Page 5 of The Lighthouse Sisters
“The party wasn’t my idea. It was Hazel’s. And it isn’t sudden, at least not for me. I’ve been unhappy for a while.”
Those words hurt to hear. “Really? But yet, you never told me.”
“I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“You’re hurting me now!”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry? We built a life together, John! A life that I loved! And a life that I thought you loved!” her voice cracked in pain. She took a deep breath and wiped at the tears that were now streaming down her cheeks. “How could you do this to me? To us? How am I supposed to explain this to Dylan? He’s going to hate us!”
“Whatever happens, happens.” His tone and lack of care made her sick. He continued, “What else do you want me to say, Raelynn? This isn’t working for me anymore––”
“Being my husband isn’t working for you? We made promises to each other, John. We promised to love each other through thick and thin. We promised to be there for each other. You can’t just decide that being a family or that being my husband just isn’t ‘workingfor you anymore’.”
He looked ashamed, but said bitterly, “We both know that this marriage lost its luster a long time ago.”
She put her hands on her hips, barely recognizing the man in front of her. “No, I’m afraid no one told me that.”
“Come on, Raelynn. It’s obvious.”
“Nope. Up until a few hours ago, I thought I was a happily married woman, married to a happily married man.”
“I’m not happy. I haven’t been for a while.”
Raelynn’s heart hurt, and she felt the anger fading. Had she done something? Had she pushed him away? Had there been signs that he was unhappy, and had she ignored them all? “We can try counseling. You don’t have to give up on us. Are you really willing to just throw everything we built away?” The last question came out as a whisper. She was crying hard now. She could barely see him through her tears. With a frustrated hand, she wiped them away.
He shook his head. “Counseling won’t work.”
“Why not? We haven’t even tried.” She knew she sounded desperate, and it was because she was. She couldn’t just let everything she knew, the life she built, go up in smoke.
“Counseling can’t make this life we built together any different. It can’t fix what’s wrong.”
“And what exactly is wrong, John?”
He took a deep breath and said, “I don’t love you anymore.”
She felt dizzy and grabbed the table to steady herself. “You don’t love me anymore?”
He rubbed an exhausted hand across his face. “I didn’t want to do this. Not on your birthday. Not like this.”
“My birthday? You’re shutting me out of your whole life because you don’t love me any more...getting the news on my birthday is the least of my worries.”
She marched away from him then. She had to. She needed to put some distance between them. She went into their bedroom and started packing a bag. He didn’t bother to follow her.
Good, she thought.I don’t want him anywhere near me.
She then went to the bathroom and grabbed her toiletries. She didn’t know where she was going, but she was getting far away from him.
She dumped them in the bag. When she looked up, he was standing at the bathroom door. “I plan to sell the house.”
“What?” she asked.
“I’ve already started the process...I just thought you should know.”
Raelynn shook her head. Who was this man? Ending their marriage and taking away the only home she’d ever known? The only home his son had ever known?
She couldn’t speak. She could barely breathe. She passed by him and kept walking as he continued to talk. She only heard a quarter of it because her mind was spinning. She couldn’t process it all.
