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“Hey, stranger.”

I jump, hitting my head on the frame of my car. “Ow… Shit,” I say as I rub my head.

“Damn it.” Liam reaches for me, turning me around. His face is covered with concern. “Let me see.” He moves his hand to my head, inspecting where my hand is rubbing. “I don’t see any blood. I’m sorry, Whitney,” He rubs his thumb over the lump, and I pull back.

“Lord, that hurts.”

“Shit–sorry.”

My face scrunches as I pull from his hold, continuing to rub my head. “It’s all right. Damn, it hurts, though.”

“How have you been? Well, besides the obvious,” he says as he points to my head.

“Good. I’m here grabbing some more clothes and grabbing my laptop. Do you wanna come in?”

“Yeah. Sure.” He follows me in.

Opening my fridge, I pull out a beer for him and a cider for myself. Once I pop the top off both, I hand Liam his and take a drink of my own. “What’s been up with you?” I ask as I lean my hip on the kitchen counter. Liam’s at the bar, sitting on one of my stools.

“Nothing much. I’ve been focusing on the kids. Priscilla was served with divorce papers a couple of days ago.”

“What? Why didn’t you call and tell me?”

He shrugs, taking a sip of his beer before putting it down on the counter. “I didn’t want to interfere.”

“Liam, if you and I are going to have a go at this friendship thing, you need to learn to share. I would have loved to have seen that.”

“Yeah, well then I’m sure you’re going to enjoy me telling you about the phone call I received after she got the papers.”

“You need to spill, now.”

And he does. He tells me about the drama that has been his life over the past few days. You’d think Priscilla had been served weeks ago with the shit storm she’s trying to bring into Liam’s life. She even went as far as complaining to his commanding officer. That’s just something you don’t do. I’m a civilian, and I know that. I catch him up on everything that’s going on with Heath. He asks about my feelings on my marriage, Charlie heading back overseas, and what my future might hold.

I sit, pulling my feet under me. “Heath and I are in a good place right now. We’ve been getting along, talking about life and things other than the mundane stuff. The kids seem happy. I think Charlie is a bit more confident because things at the house are going so well.”

“Are you going to continue to stay there?”

I nod, “I’m moving home.”

He gives me a genuine smile, making his eyes sparkle. “That’s great, Whitney. I’m not going to say I’m not bummed. I liked having you around but ever since Heath had his heart attack, I’ve seen you be the wife you’re meant to be. You’ve put those kid and your husband first while keeping true to yourself. No questions asked. Looking from the outside in, you’d never know that you two were separated.”

“Thanks, Liam. I’m sure we’ll still have our ups and downs, and I know there are going to be setbacks, but I feel it in my gut that this is the right thing to do. It’s the right time to take back my marriage.”

School’s been dismissedfor two hours now, and I’m still buried in a pile of papers that’s taken over my desk. This is why I can’t stand to take time off. The subs come in here without any consideration since it’s not really their class. These papers should have been graded and filed in each student’s file, but instead, they’ve been piling up. I can’t believe I haven’t had a parent reach out to me, asking about their student’s grades because that hasn’t been updated in weeks. I physically growl out in frustration.

“Whoa there, tiger.”

My head snaps up, and I see the last person I expected to see–Heath. I push from my chair, striding over to him. I wrap my arms around him and rest my head on his chest. I take a moment to listen to the thump of his heart.

“What’s wrong?” I turn my head, resting my chin on his chest so I can look up to him. “Why are you here?”

He chuckles as he gives my body a squeeze. “A man has one heart attack and the first thing people ask when they see him is if something’s wrong.” He shakes his head, “Everything with me is fine, Whit. I’m here about you.”

I take a step back, crossing my hands over my chest. “What do you mean, this is about me?”

“I spent the afternoon with Steve.”

“Yes, I know. I was there this morning when you made the plans, remember? You and Steve were supposed to have lunch.” I bring my hand up and fiddle with my necklace. I’m unsure of where this is going.