AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Not that I knew of. I mean...she’s been remote lately. Quiet. But she’s always been reserved. I just thought...she was upset about our inability to have kids. She’s been wanting to try for another baby, but I was hesitant. Each miscarriage takes so much out of her. I was telling her we should adopt instead.”
Ismay didn’t say it, but she was secretly glad they didn’t have any children if they were about to go through a divorce. “Don’t tell me there’s someone else...”
He had to clear his throat again to be able to speak. “Apparently...there is.”
They lived in such a small town. Was it someone she knew—someoneheknew? That would make the split even harder on him to have to see her with another man at church or around town.
“Who?”she asked, hoping he’d tell her it was someone she’d met online. Then maybe she’d move away from Tremonton, and he wouldn’t have to live with the constant reminder.
“Jessica Davidson.”
Ismay nearly dropped her phone. Had she heard him correctly? There was no way she could have... “Did you meanJohnDavidson? Jessica went to school with me. She was on my basketball team.”
“I meanJessica.”
“But...Jessica’s married, too. And she has three kids.”
“Yeah, her last name is Schultz now, and her husband was just here. He’s as devastated as I am.”
“I’m sorry, Jack. I really am. I feel so bad for you.”
“I’ve never even considered the possibility she might leave me—for anyone.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I—I feel like I’m in theTwilight Zone.”
Ismay’s stomach knotted as she leaned her elbows on the table. “You’ll get through it,” she heard herself say. “I know it’s hard to hear that now, but it’s true.”
“Do you think... Do you think she ever really loved me?” he asked in bewilderment.
“Of course, she did!”
“She’s never even slept with anyone else,” he said. “How does she know she’s gay?”
“The same way you know you’re not. You’ve never slept with anyone else, either, have you?”
“No. I’ve never wanted anyone else.”
Ismay had never felt more helpless. She could hear his pain—feel it—coming through the phone. “Have you told Mom and Dad?”
“Yeah. Everyone knows.”
Her parents and siblings had to be upset, too. What she was about to suggest probably wouldn’t make them any happier, but she felt compelled to speak up for her brother’s sake. “Jack?”
“What?” He sounded somewhat distracted, as if lost in his own thoughts.
“You once told me you don’t want to be a farmer like Dad.”
“I never have,” he admitted.
“Maybe this is your chance to do something about it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Until you meet someone else, you won’t have to worry about stability, being able to afford a house, or kids. You can break away, start over, do something else.”
“I can’t even think about that right now.”
