Page 104 of The Marriage Mistake

The receptionist gave me a wide-eyed look but nodded when I asked her to call Darby. My knee bounced as I sat in a hard plastic chair, my head snapping up as Darby shuffled into the office. She looked at me, and her eyes narrowed. She was wary of me.

Because I’d hurt her.

I hadn’t listened. I hadn’t seen her.

I’d put this distance between us.

The size of my fuckup was monumental. I didn’t know if I could fix it.

Inhaling sharply, I stood and nodded to the hallway. Darby followed me out of the office, crossing her arms. Her lips were pressed into a flat line, her eyes shifting to the side to take me in.

God, she looked just like her mother when her mother had been furious with me. How could I have thought that we’d lose our connection to Tanya? Darby was half Tanya! She always would be!

I knelt in front of my daughter and took her hands. “I’m sorry, Darbs. You don’t have to play piano anymore.”

She blinked, then narrowed her eyes. So suspicious of me, and I deserved it. “What changed?”

How could I explain the past hour? Seeing Sofia, and knowing that Darby would turn into her if I didn’t cherish the person she was instead of the person I wanted her to be. Getting those emails, and knowing I had only myself to blame.

My chest ached like I’d been kicked by a horse. I squeezed my daughter’s hands. “I changed,” I said. “Ember was right when she said you were old enough to make some decisions for yourself. You’ve never liked piano. I should’ve listened a long time ago. I’m sorry.”

Darby straightened. Her eyes brightened. “Really? So I can go to Vikki’s party?”

I nodded. “I’ll call Gabi and see if you can ride to the cabin with them.”

“I need a costume!” she shrieked.

I laughed, pulling her in for a hug. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and squeezed me—the first hug my daughter had returned since Ember had left. I felt the tears pressing against my eyelids, but I wouldn’t cry in my teenage daughter’s school hallway. Never mind the piano thing—that would be completely unforgivable.

With her head resting on my shoulder, Darby gave me another squeeze. “Thanks, Dad.” She sniffled, pulling away to give me a tremulous smile. “I really hate piano.”

I laughed. “I know. I’m sorry.”

She studied me, biting her lip. “Does that mean you and Ember are getting back together? Because you realized she was right, so that fight you had is over?”

That felt like another kick to the chest, and I hid the impact by clearing my throat. I stood and blew out a breath. “I don’t know,” I told her honestly. “But I’m going to find out.”

TWENTY-SEVEN

EMBER

I looked up from my computer and noticed it was dark outside. The days were getting shorter. I stretched my back, groaning as my spine crackled and popped. It was Saturday afternoon, and I’d spent the day working. What else was I going to do with my time?

Darby was probably at her piano recital right now. I wondered how miserable she felt, standing up in front of all those people, performing on an instrument she hated. I wondered how Jack felt watching her. If he knew, deep down, that he was making a mistake.

These were the ruminations that circled my mind like sharks. I couldn’t stop thinking about the two of them, no matter how hard I tried.

Maybe I wasn’t trying very hard at all. Maybe thinking about them hurt, but it was the only thing that made me feel like that month in Marswood Harbor had actually happened.

Pushing back from my desk, I headed toward the kitchen with my empty mug of coffee and paused when there was a buzz on the intercom.

I frowned. I hadn’t ordered anything. Maybe someone had pressed the wrong buzzer.

Walking to the control panel by the door, I pressed the button to speak. “Yes?”

“Ember. It’s me. Can I come in?”

Jack Mars was at my door. He’d come all the way from Marswood Harbor, probably got my address from one of the forms my lawyer and I had emailed him, and showed up outside my building.