Looking back, I would’ve done that differently. I would’ve at least told her that my running away was for a good reason and I’d be able to explain it all when I got back. But I didn’t. I’d been too much of a coward, so scared of her inevitable rejection that I ran.
What I hadn’t expected was to be gone so long. Liv’s workload was grueling, and if I wasn’t flying out to California with Charlie, then I was in the studio, recording and writing music that would never see the light of day.
Then there was the matter of our marriage and subsequent divorce.
Liv and I had never planned on being married for the rest of our lives. At the beginning, it’d been purely a business arrangement. She needed to prove to the board she could run a multi-million-dollar company, and one of the many stipulations was marriage. So, I married her. The whole thing seemed antiquated and unreliable. I mean, could a piece of paper truly determine whether a person was capable of taking on something of that magnitude?
But then, in one drunken night of loneliness and despair, Liv and I crossed lines we never had before, and she got pregnant. There was never a question of whether we would keep the baby or not. We’d both always wanted kids, had talked about it in the past with a dark cloud hanging over our heads, knowing our chances of having that were diminishing with each year we stayed in our sham of a marriage.
Suddenly, we had a reason to stay together. Even if it wasn’t romantic, Liv and I shared so much love. She was my best friend, and who better to raise a child with than your best friend?
It wasn’t lost on either of us that we were settling, but we were okay with it. We had a good life, after all. One full oflaughter and good times. I was at the height of my career, she was training beneath her uncle, and had the company she desired at the tip of her fingertips.
It’d been that damn night at the Lonestar that’d changed everything. Seeing Cleo for the first time in twelve years was, to say the least, shocking. It was like she’d plunged her hand into my chest cavity and fisted my heart, squeezing it until it was ready to pop. As quickly as it happened, though, it dissipated. Suddenly, I was cold and empty.
Just like this goddamn house.
When Liv had to fly to Ashwood to pull me out of a drunken stupor, I didn’t even have to voice the words. She knew I couldn’t go on like we were. It’d been written all over my face the moment she opened the hotel door and found me slumped on the ground.
By the time we landed, she’d called her grandfather, who then called the attorneys about filing for divorce. They were the only people who knew the truth about our marriage because they’d played a part in carefully crafting our prenup, which was overly generous if you asked me. I didn’t want anything other than what I earned.
All they’d asked for in return was time. Liv’s grandfather needed to announce his retirement and appoint her as the company’s CEO. Once the dust settled, the paperwork would be filed, and we would make an announcement before it became a part of the public record.
Essentially, I was in one big, tangled web of fuckery, constantly waiting on things that were contingent on something or someone else.
I made my way to the living area after slipping out of Charlie’s room and plopped down on the couch. I wanted a beer, or ten, before drifting off to sleep, but that didn’t seem productive. Instead, I pulled up my phone and started scrolling mindlesslythrough social media. I was about twenty videos deep when a notification caught my attention.
Cleo
Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to.
I was about to reply when another message popped up.
Cleo
Tell Charlie I made her a bag of cookies to take home tomorrow.
I couldn’t help my smile. The thought of her baking cookies just for my daughter did something to me.
Grady
Is the sugar rush you’re about to send her on intentional?
Cleo
You said she liked them, so I made them. I’m not forcing her to eat them.
Each text was short and to the point, which wasn’t surprising. Cleo wasn’t going to make this easy on me, I knew that, but she was responding. That was good enough for me.
Grady
You’re a teacher, right? I’m sure you know what happens when you give a six-year-old a bag full of cookies to take home.
Cleo
Right. It’s one of the perks. By the time the high hits, I’ll be sending her back to you for the crash.
I let out a laugh.
