Page 77 of Best Kept Vows

“I’m not. Can’t wait to get rid of it, though that’s goingto take time. Six months to a year.” I heard him sigh. “You know, I can help you with your proposal.”

“You can?” I squeaked.

“Yes.”

He’d shown zero interest when I was going to business school, even though I’d tried.

“I’m struggling with finance. Can you walk me through an annual report?” I asked Sebastian during dinner. I hoped this would bring us together and give us common ground.

“Baby, I’m exhausted. I don’t have the bandwidth.”

He had rebuffed my efforts time and again until I’d finally stopped asking.

“You have thebandwidthfor it?” I couldn’t keep the bitterness out of my voice.

“Yeah, baby, I do,” he replied softly.

I felt petty, and I hated that feeling.

This wasn’t who I was—or at least, not who I believed myself to be. I wasn’t the kind of person who held onto past hurts just to throw them back like weapons. I used to think I was someone who forgave easily, who let things go. But now I was remembering the things that Sebastian had done, which made me feel like I had no agency, and it made me angry.

“I know I fucked up in the past. I don’t intend to fuck up anymore.”

I closed my eyes, feeling conflicted emotions swarm through me. Part of me wanted to just be with Sebastian, but another part wanted to keep this life, one where I was Lia, nothiswife ortheirmother.

“Maybe…ah…after counseling on Friday?” he suggested.

“If it’s going to be as intense as last time, then?—”

“Let’s play it by ear. We can also work on the proposal on Saturdayafteryou have lunch with Dad.”

He was trying, and it wasn’t like I didn’t want to spend time with him; I did. I missed him, but I’d also gotten used to missing him, and now that he was back, it was jarring.

“That sounds good,” I breathed. “Ah…maybe you want to come for lunch with your father and me?”

“I’d be honored, baby.”

CHAPTER 26

Sebastian

It was getting easier to live without Lia, mostly because I saw herat leasttwice a week: once during counseling and then for lunch with my father.

I had also started a new tradition—a phone call every Saturday after lunch with my father, when we called the kids on video. This was so my dad could see Tristan and Ada, and we could see them. It was a connective tissue I wanted to build on so we could stay in touch.

According to Dr. Ryan, a lot of the problems between Lia and me stemmed from a lack of communication. When we saw each other every day, we could manage—or at least ignore—what wasn’t being said. But once I became consumed by Boone Metals and barely saw her or the kids, all that silence turned into distance, and that distance turned into damage. That’s how we ended up here.

When I told Lia at a counseling session that I’d be going to a Boone family Sunday dinner to announce thatI’d be selling Boone Metals, she asked me if I wanted her with me. I said yes withoutanyhesitation, which was why she was in the car with me as I navigated through Savannah’s historic streets as the sun set on a warm late summer day.

I knew this was her least favorite thing to do—spend time with my mother and sister. And today’s conversation, we both knew, was going to be a shitshow.

But she was showing up for me.

Her generosity humbled me.

Dr. Ryan had asked me how it made me feel that Lia wanted to support me through what was going to be a challenging discussion at best.

“I’m grateful and lucky.” I smiled at Lia. “And I feel like a complete asshole for having taken all this for granted when I had it.”

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