fighting the feeling of dread that was overwhelming him. He searched the house. No sign of her. Fuck—he couldn’t believe she’d left.
Grabbing his phone from the counter, he hoped she’d left him a message, but not really expecting one to be there and he was right. Nothing! So, he decided to text Luke.
Luke
June 30, 2015, 7:26 AM
Is she with you guys?
Yeah. She was here when I woke around 6.
That pissed him off. He hated that she’d walked to Luke’s house in the middle of the night and put herself in danger like that—unnecessary danger.
I did not drop her off. Please talk some sense into her. That wasn’t safe of her to leave like that.
A few minutes later, Luke sent his reply.
She has been properly chastised and says she’s sorry. By the way, what happened to her hand?
She cracked me across the face with it. Your pussy punches were nothing compared to hers.
Pussy punches? Whose ass was on the floor?
You caught me by surprise.
Don’t make me ever have to do that again.
I won’t.
Did you guys talk?
Yeah
Did you ask her why she’s been acting so different?
No
Damn it, Ethan …
Ethan had told Luke everything—how he’d been feeling, why he’d thought it was Todd, and after finding out the way Mia had been acting wasn’t because of the drummer, he and Luke discussed what else it could be.
I was going to then she hit me. I took care of her hand and then she begged me to sleep with her. Would you have asked her? I hurt her enough last night. I couldn’t …
You need to ask her. How’s it going to be any different if you don’t?
I know …
This has been a problem since the beginning. Your communication is crap. You let her get away with it.
So do you.
I’m not her husband. You need to tell her how it is—the truth. You can’t be afraid to spare her feelings because doing so always blows up in your face. She’s not blameless in this. She needs to know that. She needs to face it.
Do you think she’ll see me today?
No—she said she needs to think.
Convince her.
What do you think I’ve been trying to do? She’s stubborn.
He needed to get to the bottom of what had been bothering Mia—what had made her so distant. Next time he saw her, they’d talk about it because he needed his wife back.
Later that night, after he had put the boys to bed, Ethan received a text from Luke
Luke
June 30, 2015, 8:51 PM
She left.
Goddamn it! How the hell was he supposed to talk to her if she kept running away?
Seriously?
She went back to Chicago after her appointment.
What kind of appointment?
I can’t say, Ethan.
What kind of appointment did she have? And why was she so secretive about it? That scared him. Who was she seeing and why did she leave afterwards? A thought occurred to him and he felt as if he’d been sacked by an entire football team.
Was she seeing a lawyer?
No.
He was a mess waiting for that ball to drop. As much as he wanted her back, he wouldn’t blame her if she wanted it to be over. He’d betrayed her in the worst way because he hadn’t trusted her, and that lack of trust about killed him and, in turn, them.
Ethan
Chicago, July 18, 2015
Ethan watched Rory and Pierce bounce with excitement. They knew their mommy played music for a living. Music was always in the house, be it the radio, the music stations on the television, or coming out of her beautiful mouth. But they’d never seen her live in concert.
Tonight that would change.
They were heading over to the stadium early to see Mia before the show started. She’d told him, via text, that she had set up a little space for them in her dressing room for when they hopefully fell asleep. The show started after their normal bedtime, but with all the excitement, Ethan thought they might be able to make it halfway through the show.
He walked through the wide hall towards her dressing room. The boys had run ahead. They hadn’t seen their mother in over a week and they missed her. They weren’t the only ones. Ethan missed her too. He hadn’t seen her since they’d made love and she’d run out in the middle of the night. Almost three weeks without seeing her. Three weeks of him trying to call her only to have her avoid his calls and respond via text or email. He let it go. He didn’t want to