Chapter 25 Michelle - My So-Called Life #2
“I heard a bit about your husband,” he said, bravely broaching the subject. “I don’t believe everything I hear, but… it sounds complicated.”
“That’s one word for it,” I said with a small smile. “He’s a good man. Just… not an easy one.”
“And yet you still talk about him like you love him.”
My heart gave a painful jolt.
“It’s all right,” he said. “Love doesn’t vanish because life gets complicated.”
“You sound like someone who’s thought about this a lot.”
“I have. And if I’m being honest, Michelle, like you, I’m not over my wife…” He flinched. “Ex-wife. Sorry. She ripped my heart out, and the thought of loving someone again scares the hell out of me.”
“What happened? Did she cheat on you?”
He didn’t answer right away, taking a moment to collect himself.
“She didn’t leave with anyone,” he said evenly.
“She just… left. One Tuesday morning, while I was at the office, she packed her bags and left a note that said she didn’t love me anymore and couldn’t keep pretending.
No affair. No drama. Just eight years of what I thought was a solid marriage—until the day she walked out.
Try living with that. Honestly? I almost wish there’d been someone else. ”
Silence settled between us while I searched for something to say.
“Anyway. I’m not looking for some once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. I’d rather have peace. Partnership. Family.” He hesitated, then added, “I don’t have children of my own. But if I did… I’d want to be someone they could count on.”
No wonder he agreed to this. He didn’t trust in love anymore, which suited me fine.
He was offering partnership: coparenting, but not love.
Although my heart was still solidly in the Scott camp, it was an enticing proposition.
My kids and I could have a safe and prosperous life, and I wouldn’t have to fake it with Graham.
When we finally stepped outside, the valet pulled his car around. Graham walked me over to where my driver was waiting. He opened the car door for me, and I slipped inside. “For what it’s worth, Michelle… whatever happens, I’m glad we met. I wasn’t expecting to like you so much.”
“Neither was I.”
“Then the evening was a success.” He winked lightly, then shut the door and walked away.
Something about the gesture pulled me back—to the gas station, to Scott walking backward toward his truck, flashing that crooked grin and a peace-sign salute.
“Later, Babe.” I closed my eyes and let myself smile.
On the car ride home, I played the conversation with Graham over in my head. Safe, stable, and respectable, he was the kind of man who wouldn’t let my kids go to bed hungry or wake up scared.
And yet, as the car pulled into the carport at the hotel, one thought burned through the quiet.
He wasn’t Scott.
“He sounds amazing.” Melanie glowed, the awkwardness stemming from our earlier conversation having vanished. “I can picture us all vacationing together. Our kids growing up as best friends. I’m so excited. I feel… I feel like there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel.”
The words she used. Was she that unhappy?
“Are you and James having problems?” I asked.
Her brows lifted. “We’ve never not had problems.”
“Oh. I didn’t know.”
“Let’s put it this way—he’s taken on Daddy’s extracurricular activities.”
“He’s cheating on you?” I said in a low voice.
“Of course he is. I’ve cheated on him too, so don’t feel too sorry for me.”
Her casual admission shocked me.
“Stop. You act like you don’t know me.”
I suppose she was right. Melanie had never been a one-man kind of girl, but I’d always thought marriage would cure her of that.
“Why do you stay with him?” I asked.
“Because, Michelle, Mother has never offered me a Graham.”
I winced. The way she said a Graham like he was an object told me just how much resentment she’d been stockpiling. Graham represented a fresh start for her. For me, he represented something else entirely. Something I still hadn’t said out loud.
A quiet fell over us. I needed to tell her. I’d already tried three different times, but each attempt had died somewhere between my throat and my courage. Once it was out there, everything would change.
“Mel?” I said finally.
She didn’t look up. “Hmm?”
“I need to tell you something. Mother’s plan to marry me off… I’m not qualified.”
That pulled her head up fast. “What do you mean?”
“Graham’s expecting two kids to raise.”
“Right. Keith and Emma. Two.”
“No.” I pressed a hand to my stomach. “Three.”
Melanie blinked, confusion flitting across her face before the truth slammed into her. The color drained out of her cheeks. “You’re pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“How far along?”
“Twelve weeks, give or take.”
Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Does Scott know?”
“No. And I don’t want him to…” The rest dissolved as the tears hit. “Because if he knew, he’d want me to have it.”
“And you don’t want another child?”
Her voice was gentle, but the question cracked something open in me.
“Maybe if things were different,” I said, my throat tightening before I could stop it. “If we weren’t barely hanging on, if I didn’t have to count every grocery item in my cart… but I can’t. I just…” The sentence broke apart before I could finish it. “I can’t have another one.”
The words sat there between us, sucking all the oxygen out of the room.
“I’d already made the decision,” I said faintly.
“My appointment is tomorrow. I had a babysitter booked. I was going to slip out without telling Scott. But then I caught him in that lie, and everything just… came apart. And now—” I stopped, swallowing hard as tears blurred my vision.
“And now I feel like once I’m no longer pregnant, nothing is stopping me from taking Mother up on her offer. ”
A flicker of hope crossed my sister’s face.
“That’s not a good thing, Melanie. I know you want me to choose Graham, but if I do that, I’m not only blowing up my marriage, I’m taking a devoted father away from his kids.”
“So, you’d rather be anchored to Scott forever?”
“Don’t do that,” I said, meeting her eye. “I’m barely holding it together. I just need you to be there for me—because either way, I won’t be pregnant by tomorrow afternoon.”
For a long moment, Melanie stayed very still. Then she reached across the small space and took my hand. Her fingers were cold but certain, grounding me.
“Okay,” she said. “What do you need me to do?”