stuck the for-sale sign in the dirt. As I drove away, I looked out over the pasture where he used to spend hours doing laps and waved goodbye to my past one last time.
By the time I got home and showered, I felt a new sense of accomplishment. All the sadness and finality from earlier eased, and the weight of how much that baggage had been was once and for all off my shoulders.
I’d done it. On my own. On my terms.
Then I wondered how long I should wait before I called Hudson or questioned if I should just go to his house instead. I missed him, and the urge to tell him what I’d been able to do in the last few weeks made me antsy.
I put lotion on, slipped into a silky bra and panties set, and then put on a cute romper that tied on my shoulders and would make him crazy when he tried to get into it. I let my hair air dry into waves and left it down, and then I threw on a coat of mascara and some lip gloss. Giving myself one last glance in the mirror, I smiled.
“It’s time to get my man back.”
I threw my purse over my shoulder, checked the cats’ food and water, and then headed to my door. But just as I opened it, I startled, finding him standing on the other side.
I gave him the biggest grin I had, hoping he’d know without me having to say it, that soon was over and there was nothing in our way now.
“Fancy meeting you here. I was just headed to your house.”
He ran his fingers through his hair and darted his gaze around as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
Something was off.
“Hudson, are you okay?”
He huffed and stepped up to me. “We need to talk.”
We did need to talk, and I had a lot to say. It was evident that he was at the end of his rope with this time-out, and my news was clearly coming just in time before he lost his patience.
“Okay. Let’s go in.” I reached out for his hand, but he breezed by me into the living room and paced in the center of the floor.
I hadn’t really prepared a speech or anything. I sort of just guessed I’d tell him everything conversationally, over dinner or as he puzzled his way into my outfit, and then that would be it. But the way he was acting made me want to rush to get it out. So I grabbed his hands, making him stop the frantic back-and-forth.
Before I could get a single word out, he said, “She can’t do this. I won’t let her.”
I wasn’t the she he was referring to, and that only left one other person. “What did Lauren do?”
“Lex, I didn’t know where else to go. I know things are weird with us right now, but I need a friend. You’ve gotta help me figure this out.” He shook my hands away and balled his fists at his sides.
“Hey, calm down. Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out. Tell me what’s going on.”
Hudson was tough and broody, but the times when I’d seen him genuinely furious, seething angry, had been few and far between. But knowing he was so upset, I sat on the couch to give him space.
“She’s taking my son.” He threw his arms over his head and turned on his heel to face me. “To Portland. Oregon. It might as well be another fucking country.”
“What? For, like, a vacation?”
“To live!” he roared.
My stomach sank, but it still didn’t make sense. “She can’t do that.”
“That’s what I said. But she sure as hell thinks she can. She and Mark are moving. Mark is already out there house hunting. Something about he got a big job offer and blah blah fucking blah. I couldn’t hear the rest. The only thing I give a shit about is the fact that my kid, my only flesh and blood, is leaving.”
He was spiraling. Losing his mind. And I couldn’t fucking blame him. The thought that I wouldn’t get to see Jack on a regular basis broke my heart, but it would all-out kill Hudson. That boy was his world. Furthermore, Jack thought his father had hung the moon. And trust me, if Jack asked him to do just that, Hudson would find a way to make it happen.
How could she do this to them? I’d known her nearly all