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“How are you holding up?” I ask him. I was serious when I told Jamie that he has to mend his broken heart, too.
“It’s going to be surreal to see her,” he says. “Twelve years is a long time to wonder about somebody.”
“You have a child together,” I tell him. “And you had no closure.”
“Closure,” he repeats while squeezing my hand. “I’ve been in the trenches so long as Sammy’s only parent that I never even thought about my closure.”
“Maybe now’s the time to think about it. Make a list of questions you want answered.”
“I’ve already had my questions answered via email,” he tells me.
“I’m sure you have more.”
“Like what?”
I think for a minute before suggesting, “How about, did you ever truly love me? Did you ever think about what our life could have been like had you stayed? Was there ever a time you thought about coming back to us?”
His lips purse together, and he closes his eyes. I watch as he gains control of his emotions. “I don’t want those answers.”
“I’dwant them.”
“What good would it do for me to know that Beth might have wanted to come back to us? She didn’t come back, so she couldn’t have wanted it that much.”
“She might have been scared.”
“Iwas scared,” he says. “I’ve been terrified every day since she left that I’d do something to ruin Sammy’s life. And I nearly did by dating Shelby Lynn.”
“Every kid has challenges, Jamie. I had them. You had them. They’re just part of growing up.”
“Sammy has had more than her fair share.”
“She has,” I agree. “But she’s also had the best dad I’ve ever known a kid to have. And that makes up for a lot.”
Jamie turns to me and says, “Tell me about your parents.”
“What could you possibly want to know?”
“Everything. I want to know everything. What was your childhood like? What were the best parts? What do you wish had been different?”
This catches me off guard. After a long moment, I finally answer him. “I was pretty happy until I was nine. That’s when my parents started fighting all the time. They divorced when I was ten and my brother was eight.”
“Did your dad stay in Elk Lake?”
“He stayed until he got married again. I was sixteen at the time.”
“Does he live nearby?”
Shaking my head, I reply, “No. He moved to Colorado. I only saw him once a year after that.”
“Once a year? I can’t imagine only seeing Sammy once a year.”
“Divorce is hard on everyone,” I tell him. “I used to think it was just hard on the kids, but my dad and I had a big talk a few years ago and he shared a lot from his perspective.”
“Did you want to hear it?” I know he’s thinking about Sammy and Beth.
“I did. When you’re a kid, the whole world revolves around you. Your worries and cares are the only ones you really think about. My whole takeaway from my parents’ divorce was how it affected me, but I now know how hard it was on them.”
“What did he find particularly difficult?”
