Page 62 of Silver Brewer

“Are you going to be our Mimi?” Kali asks, and I drop my fork. Letty nervously chuckles from her seat at the dining table.

“No, sweetheart.”

My stomach drops next. Why not? Why can’t she be their grandmother? Would she not consider marrying me? Both thoughts bring me up short. A bigger thought is why am I thinking such a thing.

“Oh,” Sarah says, glancing from Letty to me. “Oh, I misunderstood.”

Letty finally looks at me, concern in her eyes, before gazing back at my youngest daughter.

“I thought—” Sarah stammers.

“Okay, time for dishes, waffle ears,” Ellie announces, cutting off her sister. The girls stand from the table, and the little ones follow. Letty picks up a plate, but Ellie reaches for it. “We wash if he cooks.”

“Sounds like a good plan. I need to pack anyway.” Her voice sounds as distant as she feels from me.

Ellie stares at Letty. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I live in Chicago.”

“Chicago?” Sarah squeaks. “That’s like a thousand miles away.”

“Exactly,” Letty states with a chuckle. “If you’ll excuse me a few minutes.” She disappears down the hall to my room, and my eyes flip from my girls to the hallway.

“Chicago?” Sarah questions again.

“Dad, go unfuck this,” Ellie growls.

“What’s unfuck mean?” Kali asks, and Ellie groans.

“Something your father needs to do often, but don’t mention it to him.” I should chuckle, but instead, I follow my daughter’s advice and head for my room like a petulant child about to have my favorite toy removed from me for life.

25

Invisibility cloak malfunction

[Letty]

I start out folding and end up rolling my clothes into a ball before shoving them into my bag. The bedroom door opens and closes behind me, but I don’t turn to him.

Suddenly, I’m bitter and resentful when it isn’t his fault. He has everything I want. He fell in love. Got married. Had children. Works a dream job. Has a mountain retreat. His life is…perfect.

“Cricket.”

The nickname makes me bristle, and I close my eyes, blindly forcing my clothing into my open bag. Two hands land on my shoulders, and I stiffen.

“Please. Please, don’t be like this.”

“You made me invisible again. You made them invisible.” I spin to face him.

“What do you mean?” His face is stricken, and anguish fills his eyes. He really has no idea. “Hudson used to do this. Treat me like I wasn’t present. People would be surprised to learn he had a girlfriend or to discover we lived together.” I pause, drawing in a deep breath. “How could you do this? You lied to me.”

“I…” He closes his lips as quickly as opening them. “I omitted.”

“Same difference!” I snap. Hudson omitted telling people he had a girlfriend. He didn’t acknowledge my opinion or decisions. He forgot to tell me he never planned to marry me. I turn away from Giant again, but he stops my restless packing by wrapping his arms around my chest, pinning mine to my sides. His front to my back, I don’t want to melt into him, but I want to melt. I close my eyes once again, encouraging myself to stay strong and hoping my tears won’t fall. I’m too angry to cry.

“I didn’t want to share you with them.”

“Don’t you mean them with me?” I mutter to the window before me, noting the mountainous view. My heart breaks a little when I recall our time up on the ridge.