Page 88 of Acceptance

Walking up the sidewalk, VP braces himself for what he’s about to do. He hasn’t seen Emma since the day they were supposed to be married, and he hopes she’s had enough time to calm down to talk rationally.

“What are you doing here?” Emma asks, stepping out onto the small porch of the house she rented.

Her blonde hair with streaks of gray is pulled back from her face, and she wears the clothes she always does when she cleans. The tasks she completes when her mind won’t settle down. Like scrubbing grout with a toothbrush kind of cleaning.

It makes me feel better,she’d tell him.When things are scrubbed, it’s like I’ve scrubbed my soul.

“Hey,” VP says. “It’s been a while.”

“What are you doing here?” she asks again.

He sighs. Maybe enough time hasn’t passed. “Zane’s gone. He left Margaret with me.”

“That’s got to be difficult. How’s she holding up?”

She still cares about Margaret. That’s a good sign.

“She’s in a lot of pain and is really confused. She lost her mom, and now her dad took off without a word.”

“What have you told her about where he went?”

She moves to sit on the top step and rests her arms on her knees as she leans forward. The space beside her isn’t big enough for him to fit, so he just continues to awkwardly stand in front of her.

“I said he had to go and find himself to be a better father for her.”

“So… you lied. Sounds about right.”

Narrowing his eyes, he frowns. “What does that mean?”

“It means you’ll say and do anything to protect him.”

“He’s my son. What do you expect me to do? Throw him to the wolves?”

She chuckles and shakes her head. “No, I expect exactly this.”

“Em—”

“What are you doing here, Nash?”

Sighing, VP looks at the ground. “I miss you.”

“I miss you, too.”

“Then come home. Please. Margaret could really use you, and I—”

“No.”

He stares in confusion. She just said she misses him, too, so why would she want to stay here by herself? It would be so easy to come home and pick up right where they left off. They could go and get married like they wanted to. Try it all again.

“If you miss me, I don’t understand. We miss each other, and we love each other.”

“Love isn’t enough,” she says. “It’s time to move on.”

Move on? Is she fucking other men?

“Is that right?”

“You refuse to see the mistakes you’ve made, and I can’t be with someone who fights accountability like he does an enemy holding a gun to his head. You’re the same man I met when you were married to Maggie, and you’ll never change.”

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