Page 86 of Second Chances

“And what about when I wasn’t? We had only been married a few weeks by then. You had made some money in your dad’s shop, and we still had the money from the Grand Canyon. We weren’t tied down there. We didn’t have to stay!”

“I made money, but that wasn’t enough! My parents let us live in that apartment rent-free. Do you have any idea what rent in LA would have cost?”

“Okay, then what about years later? After we got our own place? You were making good money then, working overtime⁠—”

“And Josh was in school! You actually think we should have ripped him away from his life? His family?”

“Well, I was his family, too.” She tossed the spoon down, and it clattered on the table. “Henry, I was your family. All your talk about family, but it should have been the three of us as your main concern, not the entire Livingston family.”

As much as Henry hated to admit it, his ex-wife had a point, something he would have refused to acknowledge twenty-five years ago. Shamefully, he admitted to himself that he had expected Melanie to just fit right in with his family. With a heavy heart, he said, “I’m sorry. I never considered how difficult it must have been for you, having to fit into my world. My family can be…a lot.” Sometimes, even for Henry, another reason he’d been able to breathe after moving to Beverley. As much as he loved them, he needed the space of forty miles.

“Yeah, but they love you so much, which also hurt. I wasn’t familiar with that unconditional love, except from my sister. Your dad, though, was good to me. Still is. Probably too good, considering all the pain I caused; I’ll forever be grateful to him.” Her hand crept across the table until it rested on his. “When you said they were disappointed by you, that wasn’t true. All I ever saw…ever heard…was pride when anyone talked about you.”

Tears pricking his eyes, Henry had one more topic to clear up with his ex, as Charlotte’s words about DD came back to him. Now that he was in a better headspace, her perspective held even more weight for him. He could see how it may have seemed in the beginning of his relationship with Charlotte that every time he helped DD, he was choosing DD, but he hadn’t been. For the woman he’d known most of his life, he’d only felt empathy, nothing more. A harder truth was that he had probably made himself available to help her because he had feared what he felt for Charlotte. What if he fell in love with her, finally ready for something significant, but she had merely wanted a flirty fling? What if he just wasn’t the kind of man women love? “You need to know that when we were together, there was never anyone else for me. I was never interested in DD⁠—”

Melanie held up a hand and shook her head. “I know that now, but I didn’t when we were together. The truth is, we weren’t right together. For many reasons.” She drew a shaky breath. “I have a lifetime of regrets, but leaving Joshua and not telling you about Sophie are by far the worst. I realized, far too late, that I could have—should have—made different decisions, and that’s why I stayed away. I didn’t know where to start or if you’d even let me.”

And every call and text from her, he’d met with aggression and hostility. “I should have at least listened when you first called.”

“I was a bitch. I wanted, deep down, a reason to be pissed at you, so I came at you first. Oldest trick in the book, learned at my mama’s knee.” Melanie held his gaze. “Sophie is so much like you, Henry. Gentle, forgiving. Kind. Didn’t get any of that from me.”

In her blue eyes, he read sincerity. Their past was painful, but not all of it, because they had shared enough love to create two children, and for that, he would be grateful to her. “I hope you won’t fight with her about staying here? Letting Josh and me get to know her?”

Melanie chuckled, “Good lord, I could not stop that girl from doing whatever she wanted. Your daughter is a very determined young woman who clearly stops at nothin’ to get what she wants.”

His daughter…Henry’s heart fluttered, still not used to the idea. “Well,” he cleared his throat, “she gets that from her mother.” Having spent so many years angry and resentful whenever he thought about his ex-wife, he chose grace.

“Maybe, but she gets her loyalty and vast amounts of love from her father.”

Henry squeezed her hand then. Sissy stopped at their table, asking if they needed anything else. “Just the check, please.” Henry looked at his watch.

“I guess tomorrow will be an early day. Are Joshua and Euphemie leaving for a honeymoon?” Melanie inquired, tapping her fingernails on the side of her empty cup.

“She goes by Effie now,” he corrected, “and no, not until the day after. They’re flying to Chicago and going to drive Route Sixty-Six, spend a couple of weeks on the open road. Tomorrow everyone is planning on going to the state fair in Huron.”

“That sounds like fun.” Melanie’s voice was wistful. “Henry, Joshua is so magnificent. Such an incredible man.” She bowed her head, wiping at her eyes. “You should be so proud.”

“I am,” he said, “and a lot of it goes to you, too. I may not have appreciated it well enough back then, but you were a wonderful mother to him…until…”

“Yeah, that part.” Melanie finished her tea and stared into the empty cup. “Henry, those last few weeks before I left, when you said you were workin’ overtime at your dad’s shop, where were you? What were you really doing?”

Henry flushed. With Josh at his cousin’s so often, Henry had dreaded going home to face the discontent Melanie had not bothered to hide. “I was building.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was using the woodshed at Mom and Dad’s. I needed something more, too.” His parents’ house was one block from the auto shop, and one early evening, instead of going home, he’d detoured there. “In high school, I used to spend hours there, so I just began making things. First a magazine rack, then a bookcase for Mom’s cookbooks. I was starting a small desk for Josh when…”

“When I left,” Melanie whispered. “I didn’t know. I just knew that you were spending less and less time at home, and then when I found out you had lied about working late…it was too much.”

“You’re right.” Henry exhaled deeply. “I pushed my unhappiness down, tried to bury it because I didn’t want to face it. I accept my part in what happened between us,” he rubbed some of the stiffness out of his neck, “but that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook keeping my daughter from me. Or for abandoning our son.”

She nodded. “You’re right, there’s no excuse for anything I’ve done that has hurt my children, and I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life.”

They sat together quietly, each lost in their thoughts, until Henry stood. “I need to get back.” He left it at that, unwilling to discuss his private life with Melanie.

“To whoever that was I saw you with at the wedding?” Melanie slid out of the booth. “I hope, whoever she is, that she deserves you, Henry. Because I know I didn’t.” Henry worried he didn’t deserve Charlotte, after the way he’d stormed out of her house.

Walking out of the diner, he said, “Look, Josh and Effie are opening their presents at the Cattleman’s Club around noon. I’m sure if you wanted to stop by, that would be okay.”