Page 54 of The Space He Left
"What's stopping you?"
"Harper doesn't need me to be her source of information about Madison. She's probably already seen the articles. At the very least, someone would have told her about it. And even if Madison's lies getting exposed somehow validates Harper's suspicions, it doesn't undo the damage I did by believing those lies."
Sam nodded approvingly. "Yeah, that's some serious personal growth right there."
"Yeah, well, it's easy to have perspective when you see your daughter twice a week, and your wife communicates with you exclusively through a co-parenting app."
"Speaking of which, how are the visits going?"
"Good. Emma's getting bigger, more interactive. She smiled at me last week – like, a real smile, not just gas." The memory still made my chest warm. "She's starting to recognize me, I think."
"That's great, Jack. Really."
"It is. But it's also heartbreaking, because I keep thinking about everything I'm missing. First steps, first words, all the little moments that happen between our scheduled visits."
"You chose to miss them."
The words stung, but they were true. "I know. That's what makes it heartbreaking instead of just sad. This is the consequence of my actions."
My phone buzzed with a notification from the co-parenting app. A message from Harper:Emma has been fussier than usual. Might be starting to teeth. Giving her infant Tylenol as needed. Pediatrician says it's normal.
I typed back:Thank you for letting me know. Anything she seems to find soothing?
Cold washcloths to chew on. She likes the textured teething rings Mom bought.
Good to know for Thursday's visit. Hope she feels better soon.
Such a brief exchange, but it was the closest thing to normal conversation Harper and I had had in months. We had learnt to co-parent effectively, to share information about Emma's needs and development. It wasn't the marriage I'd lost, but it was a functional relationship focused on our daughter's wellbeing.
Maybe that was enough. Maybe that was what I deserved.
For now, I was learning to be grateful for what I had: a relationship with my daughter, a recovering business, and the knowledge that Madison's lies had finally caught up with her.
I was also learning that revenge wasn't as satisfying as I'd once thought it would be. Justice, maybe. Consequences, certainly. But mostly just sad confirmation that some people never learn to stop hurting the people who care about them.
I was determined not to be one of those people anymore.
Chapter 20
Harper
The groceries appeared like magic.?
I'd been putting off the weekly shopping trip because Emma was teething and cranky, and the thought of navigating the store with a fussy baby felt overwhelming. But when I opened the front door Tuesday morning to get the mail, I found four bags of groceries sitting on my porch – everything I usually bought, plus some extras I'd been meaning to try.
There was no note, no delivery receipt, nothing to indicate where they'd come from. Just perfectly selected groceries that matched my usual list with uncanny accuracy.
"Mom," I called into the house, "did you have groceries delivered?"
"No, sweetheart. Why?"
I brought the bags inside, checking each item. Organic baby food in the flavors Emma preferred. The specific brand of coffee I liked. Fresh vegetables, good meat, even the expensive cheese I usually talked myself out of buying. Someone had paid attention to my shopping habits with remarkable detail.
It wasn't the first mysterious kindness. Once, I'd come home from a visit to Jack's parents to find my car's oil had been changed and the tires rotated. The service center said it had been paid for anonymously.
Then there were all the times the lawn service just showed up, their bill for the season already settled.
Thinking about it now, the groceries had been appearing like clockwork for months. My own shopping trips, I realized with a jolt, had become less about necessity and more about routine. I'd go to the market for a few special items - that artisanal bread from the bakery, a new flavor of ice cream for a movie night, and flowers for the kitchen table. Sometimes it was just for the social interaction, a chance to see a friendly face. More often than not, it was just an excuse to get Emma in the car, the gentle motion of the drive being the only thing that would lull her to sleep. I hadn't needed to do a full, proper grocery run in a very long time.
