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“Bullshit.”
I shook my head in disgust again, then started walking back to my bedroom.
“Why aren’t you wearing your wedding band, Zac?” Avery asked again, but this time, she did it by yelling her question down the hallway at me.
Although I could’ve answered her and also added daggers to my words, I didn’t do either. I wanted Avery to wrestle with the truth that she already knew deep down about my reason for having a bare ring finger on my left hand now. She knew exactly what she’d done to destroy our marriage and I knew her only concern behind my wedding band being history was what it was going to make her look like to others who knew us. Most of them already knew the truth about her anyway.
After locking my bedroom door behind me, I quietly laughed because I was thinking about what Stevie had said about me being a prisoner in my own home. She was so right, and it was just going to have to be this way until… I didn’t know for how long. But as long as I had Stevie in my life, I could deal with it.
I texted my mom to let her know how things had been going with Avery since I got home, and she asked me if I wasconcerned about it enough to want her and my dad to keep Malcolm for another night or two. I said no because I was ready to see my boy. I was ready to get him back home with me where he belonged.
As soon as I got off the phone with my mom, I stretched out across my bed to relax for a few minutes and ended up falling asleep. An hour and a half later, I woke up and couldn’t believe I had knocked out like that. I didn’t think I needed the rest because I slept so soundly at Stevie’s last night, but then I realized my fatigue had to do with Avery being back and having to be on guard again. It had always been taxing but not to this degree. Everything was magnified for some reason.
While smoothing out my bedspread, I noticed a long strand of blond hair on it and smiled. Then I picked up Stevie’s hair to get a closer look at it. It was so pretty and shiny and I liked that there was a trace of Stevie here at my house. It came from the night she’d come over to check on Malcolm because he had a cold. Neither of us had planned to have sex while she was here, but with Malcolm being sound asleep in his room, plus Stevie and I being near each other again… Well, she and I couldn’t keep our hands off each other. I carried her to my bed and then we gave each other what we’d both been wanting and needing.
After placing Stevie’s strand of hair underneath my pillow, I headed toward the garage. As I was walking down the hallway, Avery came out of the guest bedroom and stared at me.
“I’m going to pick up Malcolm from my parents,” I said, coming to a standstill in front of her.
“Good. I look forward to seeing him.”
“Funny, that’s the first time you’ve mentioned him to me since I got here. He’s always an afterthought for you, isn’t he? No real concern because I’m covering all the concerns and responsibilities of having a child. I’ll always do that for my son, too.”
“He’s also my son.”
I shook my finger at Avery. “No, he was a mistake according to you and you didn’t want him.”
“Zac…”
“I’m leaving now and I suggest you be on your best behavior when I get back here with Malcolm. There better not be any drama coming from you, no drunken rages or anything. It’s gonna be peaceful around here for my son. If you don’t think you can conduct yourself in a peaceful manner, then pack your shit and go back to Lubbock. Stay there from now on. I do not care.”
Avery’s eyes were brimming with tears now. I didn’t trust her display of emotion or her meek countenance. I’d witnessed her turning on her tears before only to quickly turn them off like a water faucet. I had also witnessed her demure body language only to see it turn into a raging inferno too many times to count.
I walked off but before I could make it to the garage, she called out my name.
“What do you want now?” I asked her.
“To tell you that I’m staying here and it will be peaceful. I promise.”
44
#safety
Stevie
“TELL ME THEhighlights from your Destin trip with Buchanan,” Brooke said.
“The whole trip was one giant highlight.”
“I’ll bet.”
“We spent so much time at the beach, ate out at some wonderful restaurants, and Zac took me to a Norah Jones concert that was amazing. And we did something else.”
“What?”
“It’s something really special that will always stand out from all the other stuff we did on the trip, but you won’t get to see Zac’s part until you see him again. Here’s mine, though.”
I pulled back the collar of my blouse to show Brooke my tattoo and her jaw dropped.
