“The wedding’s in six months.”
“Get out of my house, Andrew.”
He chuckles. “We will see you there.” He turns and walks out of the house.
I quickly go over to the door and slam it shut. The moment the barrier is closed, the hurt and pain hits me. Tears fall rapidly down my face.
Never did I ever think he would move on so thoroughly with his life and be happy. I was replaceable to him. Fifteen years of marriage meant nothing. That is a hard pill to swallow.
Thank God tonight is book club night. I need my girls.
Book Club
Chapter Two
Ella
“Let me get this straight,” Jada King says, standing in the middle of my floor, demanding our attention like she does in a courtroom. “His ass had the audacity to walk up into your house and demand that you not only attend his wedding, but do it with a fucking smile?”
“Jada, not in front of the baby,” Meagan teases, pointing to Kyra’s sleeping ten-month-old in the middle of my living room floor.
“Sorry, Kyra,” Jada says, only partly meaning it.
Jada has no filter. I can guarantee she will curse a lot more before the night is over.
“It’s okay,” Kyra replies in her soft voice as she rubs her baby girl’s back. “I agree with your sentiment.”
“I’m also with Jada on this one,” Destiny adds, placing her wine glass down on the table. She’s sitting in one of my accent chairs. “That’s some shady shi... stuff.” She catches herself at the last minute.
I push a stray hair off my forehead and sniffle. “As messed up as it is, he has a point.”
“Please explain this point.” Jada folds her arms across her chest.
I sigh. I’ve had plenty of time to think this over since Andrew left my house this morning.
“I have no doubt the boys are going to take this news hard. And I don’t want a repeat of those horrible six months before the separation. They will feed off whatever Andrew and I give them. If I’m angry or refuse to go to this wedding, they may start acting out again. I will not watch my boys struggle with this.”
“That’s very reasonable,” Pamela agrees, patting my knee in a comforting way.
As I said before, all the women in the book club are divorced. We met in a Facebook reading group a little over a year ago. The book we read was about a divorced woman finding love again, and all of us talked about how we enjoyed the book.
It was an even bigger surprise when we realized we all lived in the same city. That’s how the book club started. Six strangers who formed a sisterhood through heartbreak and books.
“Look, reasonable or not, it’s bullshit.” Jada tosses her long black hair over her shoulder.
“And what’s worse,” Meagan adds, climbing up from her seated position on the floor. “He knew you would go for it because you would do anything for your boys. He’s beingmanipulative.” She heads to the table to grab another cookie and pour herself another glass of wine.
“Well, hasn’t that always been Andrew’s MO?” Pamela asks.
They’re right. This has always been his thing. Making me agree with what he wants by some form of twisting my arm. You would think now that we’re divorced it wouldn’t work anymore.
“I don’t think I can go there and watch him marry my replacement.” My voice breaks as I stare down at my hands.
“Oh, Ella, sweetie,” Pam rubs my shoulder. Out of all of us, she’s the most loving. “Don’t think of her as a replacement. Think of her as...”
“Someone digging in your trash can,” Jada finishes for Pam.
“Jay,” Meagan chuckles lightly.
