Page 30 of The Me I Left Behind

“Damn, this is all fucked up, Julia. My daughter is going out with a kid I don’t even know.”

Julia grasped her upper arms and turned her. “Times are different now, Mags. The world is bigger for kids today than it was for us back then.”

“True.” She searched Julia’s eyes. “You look tired.”

“I am. Somewhat. But we still have work to do.”

“The totes?”

“Yeah.” Julia nodded. “Stay here with the kids. I’ll grab a bell cart, bring up those two totes, and put them in our bedroom while Carol is showering. We can go through them once the kids are asleep.”

Several minutes later, Carol rushed out of the bedroom and headed for the door. “He’s early!”

Maggie sprang up. “Sweetie. Come here. He will wait.”

Carol halted, rotating back. “Mom!”

That Carol was jumping just because this boy showed up early reminded her of when she started seeing Max. She’d have crawled over hot coals naked for him and jumped to do his bidding on a nano-second’s notice back then.

Was Carol doing the same thing?Shit. I hope not.

Slowly, she stepped toward her daughter, whispering. “Just give me a hug, you.” Wrapping her arms around her, she planted a quick kiss on her temple and gave her a warm mom hug. “I love you. Be safe. You’re sure you are feeling okay?”

Carol met her gaze. “I love you too, Mom. I’m fine. Be back at ten.”

Then she was gone.

Maggie turned back to Julia with a sigh. “Chinese?”

Six

After dinner, Maggie and Julia started sifting through the totes in their bedroom, organizing piles of papers on the floor, while the littles watched a movie in their room. Maggie had no clue what most of the paperwork was for, or how important it was, but she kept pulling out the next one and stacking it.

Julia lowered a handful of papers to her lap. “I need to ask you something because we’ve not discussed it.”

Maggie glanced her way. “What?”

“Do you want a divorce? Is this why we are doing this?”

She felt a little stunned at the question, to be honest. “Julia, yes. I want a divorce. Max has a lover and a baby in another country. I’ve lived with a lot over the years, but I can’t live with that. I’m hoping you will help me. Can you?” She paused, searching Julia’s eyes. “And if you can’t, can you help me find an attorney?”

Julia stared. “I want to help you get out of this shithole life, Maggie. You and the kids. So, yes, I can represent you. But I have to say, you know, that we started down this road once before, and you backed out. I want to make sure that a divorce is what you want. If you do, great, and I’m all over it. But realize it’sgoing to be a long road, and not an easy one. You need to be up for it.”

She scanned the stacks of papers and planners and folders scattered around the room. Max’s life in boxes, and none of it included her or the kids. But that’s the way it had been for their entire marriage, right? Didn’t she, they, deserve more?

“I want a divorce, Julia. I don’t want to live like this any longer. I don’t want the kids to, either. Please do your magic. Okay?”

Julia grinned. “I am quite good at my magic, you know.”

Maggie laughed. “I’m counting on it.”

Julia pickedup her stack of papers. Maggie reached for and flipped through one of Max’s planners, pausing when a yellow sticky note poked out between two pages. As soon as she read what was on the note, her heart thumped against her chest.

“Found something,” she said. “Maybe.”

“What?” Julia continued shuffling through a tote.

“A name and address. Something to hold over Max’s head?”

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