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By the time I had returned, the girls had all resumed their spots on the blanket, and Haley was pulling out the little rollers that each one of them had in their hair.
Once they were done, we’d lost a good amount of the evening. So, instead of the girls cuddling on the couch to watch a movie, I told them to go get their pajamas on.
Haley walked with me to the kitchen while the girls ran upstairs. I pulled out the dinner she had made earlier and popped it into the microwave.
Her arms were crossed as she leaned against the counter.
“Why did he hit you?”
I pulled her into my chest and kissed her neck.
“Uh…well, he knows about us…”
“What? How?” she leaned back to catch my eye.
“He knocked on the door the morning after the wedding.”
Her mouth dropped open in shock. “And you opened it?”
“I didn’t realize it would be him. I thought it was one of the girls.”
Her fingers found their way around my neck as she pressed a kiss to my chest.
“So he pieced it together?”
I nodded, kissing her nose.
“What else happened today?” She gathered my hair into her fingers and gently tugged.
This was the part of being in a relationship that I wasn’t used to…talking, being vulnerable. My immediate instinct was to say that nothing else had happened and brush the conversation with Lacey under the rug, right along with the fact that I was likely going to lose my gym.
But that was a shit way to start something I wanted so fucking badly.
“Got turned down by another investor…then Lacey called me.”
Even saying it left a bad taste in my mouth, a souring feeling in my stomach.
Haley stepped back and tilted my jaw until I was making eye contact with her.
“What did she want?”
Swallowing thickly, I launched into it.
“Being an addict wasn’t what broke up my marriage,” I said in a rush, no clue at all why that’s what left my mouth. But Haley’s eyes had me continuing. “I’ve seen families work through addiction.”
Haley watched patiently, stroking my jaw.
“There was always something deeper with Lacey…a selfishness that I turned a blind eye to. She was never content. There was a part of her that was harsh and mean, something I always justified as exhaustion or stress. But—”
I paused, listening for the girls. Even after everything they had been through, I was always careful not to speak badly about Lacey in front of them.
“The addiction seemed to amplify all those traits. Tonight she called because she wanted to see the girls. When I told her she could by following the parenting plan, she changed tactics and asked if she could meet me somewhere alone.”
Haley dropped her hands and stared at my chest.
“To talk?”
Gently, I gripped her elbow and pulled her closer.
