Page 15 of Love Me Again

“We want to hear the story, Boone.” Molly propped her phone up on the desk, and that’s when Boone realized his baby sister was on FaceTime.

“And don’t spare any details since I’m missing everything,” Lindsay’s voice rang out from the speaker. “Is she pretty?”

All eyes turned to him, and he didn’t like the way he fidgeted. “No, I married a toad.”

“She kind of looks like Mom,” Molly offered with a mischievous grin.

Boone spared her a glare. Josie did not look like his mother, even if they both shared brown hair and brown eyes. Molly was just trying to mess with him. “Not funny.”

“She’s cute,” Gavin offered as if thinking Lindsay’s question over seriously.

Boone knew he should keep his mouth shut, but he couldn’t quite make it happen. “She’s beautiful.”

“Aww,” was Lindsay’s response from the phone.

“Get it all out of your system. She wants a divorce. I’m calling the lawyer in the morning. Once the snow’s gone, she will be too.”

His siblings didn’t have anything to say to that. And they were no doubt noting he was drinking again, which meant they were drawing all sorts of conclusions on how he felt about that.

Sometimes he hated being home.

But then Lindsay surprised him. She often did. “How’d you meet?” she asked, like she was sincerely curious, whether Josie was gone with the snow or not.

“Rodeo,” Boone muttered. He was certainly not going to sit here and give them details when they did not matter. His marriage was finally going to be over.

“Why’d you marry her and not tell us?” Molly asked gently.

“Because you all suck, and Mom would have been…” He shook his head. “This would have been overwhelming for her.”

“For her or for you?”

Boone turned his glare to Shane. “Does it matter? Can’t go back and fix it.”

“Can’t go back, no,” Shane replied equitably.

Boone couldn’t stop his hands from curling into fists, but he could stop himself from using them on his brother. Besides, Micah and Cora would be all upset and…

And Shane wasn’t wrong.

Boone sighed. “You want the story? Fine. I fell in love with her. I married her. I kept her separate because I like my life separate. When I got hurt, and they were telling me the years of recovering I was going to have to do, I knew I had to end it. She spent most her life taking care of her dad’s health issues, and she didn’t need another person in her life who couldn’t pull his weight. No drama.”

“Except the part where you’re not actually divorced and she kicked your ass because she thought you were with Cora,” Molly offered.

Boone wanted to read into that, but he knew better. “She was mad because she’d found out we were still married. She’s been dealing with losing her dad. So she let the divorce stuff fall through the cracks, and so did I. I’ll get it fixed. She’ll go…” He trailed off because he didn’t know where she’d go. Her dad was gone, and Paul had always been her guiding star. As far as Boone knew, she really didn’t have a family to run to if shit hit the fan.

What was her plan? Where would she go? Alone?

“I understand keeping it to yourself,” Molly said softly. None of Mom’s hurt—that he still fully hadn’t had to contend with yet. None of Shane’s disapproval or Gavin’s happily married smug. Just a thoughtful I understand.

“Of course you do,” Gavin said. “You married a piece of shit. That’s a mistake, and none of us make mistakes well.”

Molly glared at Gavin, who only shrugged. “My point is… Some of us need space, and this family sucks at that. So I get it. But she’s here and if you’re technically still married, you need to figure out what you really want.”

“She wants the divorce.”

“Molly said you. She wants a divorce. Do you?” Lindsay asked from the phone.

Boone shifted in his seat. He had no quick answers for that. He knew he should say he wanted the divorce. Or at least make it clear he was giving it to her—because he was.