. Long enough that my stomach starts to churn. But then he shakes his head. “No, nobody else.”
“Then why?”
I am racking my brain, trying to understand why this is happening. If it isn’t another woman, then what is it? Is it drugs? People in the investment banking industry have a reputation for being a little too liberal with cocaine. Has Jeremy been partaking and now has some wild idea in his head?
But no. That doesn’t sound like my husband. Jeremy likes a snifter of whiskey in the evening but never has more than one. He is straight as an arrow.
“Please,” I murmur. “I don’t understand. We’re happy together. Why are you doing this?”
“I’m sorry.” His voice softens this time, and the gentler tone is enough to bring tears to my eyes. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Then don’t leave!”
Jeremy has no response to that. He closes the briefcase that is lying open on the still slightly dusty sofa.
“We should be able to handle this with a mediator,” he tells me.
“There’s no need to have a legal battle and go to court since we have a prenup.
I’ll have my lawyer deliver the papers to yours. ”
My head won’t stop spinning. I can’t understand what happened. What changed? Why did he suddenly decide that our marriage doesn’t work and needs to be over?
I feel like he’s firing me.
He starts to move past me, and now the panic sets in.
When he first said the D-word, I was sure that he was making a terrible spur-of-the-moment mistake, and I could talk him out of it.
But now it seems like his mind is made up.
My husband intends to end our marriage, for reasons that make no sense whatsoever.
He’s not happy? We’re the happiest couple of any I know!
If we’re not happy, I don’t understand what happy is!
“Jeremy…” I grasp his arm, keeping him from escaping the room. “You can’t mean this. Please. We can work this out.”
He shakes his head, not meeting my eyes. “I’m sorry, Naomi.”
If he says sorry one more time, I am going to beat him to death with his own briefcase.
“Listen…” I run my tongue over my upper lip. “What about marriage counseling?”
“Marriage counseling?” He says it like I just suggested he drink a bottle of urine. “I don’t think so.”
“So let’s talk about it now.” My fingers are still curled around his forearm, digging into his skin. “I don’t have anywhere to be. Tell me what’s making you so unhappy, and let’s fix it.”
His eyes finally meet mine. “It’s too late for that.”
I recall that hesitation when I asked him if there was someone else. That’s the only reason I can think of to explain why Jeremy would break up a happy marriage.
Jeremy shakes me off his arm and pushes past me, striding in the direction of the bedroom where Teddy is holed up with the iPad. I stand in his way, blocking him. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to take my son home with me.”
“Oh no.” I hold up my hands, determined to win at least one battle today. “I don’t think so. If you want to divorce, then Teddy is going to stay with me.”
He doesn’t try to move past me. He stands there, analyzing my face until I start to squirm.
“Teddy should sleep in his own bedroom,” he finally says. “We want to make this as easy as possible for him, and it would be cruel to take him away from his home. Don’t you think so?”
“Then let me move back in, and you leave.”
“Try to be reasonable, Naomi,” he says. “Do you really want to punish Teddy for this? It’s going to be hard enough as it is.”
I don’t budge. I stand there, my arms folded in front of me. He’s going to have to physically pick me up and move me to get to Teddy.
“You can pick him up from school every day,” Jeremy offers. “Spend the whole day with him. He can have dinner with you. But at night, he should sleep in his own bed. In his own room. If you care about him, you wouldn’t want to take him away from his home.”
As much as I hate to admit it, he has a point. I know from our family trips that Teddy tosses and turns in beds that are unfamiliar to him. Sometimes he wakes up screaming. I don’t want to put him through that.
And really, what’s the difference to me where he sleeps? I will still pick him up at school, and we will spend the evening together. None of the other mothers at the school will even know, which I’m embarrassed to admit is important to me.
And there’s another bonus. If Jeremy comes here every evening to pick up Teddy, he will be forced to interact with me.
He doesn’t seem interested in talking about this right now, but there’s no way our marriage is over.
Jeremy and I are going to grow old together, sitting on the porch in matching rocking chairs.
There’s something he isn’t telling me. And I’m going to find out what it is.
“Fine,” I say. “You’re right. Teddy should sleep in his own bed.”
He raises an eyebrow like he’s surprised I gave in so easily. “Thank you,” he says. “I appreciate that you’re doing what’s best for our son.”
And I appreciate that he is acknowledging the link we have to each other through Teddy. No matter what happens, we will be Teddy’s parents. Together.
I just have to make him see that we are better together than apart.
“I just want to do what’s best for him,” I say.
Jeremy and I are not getting divorced. Not over my dead body.