Page 38 of Be With Me

Wow. This guy was really serious. He wasn’t just trying to get me into bed. And I wasn’t sure whether to be happy about that or disappointed. “I’m not sure. We’ve never really talked about the possibility of that happening.”

“Do they live here? In the area?”

“One does. My son. He’s twenty-three, and just got his degree. He’s working at Amazon, as one does when they live in Seattle and they have a technical degree.” I smiled, my pride showing through. My kids were nothing like me. They were smart and happy and just beginning their lives. “My daughter lives in Oregon. She’s twenty-five, and the complete opposite of her brother. She bought some land and is living in a yurt.”

His forehead scrunched up in confusion. “What the hell is a ‘yurt’?”

“Like a teepee, but made of wood, basically.” I shrugged. I didn’t understand my daughter’s life needs. But that was okay. I didn’t have to get everything she did. I just had to support her decisions and be happy that she was happy. “She likes it. I was concerned at first, with her living on such a large property all by herself, but she isn’t that far from town and the neighbors she does have tend to watch out for each other.”

“What does she do out there in the wilderness?”

“I’m not really sure. Reads a lot?” I laughed. “The last I knew, she was waiting to get internet access.” I looked down at my tea. “I haven’t talked to her in a while.”

I felt his eyes on me, but he didn’t pursue the subject and I was glad. My daughter and I had a bit of a complicated relationship. I loved her and she loved me, but we were too different to really be friends. And too alike to really dislike each other.

“And what about your marriage?”

I tried to keep my tone blasé. “What about it?”

“It was a large part of your life. Are you doing okay?” He shook his head slightly as his own question. “Not money-wise. I know you’re fine. You have your own studio and your own apartment, and I see food on your counter.” He indicated the loaf of bread next to the microwave. “So, I know you’re not starving.” His smile fell and he got serious again. “But, in here.” He touched the center of his chest. “Are you okay?”

Out of nowhere, tears filled my eyes. Tyler was the first person—first man, I should say—to ever ask me that. I sniffed a little. “It was hard, breaking up my family. Even with the kids grown.”

“So, it was your decision to end it.”

“Yes. My husband wasn’t easy to live with, and I wasn’t happy.”

A change overcame him, and I could practically feel anger emanating from him. Even his voice was different when he asked, “Did he hurt you?”

I laid my hand over his on the table, touched that he was so concerned. “No, it wasn’t like that. It was worse. He ignored me. Except when he was talking down to me like I was beneath him.”

Tyler blinked a few times, something battling behind his eyes.

“Tyler?” I wasn’t afraid, despite the struggle I could plainly see within him. But, for a brief second, I could’ve sworn someone else was looking at me through Tyler’s eyes. I started to pull away, but he grabbed my hand and held on tight.

After a moment, the shadows cleared and he came back to me. “I’m sorry you were treated that way, Ailee. You deserve so much more.”

That was so strange. For a few seconds, I could swear it wasn’t Tyler sitting here with me at all. It wasn’t the guy I saw at the grocery store, either.

It had been someone else entirely.

“Tyler, what just happened?”

---