“Because Sabin is going to blow at some point, and you didn’t want them around.”
He looks into my eyes. “I think so. I think you can handle it, but I don’t want Eric and Estelle around for it. He’s…” Chris sits in the chair next to me and thinks for a minute. “He’s very angry with me, I think.”
“What? Why?”
“I’m not sure. He’s trying to hide it, but…I feel a lot of anger from him. Or resentment.” He sighs. “Something. It might be why he won’t talk to me. I’m so much a part of the problem that I can’t be part of the resolution. At least not yet. Blythe…you might be the only person who can reach him.”
“How? I don’t want to push him.”
“Just be here for him. Everything will unfold when it needs to.”
In the distance, dolphins bound through the dark waters.
“Okay. I can do that.”
“So, listen, I just got an interesting call.” Chris pauses. “But I want you to tell me if you’re not okay with it.”
“All right,” I say with a bit of hesitation.
“It’s nothing bad. Don’t worry. Some guys from Death Valley National Park—I know, cheery name—want me to head out there for four or five days and consult on part of the software they use for the park. I guess they like what I came up with for Acadia, and it’s sort of a big deal to be asked.”
Chris is not one to brag, but if ever there were a time to do so, now would be it.
“Chris, that’s amazing! You should be really proud of yourself.”
“So, um…you don’t mind if I go?”
“Youhaveto go,” I insist. “God, Chris, I’m really happy for you.”
“Thanks. They want to fly me out today though. Is that all right? I hate the idea of leaving you alone here, but…” He lifts his shoulders. “I don’t know. Maybe you can get Sabin to talk to you if I’m not here.”
“I’ll do what I can. Go pack. It’s totally fine.”
“All right. They’ll send a car to take me to the airport, and then I’ve got a two-hour drive to reach them after I land. Should be quite the experience. Kind of going into the middle of nowhere, it feels like.”
The idea of being in the middle of nowhere actually sounds good to me right now. It has to be better than this chaos with Sabin.
While Chris is packing, I scribble a note that just says,I love you, and I tuck it in his wallet. It seems old-fashioned, but it’ll give him a little something to find. Texting is fine, but I like the idea of him coming across this unexpectedly. I tuck it between credit cards, and I’m about to shut his wallet when something catches my eye.
Snooping is wrong. It’s an awful thing to do, but something about the textured paper compels me to tug on it. The ivory paper has been folded in half, and while it’s a torn section from a larger piece, I don’t need the full paper to know what this is. Because I see the namesChristopherandJenniferinked in elaborate cursive writing.
It’s his wedding invitation.
I feel sick to my stomach. And angry and resentful and betrayed.Why in the world did he save this, nonetheless carried it around?
My hands shake as I replace it.
I busy myself with cleaning the kitchen so that I don’t have to talk to Chris much before he leaves, and I time it so that my gloved hands are busy scrubbing a pot when his ride outside beeps the horn.
“It’s just a few nights,” he says as he comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist.
“No problem.” I keep scrubbing.
“Blythe? You seem upset.”
There has got to be a reason he kept the invitation, and I’m not going to overreact—or I shouldn’t. So, I fight it.
I force a smile and tilt my head back to kiss him. “I’m not upset at all. Just preoccupied. I want you to have a good trip, and I’m not exactly trapped in a hovel here.”
