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He shook his head and walked to the closet. “I can’t talk to you when you get like this.”
She followed him. “You have to talk to me, Preston. This time, you can’t walk away and hope the conflict disappears. You have to face it. Tell me what it is you’re trying to say.”
“It’s been going on for a year. We have a child together — a son.”
Beatrice’s stomach roiled like she’d been sucker punched. She lurched backwards away from her husband.No, no, no!
“He’s two months old. We want to live together as a family. I have to be there for my son—I’m sure you of all people understand that. You know how important it is for parents to be present for their children. And ours are grown now—they don’t need me the same way. My son, Ewan, is only a baby, and I should be there for his first word, his first step, to help him learn to throw a ball.”
Bea’s eyes filled with tears. This couldn’t be happening. They’d planned to travel once the children left home. They were going to enjoy their golden years together. After all their hard work, this was the time to enjoy each other’s company. They’d had children together, they were a family. He couldn’t build another family without them in it.
“But what aboutourplans?Ourfamily?” She stifled a sob.
“I want a divorce.”
Two
The partyitself was little more than a blur. Bea pushed herself to smile, to make idle chitchat, to serve drinks and plates of food to the guests who filled their home and spilled out onto the patio and into the backyard. She’d used twinkle lights to make the garden look like a starry wonderland.
From anyone else’s perspective, the anniversary party was a huge success. The vow renewal was intended as a surprise for the guests, so they weren’t aware it had been removed from the agenda. From her point of view, it was nothing more than a sham. Every congratulation she received was like a knife to her heart. Especially when Danita and Harry arrived. She wanted to cry at the happy looks on their faces as they hugged her and kissed her cheeks.
She’d have to tell them the marriage was over. That was the most difficult thing of all. They’d been so proud of her and Preston over the years — they’d recount the details of the divorces of their friends’ parents and then say how grateful they were that they didn’t have to go through that.Theirparents wouldn’t get a divorce.Theywere happily married. It was all Bea could do not to run to her room, throw herself down on the bed and scream into the plush pile of pillows.
Every now and then, she’d recall a past anniversary celebration — a happier time. The first anniversary, they hadn’t been able to afford to do much so had stayed in a little cabin in the mountains. They’d spent every single moment with one another. They didn’t need expensive accommodations or a long list of exciting things to do or places to see. Instead, they’d explored each other, talked until the wee hours, lounged in the small hot tub and laughed over the events of their first year together.
Twenty-five years later, the memories were faded like old photographs. And she was holding back tears as she waved goodbye to the last of their guests. She stood by the front door, bent at the waist and doing everything she could not to cry. There was still so much to clean up. Thankfully, the two wait staff she’d hired were already in the kitchen washing dishes. But the entire house looked as though a herd of elephants had passed through. She’d been up since dawn preparing for the party, and now she’d spend hours cleaning up.
She couldn’t face it. It was too much.
Preston walked down the stairs carrying a small roller bag. He set it on the tiled floor and pulled it to the door. He’d changed out of his suit and into a pair of jeans with a red jumper. His hair was tousled, with touches of grey at the temples. He was fit and tanned, and his brown eyes were untroubled. Suddenly she felt a hundred years old, dowdy and fat. She’d never managed to lose those last ten kilos that she’d gained when she had Harry. It hadn’t bothered her much before, since she’d been secure in her relationship. But now she was self-conscious.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
He stopped beside her, sighed. “I’m leaving. I think it’s best I go now.”
“But we’ve got to talk about this. It’s so sudden.”
He ran a hand over his hair. “Geri is coming to pick me up.”
“Geri? Is that her name?”
He nodded. “We can talk more on the phone. I’m sorry this seems sudden to you, Bea. But for me, it’s been coming on a long time. I’m only surprised you didn’t realise that. You’re always so in your own head.”
The insult pierced her heart. He’d thrown the same words at her many times over the years, but in the past, it’d felt like a lighthearted jab. As though her ditziness was adorable in some way. But coupled with his rejection of her and their lives together, it was as though the words were a way to describe how she didn’t measure up, how she wasn’t enough for him.
“Don’t leave, not yet.” She begged him. The sound of her own voice made her squirm. This wasn’t her. She was the confident, cheery wife who always made her husband smile and who never whined or used manipulation to get her way.
He glanced up at the sound of a car pulling around the driveway and stopping at the stairs. “I can’t stay. It’s over, Beatrice. There’s nothing much more to talk about.”
“We were going to travel,” she offered weakly.
“I have to be a father.”
“You can do that from here.”
“I want to be with Geri. We’re in love. We’re building a life together. This life is over for me. Actually, it was over a long time ago. We’ve hardly spoken in years.”
“That’s not true.” Her brows knitted together. “We speak all the time.”
