Page 10 of One Last Kiss
It was time to run and hide, except she was stuck in this damned basement with the man she hated most in the world. The man she’d once loved the most. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Oh no, you don’t. You can’t unload all of that and then just shut down.”
“Yes, I can.”
“No, you can’t.” He pulled his chair to sit directly in front of her and leveled her withhis stare.
“What are you doing?” she asked, trying to avoid meeting his gaze directly.
He leaned in closer. “Look at me. We need to discuss this.”
“I don’t want to talk.”
“Talking is the only thing that will fix this, Abby.”
Now she looked at him. “Hypocrite much?” She lifted her chin. “When I asked you to see a marriage counselor, you said no. When I tried to carve out a time for us to communicate, you stayed at work late.”
“Well, I’m here now.”
A little too late, she thought, unable to make words for fear that he’d hear her voice crack. After all this time, the crumbling of their once happy marriage still hurt. Would it always?
“I didn’t know about the pregnancy, Abby. I’m sorry.”
She swallowed thickly. Yeah, opening this can of worms was a mistake. Because now her emotions felt raw and exposed. Her eyes burned, threatening tears. If one slid free, she might not be able to stop the rest from falling. She might not be able to resist Sam when he tried to wrap his arms around her.
“I’m sorry,” he said again.
“You already said that.”
“Well, I want you to hear it. To know it. Believe it, because it’s true. I’m just…” He shook his head while still hovering close.
So close she could smell that faint, familiar smell. The one that used to lure her into his arms after a long day. He had been her safe place once upon a time. Now, she felt caged in here with him and the history they shared.
He reached for her hands and held them. She was surprised that she didn’t yank them back. She swallowed again and again. Suddenly, she couldn’t stop swallowing.
“I knew there was something you weren’t telling me. We’d grown apart with all our pregnancy attempts, but I didn’t think it’d gotten so bad that you’d leave. All this time, I just thought you resented me. Blamed our infertility on me. I thought we’d eventually make our way back to one another though.”
Her eyes fluttered up to meet his.
“Damn.” He shook his head and looked off to the row of shelves on the other side of the room. “I thought if I went to see that therapist like you wanted, and worked on things…”
“Wait. What?” Abby waited for him to look at her. “Dr. Dumont? Did you go see her?”
Sam massaged his forehead. “It was a waste of time. I missed the boat.”
Her mind was processing this new information, and trying to make sense of it. He’d listened to her. He’d gone to see the counselor after all.
A noise upstairs silenced her mental chatter.
They both looked up the staircase at the locked door.
“That came from the kitchen.” Sam got out of his chair and took the stairs two at a time. “Hey! Hey! We need some help in here! We’re locked in the basement!”
Abby was right behind him. “Help!...We’re down here! Help!”
They stopped to listen for a response. Nothing. Then there was another noise, and they started yelling again.
Finally, Sam turned to look at her. “Who would be up there? Why aren’t they answering?”
