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“Lily needs you. And Bree,” he tells her.
Forced to grit my teeth together, I almost roar in pain when I struggle with Buster. Fuck, that’s painful. He’s still so strong.
The words I never thought I would ever hear Brayden say slip off his lips as he tells Candy what’s happened tonight.
“Look after her. I love you, sweetie.” He hangs up. “She’s going to go over to the house as soon as her mom arrives.”
“I’ve texted Bree. My mom was already at our house, so Bree is on her way over to yours now.” Troy confirms.
“You shouldn’t have done that.” She’ll hate them seeing her so upset. It smashed my heart when I saw her slumped on the ground outside. My beautiful wife is broken.
“Gemma is out of town. You know how she hates bothering anyone. She only trusts her sister. So she won’t confide in her father or your mom, so who else does she have? She needs someone. She needs Candy and Bree,” Buster interjects. Being close friends with Gemma, he knows how tight Lily and her sister are.
He’s right. But she needs me and I need her.
“I should go to her.” I slide my barstool across the tiled floor, making it sound like it’s screeching in pain, a mirror image of my heart.
“Don’t. She needs her girlfriends. Let her calm down and give her the space she asked for.”
I reluctantly sit back down.
“She knows about the baby.” I side eye Brayden, my throat tightening at her admission that she doesn’t want to try again.
How can we when we aren’t together anymore, anyway?
Space won’t make her change her mind about us. Her decision sounded final, and I know from watching other friends who separate. It’s never just a separation. It always, always, leads to divorce.
I rub my heart over my shirt. Man, that hurts.
When I married her, I married for life. When I said my marriage vows, I meant them, every word.
“How did she find out about Candy’s pregnancy?” Brayden asks.
“I don’t know. Maybe Sloane at work.” She knows Candy and their kids go to the same school.
“Candy called her at the office the other day because she wanted to break the news to her personally but couldn’t get a hold of her,” he adds.
Too late. “Well, she already knows.”
“I’ll text Candy and let her know.” Brayden’s fingers move fast against the screen of his phone.
What a mess. Nothing like sending a pregnant woman over to console your upset wife who can’t have children herself. Talk about rubbing salt into the wound.
“This is all my fault,” I say quietly.
“It’s not. You both have demanding jobs. You are both responsible for making time for one another, but you need to sort your schedule out, Ash. You work way too many hours and haven’t had a vacation in years. You’ve turned into the team’s agony aunt, you never stop for lunch, and you make yourself far too available. You do more than coach. You could do all of our jobs with your eyes closed.”
I've turned into a workaholic.
My father would be disappointed in me for letting hockey come between me and my wife. My family even. Other than seeing Mom at games, which she still attends faithfully all season, I haven’t visited her for months.
I've turned into a walking, talking work bore and if I don’t take my foot off the pedal, I’m going to crash and burn. I already blew up my marriage.
Leon lays his hand on my shoulder. “I hate to break it to you, buddy, but maybe Lily leaving is the wake-up call you needed.”
Losing my wife to teach me a lesson? It’s a bit brutal, but could he be right?
“I can’t lose her.” I won’t. I refuse to stand back and let that happen. Maybe I have already and I’m too late.
