AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My leg bounces up and down, so I shoot off from my couch. There’s no way I can sit around all afternoon. I’ll make myself nuts, so I grab my keys and head out.
I can’t explain why I drive home—to Ellie and Glen’s place, I mean. My usual MO is to stay away unless I absolutely have to be there, but the guilt of what I know has a viselike grip on me, cranking more and more until it’s hard to move or breathe.
How am I in this situation again?
My body overheats, feeling like steam is coming out of my pores. I hate Glen even more for this, for what he did to Mom and now to Ellie.
What this might do to Troy.
Ellie’s car is the only one in the driveway when I arrive, making a relieved breath whoosh from my lungs. Luckily, she usually gets off work earlier than he does. If Glen were here, I don’t know what I would have done. I still don’t know what I plan to do because it doesn’t feel right to tell her until I talk to Troy. I owe him that truth, the chance for him to talk to his mom about it before I blow her world apart.
I get out of the car and head to the house. I knock, and a moment later Ellie opens the door, looking like a TV sitcom mom. She works too, but somehow she manages to do it all—her job, then being home to clean and cook meals for Glen. I imagine that’s one of the reasons he chose her. She fits exactly what Glen wants in a wife, but clearly, he can never stay with one woman long.
“Atlas! This is a surprise.” She dries her hands on a dishtowel she carried with her. “Is everything okay? Is Troy—”
“He’s fine,” I cut her off. Of course she would assume something is wrong with him. It’s not like I ever stop by just to say hi.
My dad is cheating on you.
He’s going to break your heart like he did Mom’s.
What if I lose the only family I know?
That last question nearly steals the wind out of me. Troy and I are different now, but before that, he and Ellie were my family. The only one I’d known for years, and while I rebelled against that, part of me took comfort in it too.
I don’t want to be left.
It’s not Ellie’s fault that Mom left me.
Glen walked away from me all too easily.
“This was a mistake. I should…go.”
I only make it a few steps before Ellie says, “Atlas?” Something about the soft lilt in how she says my name makes me stop, turn around, and look at her. “Come in. I made brownies.”
My stomach twists, chest tightening, but still, I say the most unexpected thing, “Brownies sound good.”
My mom used to make me brownies. It was one of the things she made really well.
I go inside with Ellie, and we head to the kitchen. It smells like she’s got something in the oven, a roast maybe. The brownies are cooling on the counter.
Ellie cuts a large square, puts it on a plate, and passes it to me. “This is nice, you stopping by today. We don’t get much time alone.”
I nod because I’m not sure how else to answer. I never wanted time alone with her before, but now I feel guilty about that. She’s about to be the next casualty of Glen McCallister.
“I understand things are…difficult between us. The way your father and I got together, and your mom. I apologize for that. I’ve never actually apologized, have I?” The last question is more to herself. I hear the surprise in her voice, the regret that she’s kept that to herself all these years.
I look down at the perfect brown square and shake my head, unsure how to feel or what to think.
“I’m sorry, Atlas. And I’m sure I’m likely not who you want to speak to, but if something is wrong and that’s why you’re here, if you need someone to talk to, I’m here.”
I bite down on my tongue not to tell her, not to blurt it all out. Should I tell her? Everything is getting all twisted up in my head. The last thing I want is for it to be a shock to Troy, though, like I’m betraying him somehow if I tell Ellie first.
I feel even worse than I did yesterday, like if I open my mouth, I’m going to puke all over her brownie.
He’s cheating on you. Glen is cheating on you.
God, I hate my father. How can one person hurt so many?
