Chapter 5
Five
Josh
I was damn near furious with Hannah by the time she finished telling me all the things she had arranged for me to host Evie’s graduation party at my house. The nerve.
She finally declared she was done instructing me on everything that needed to happen and asked me to walk her out.
As always, I couldn’t refuse her.
I kissed her cheek, holding still until she pulled back first. I always let her pull back first. I’d learned that lesson like I’d learned so many others about how to behave with her.
“Drive safe,” I said, closing her door and stepping back for her to pull away before I went to my truck.
It was later than I wanted to be heading home, but Evie was out with Maddie and Katie, so I didn’t need to rush home. I stomped to my truck and turned toward Oscar’s house. I needed a reprieve.
“Hey,” Oscar said when he opened the door. He scanned me, scowling at the look on my face, and asked, “What did Hannah do now?”
I rolled my eyes and followed Oscar into his house. Situated on the opposite side of Amethyst Bay, Oscar’s house had a great view of the sunset. Floor-to-ceiling windows showcased the view past his living room, calming my frayed nerves as I stared out at the water.
Oscar came up behind me and held a beer in front of me, already open.
I thanked him and dropped onto the couch. This was why I showed up at his place. I always showed up at his place.
Oscar sat next to me, staring out at the water we’d spent our lives on.
His life took a different path from mine, and he had a wife and son by the time I met Hannah.
Around the same time my marriage blew up, Oscar’s wife Emily died.
She was pregnant with their third child, but one day she was getting ready for labor and the next she and the baby were gone.
Being there for Oscar was the final straw for Hannah, something I never admitted to my friend.
After five minutes, I finally answered his question. “Brian has an event at their house the weekend of the graduation party. She moved everything to my house.”
Oscar’s eyebrows went up as he processed what I was saying and what I wasn’t saying. He chuckled mirthlessly. “Without telling you in advance, I’m assuming.”
I nodded. “Yep.” I sipped my beer, drawing a breath and letting it out slowly.
“You’re a better man than I am. I would have told her to fuck off by now.”
“No you wouldn’t have,” I argued.
Oscar sighed. “I would have really wanted to.”
“Who says I don’t?”
Oscar snorted. “You know she manipulates you all the time, right? She gets everything she wants from you.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“And you also know your divorce wasn’t your fault.”
I shook my head. “You and I both know it was.”
“Because you chose your friends? That’s bullshit.”
“It’s not because I chose my friends. It’s because Hannah always thought something was going on with me and Chris.”
“Which is a Hannah problem, not a you problem.”
I sighed heavily. I wanted to agree with him, but at the end of it all, my marriage ended because I couldn’t convince my wife I loved her and only her.
Hannah didn’t like me spending time with Christy.
She was convinced there was more to our relationship than just a friendship.
It didn’t matter how many times I assured her there wasn’t, she didn’t let up.
At first, I laughed it off, thinking she was joking. I figured eventually she’d get to know Christy and see that there was nothing for her to worry about. Hannah never accepted Christy. It got to the point where Christy stopped coming over, and the only time I saw her was when we were all out.
When Hannah found out I met up with Christy once, she went ballistic. She threatened to leave me and take Evie with her if I continued to spend time with another woman while we were married. She said I had to choose.
Then Emily died. Christy was single, and the two of us spent more time with Oscar than we did with anyone else for the four months after Emily died.
We took over all childcare for his two sons.
I checked in with Hannah and saw Evie every day, but I pushed my marriage problems to the side to be there for my friend.
After four months, Hannah had me served with divorce papers. At Oscar’s house.
“I didn’t do the things I needed to do to make our marriage work.”
“You would have cut me and Christy out of your life?”
“No,” I declared, leaving no room for any other option. “Never. But maybe I could have done something to make Hannah see that there was never any risk of me screwing around with Christy.”
“Hannah wanted you all to herself. If she managed to get rid of Christy, she would have come for me next. Or your parents. She would have isolated you from everyone if she had her way.”
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the couch.
Oscar wasn’t wrong, but he didn’t understand.
His marriage was a good one. Emily was his entire world, and he was hers.
Their family was strong and happy. Emily grew up in Amethyst Bay, but she was two years younger than us.
