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“You can stay at the house, Heather,” Danny told her. “If you don’t want me there, I’ll figure it out.”
“I’m sure that wouldn’t be too difficult.”
Danny ground his teeth. “Heather…”
“What? Is the detective afraid of the truth now? You’re not going to sleep on your father’s sofa when you’ve got your girlfriend to go to… I mean, clearly you’ve got your new, famous friends now.” Heather folded her arms. “And don’t play dumb, Danny. I saw that photo in the paper.Everyonesaw the photo in the paper.”
That fucking picture,Danny thought. “That’s not…” Heather turned her back on him to look at Richie and Deb, and Danny bit his lip.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t be starting a fight in your house. Thank you so much for dinner; it was really nice to see you.”
“You and the boys are always welcome,” Deb answered, pulling Heather in for a big hug.
Heather said goodbye to the rest of the family and followed her sons outside without a word to Danny. As the front door shut behind them, Danny muttered a curse under his breath. He couldn’t let the evening end like this.
He followed her out to the driveway, calling Heather’s name as he hurried down the walk. She turned around but Danny saw the tears she tried to wipe away and hide.
“Heather, hang on for a sec,” said Danny as he took her arm. She tensed but didn’t pull away.
Lucas glanced at them and turned back to the house. “I forgot something. Be right out.” He took off before they could object.
“Boys, get in the car,” Heather told the other two.
“But Mom…” Tommy whined.
“Listen to your mother,” Danny said. “And no backtalk.”
“Fine. C’mon, Tommy.” Matty took his brother’s hand.
Danny and Heather waited until they got into the car and shut the door. They walked a short distance away and stood on the sidewalk, facing each other.
“What?”
“I want us to have a civil, adult conversation,” Danny said. “I’m sorry that photo upset you. There were photographers everywhere. It wasn’t like I asked them to take it.” His unhappiness over the picture, having his private life spilled all over the media, nagged at him.
Heather deflated. “When I saw it, I hardly recognized you. I mean, you looked like you, but at the same time… the man in that picture isn’t the man I married.”
And you’re not the woman I married either. We’ve both changed, he thought, but he kept the comment to himself. “What doyouwant, Heather?”
“You know what I want,” she said. “I want us to be a family again. I want us to try to figure this out, but I have to ask you a question, Danny, and I need an honest answer.” She jammed her hands into the pockets of her shorts. They had little stars on the pocket trim.
He waited.
“Do you want the same thing?” she asked. “Or do you want a divorce?”
The question took the wind out of him. Although the word had been bandied about, Danny hadn’t given much serious thought to a split, although he wasn’t sure why. His eyes got misty as the reality of that word clawed its way into his gut. He’d thought about what life would be like if he was with Lauren and couldn’t see the boys all the time, but he realized that he’d never actually thought about asking Heather for a divorce as part of that train of thought. He’d skipped over that part—or ignored it completely. The realization shook him to the core.
“Do you?” She repeated the question.
“I… No… But…” Danny stammered over his answer, utterly in turmoil, his impending failure as a husband looming larger than it ever had.
Heather reached out and took one of his hands. “Danny, I am so angry with you. But I’m still willing to try working this out.” She sighed. “But it is the same as I said before: we can’t if you’re still seeing her. You can’t be with both of us. You need to decide what you want.Whoyou want. And…” She dropped her eyes and let go of his hand.
“And?”
“And you have to decide soon. Summer’s almost over and I can’t keep doing this anymore.”
She walked away, and the pain in Danny’s heart was sharper and deeper than he expected. He almost called out to her. As the car door slammed, Lucas came running out of the house. He stopped when he reached his father.
