I moved into the house with my brothers and started renting out our place, but I made arrangements for the renters who were coming Saturday to stay somewhere else and I’ve canceled the rest of the renters for the season. That way you can move in.”
“Move into our home?” I’ve been dying to go there, but I never thought he’d allow me to stay there.
“It’s where our life was. And I can take you to the places that were important to you.”
“You know them?”
His face scrunches up and he rolls his eyes. “You were my wife. You were my fucking world since I was thirteen. Yeah, I know them.”
“Oh… okay.”
“But I have a girlfriend now, so I want to make it clear nothing is gonna happen between us.” He pulls some papers out of his back pocket and tosses them on the bed. “We’re not a couple. And you need to sign these.”
I pick up what I see now are divorce papers and sob inside. Our names written on the left-hand side with vs. between them. I never thought I’d see anything but an ampersand between our names. This makes it look like we’re enemies and I’ve always seen us as a united front.
I toss them on the other bed. “I don’t want these.”
“It’s not really your choice.” He runs a hand through his dark hair.
A flash of a memory of us on a couch, his head in my lap, flashes through my mind. My fingers mindlessly ran through his hair while he told me a story about a bear. I laughed and his arm stretched up and pulled my head down for a kiss.
I shake my head. “I’m not signing them. Not until I know why.”
“Why what?” He throws his hands in the air.
“Why I left. It doesn’t feel like something I would’ve done.”
His fists clench. “Ask anyone in this town. You did.”
“Well, I don’t remember, so I’m not signing them until I find out why.”
He stares at me with flames igniting his hazel eyes. “Jesus, Luce…y, I’m trying to fucking help you here. Give me a little something in return.”
I stand. “I’m not giving up on us.”
“You already did. A year ago.” He steps forward.
“That was then.” I stomp my foot.
We end up chest to chest, and he says, “Meet me halfway. Let me salvage a little bit of my self-respect.”
I lay my hand on his chest. His heartbeat pounds against my palm and he swallows, clenching his jaw. But he doesn’t fling my hand off of him. That has to be a good sign. I can feel that there’s still an underlying current that’s alive between us. “Do you love me, Adam?”
He never looks away. “Sign the papers, Lucy.”
“I’ll make you a deal.” I run my hand down his chest.
His hand wraps around my wrist, stopping me from going farther, but still he doesn’t remove it from him. “No deal. Sign.”
“My mom gave me two months here. I’ll sign them then. No matter what happens. Whether I remember or don’t. In two months, if you still want a divorce, I’ll sign.”
Our eyes are locked, and I sigh, seeing him actually soaking me in. All the other times I’ve been around him, I felt as though he was actively trying to ignore my presence, but here I am, right in front of him, and it feels as though he’s really seeing me for the first time since I came back.
I inch up on my toes and he releases my wrist, his hand falling to my hip. My breath is shallow as we slowly, so slowly, move closer. When our mouths are inches apart, he releases me, stepping back and storming over to the door.
“I’ll pick you up at nine on Saturday.” He slams the door behind him.
I pick up the divorce papers and toss them in the trash. I’ll never sign them.
I’m on my way to meet Alicia for breakfast the next morning when Nikki’s segment “Scandals of Sunrise” comes on the radio. I’m tempted to change the station, but I want to hear firsthand what she tells the town.
“Hey, Sunrise Bayers, it’s your host, Nikki Greene, with my co-host, Chip. Say hi, Chip.”
“Hi,” he says in that grumpy tone I think all the listeners love.
“How was your night?”
“Fine.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“Come on, Chip. You had to have done something. Watch television or anything?”
“Nope.”
“You’re telling me you didn’t even check out The Bachelorette last night? I thought that was your fave.” She laughs. Chip doesn’t. But she’s used