Page 73 of What Happens This Christmas
“Then you better go. I believe I heard her mention something about packing to your housekeeper.”
Her statement was an afterthought, and as much as I’d always stood up for my mother and believed that she only wanted what was for best for me, I wasn’t feeling like she was mother of the year right now. Why did she let me stand out here having this fruitless conversation when she should’ve opened with that?
This time, I didn’t stop. I only left, picking up speed as I went.
Dread and fear washed over me like I was a truck going through a car wash.
My heart lurched in my throat, not giving up on its incessant thumping.
Candy was packing. How could this be?
I rushed up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I should have gone upstairs first, seen if Candy was home. It would have made the most sense, but I was so blinded by anger for my mother’s poor decision and action, I couldn’t see straight. I hoped by some fucking miracle Candy was still here.
What was I thinking? She had stayed this whole time, wanting to extend the marriage and not divorce quickly.Yeah, for perception purposes.No, it was more than that. Deep down, I think she knew that too.
My stomach pitched as I collided with someone.Candy.
“Someone needs prescription glasses.”Not Candy. Eloise.
I finally peered down, my eyes landing on my sister-in-law. “Did you just leave Candy?”
Eloise pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head as she mumbled something under her breath. Now was not the time to play coy.Speak the hell up.I wanted to grab hold of her and force her to spit her words out, but I patiently waited for her to get them out at her own pace. “She’s not here, Nick. She’s already gone.”
“Gone?” My jaw twitched. I was in no mood for cryptic messages. “Gone where? Where is my wife, Eloise?” My voice had a rough edge to it, but I couldn’t help it. I was desperate, spiraling, and needed to know where Candy was. I couldn’t fix this or clear the damn air if I didn’t know where to find her.
She exhaled. “She’s downstairs waiting for me. We’re going to a hotel. She asked me to come along, and I think she needs me more than she cares to admit right now.”
I swiveled on my heel, about to run down the stairs, consequences be damned. Only, she stopped me, placing a hand on my shoulder, and tried to keep me in place.
“Don’t,” she warned, her eyes flaring with seriousness that I hadn’t seen often from her. This was the one time she’d chosen to not say something outlandish likegird your loins? “What do you expect to come from you going down there? She’s made her decision, and while I don’t know everything that’s going on in her head, I know that she’s not in a good headspace. She wants to leave, so let her.”
I scrubbed a hand down my face, frustrated at this entire situation. “Fine,” I said, giving in because I didn’t know what else to do. “You two can stay at a hotel. I’ll talk to Candy tomorrow when she has a clear head.”
“I don’t think you’re understanding.”
What wasn’t I understanding? She was my wife. I was her husband. We had shit to talk about, and tomorrow was Christmas. It wasn’t the most ideal time to flush all this out, but it was still a day. “I get it.”
“No,” she insisted, clearly determined to grind on my last nerve. “She left.”
“I heard you.”
“As in, she’s gone. I don’t think she intends to come back.”
Pause.
“She left you an envelope. It’s on your bed.”
My body began shutting down like a toy that had run out of battery. I’d never felt this way before, but what was left to say? Do?
Every time I breathed, I could feel her.
Every time I closed my eyes, I could see her.
She was everything to me, and she had left. Eloise had pointed it out multiple times. In fact, she had said it so many times, I felt like I had rammed my head into a wall, my skull damaged. Hell, even my heart was damaged.
I’d never considered much about a legal separation, thinking it was what couples did when things weren’t working out. Forsome inane reason, I had asked for one. I had thought it’d be better if we were apart, but if this feeling was what I could have expected, then I had been right to rip up the divorce papers Mel drafted.
“I’m going to go,” Eloise said, my eyes snapping back to her. I still didn’t know how to react or what to say. She touched my arm as she brushed past me. “Take care of yourself.” That was the worst piece of advice I’d ever heard. Probably because it was useless and did nothing to help my current situation.