They started dating when she was a freshman and we were juniors.
Her parents fought it, but the two of them stayed together through high school and college.
They were married the weekend after Emily finished college and moved back to Amethyst Bay.
She was a structural engineer who specialized in bridges.
She worked for the county, inspecting and repairing the many bridges in the area.
I never had the kind of marriage Oscar and Emily had. Hannah was resentful of everything. She saw how Oscar and Emily were and thought our marriage fell short. Thought I fell short. Hannah wanted me to treat her the way Oscar treated Emily. Hannah wanted to be the center of my world.
But she never was.
Because I never loved her the way Oscar loved Emily. I never saw Hannah as my entire world. I loved her, I wanted to be with her, but everything about our marriage was exhausting. She deserved better.
Which was why I never pushed back on her after we were divorced. I failed her. I failed our marriage. I didn’t love her the way I should have, and I paid the price for it by being single since the divorce.
Oscar heaved a sigh. “What did Evie say about the party?”
“I haven’t been home. I needed to cool off so I don’t say something to her about her mother being a pain in my ass.”
“Or maybe you should tell her that.”
“You know I’d never.”
Oscar shrugged. “I think Evie deserves to know what her mother is like.”
“I think she knows more than I think she does.” I took another sip of my beer, then grinned. “Guess who Evie has a crush on.”
Oscar looked at me, smirking. “Who?”
“Jeffrey.”
“My nephew, Jeffrey?”
I nodded.
Oscar laughed. “Oh, shit. That’s funny. He’s too old for her.”
“That’s what he said, apparently.”
“She told him she has a crush on him?”
“She didn’t elaborate. I don’t think she meant to tell me, but we were talking about Chris. She asked if we ever dated, and I said she’s like a sister. She said Jeffrey said the same thing.”
Oscar winced. “Wow. That hurts.”
“Yeah, but he’s not wrong. Three years is a lot when you’re in high school.”
“Not so much when you’re older, though.”
I nodded. “And if she still likes him when she’s older, they’ll have to see if it’s right. For now, I’m happy your nephew is smart enough to not screw around with my daughter.”
Oscar snorted. “Want me to talk to him?”
“No. I’m not worried about it. She’s dated before. Not that I like it.”
Oscar laughed. “Oh, man, I remember when the boys started dating. I was so scared one of them would bring home a pregnant girlfriend.”
“Thankfully, they didn’t.”
“Yeah. I still worry sometimes, but they’re getting closer to independent, so if they do end up getting someone pregnant, there’s a better chance they can handle being fathers. Hopefully they don’t until they’re settled in careers, but shit happens.”
“And they’re good kids.”
“Kids.” Oscar chuckled. “I said that the other day, and Alfie got mad. I still see the little boy we brought home from the hospital when I look at him.” Oscar’s gaze slid to the pictures on the side table.
Emily and Alfie were sleeping in the rocking chair that still sat in the corner.
The other picture was Emily and Victor sleeping on the couch.
I knew the pictures as well as I did my own pictures of Evie. The memories faded over time, but the pictures allowed us to hang on to the pieces of their childhood we’d forgotten. The moments we were too tired to enjoy when they were happening but missed when they were over.
“You raised two good men,” I told him.
Oscar nodded, dragging his gaze from the pictures. “I just wish they remembered their mother. Emily would have loved to have been here.”
“They know her as well as they can.”
Oscar nodded, his throat working to swallow.
I was complaining about my ex-wife being a pain in the ass, and Oscar lost his wife. “You okay?”
Oscar nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be all right. The house gets quiet sometimes, you know.”
“I’m learning.”
We finished our beers, and I let myself out, knowing I needed to get home to see Evie and fix dinner.
And make sure Evie was okay with the change in plans neither of us had any control over.
I did not sleep well. Evie was fine with the change to her graduation party plans, but it still rubbed me wrong. Why, I wasn’t sure. Hannah had been manipulating and controlling me since we met. There was no reason to expect anything else from her.
I finally swung my legs out of bed as the sun started to brighten my curtains. I went to the kitchen and made a pot of coffee, looking out the window for my temporary neighbor and smiling when I saw her sitting in the same chair she was in the day before.