Chapter 2: Summer’s POV

I placed the divorce papers onto Adrian’s desk.

Despite my protests, Jennifer, my best friend and a lawyer, had insisted I prepare them.

Adrian laughed coldly, as if to say, you had this all planned out.

Reaching for a spare pen, I signed my name. Something inside me eased, like the strings I didn’t know were holding me up had been cut.

Adrian scrawled his signature onto the other line. 

“I’ll leave the date blank in case you change your mind.” Amusement laced his words. He thought I was playing games.

Grabbing the papers, I turned and headed for the door. 

“Take some time to think this over. After you file those, you won’t be Mrs. Whitmore anymore.”

His words set my teeth on edge. Was he threatening me?

I spun on my heel and walked back to the desk, slamming the forms onto the polished wood. In a few strokes, I filled in the date. 

“It’s done,” I said. Before he could respond, I heard my son crying.

Cyan was supposed to be at ABA. Had Adrian sent a driver to pick him up?

We both rushed out, getting stuck at the door. Once, I might’ve yielded and let him through. Not today. I shoved my narrow body through the gap. 

Cy lay on the entryway floor, thrashing. Sabrina stood over him.

“What happened?” I asked, crouching down.

Somehow amid his distress, Cy saw me and struggled into my lap, laying his tousled head on my shoulder. I pressed him close.

“Lily and I just wanted to help him take his shoes off, and he went nuts!” Sabrina said. A little of her sugar-coated mask slipped.

Lily sat on the floor a few feet away from Cyan, unbothered.

I bit back my anger. Not everyone understood that he couldn’t help his meltdowns. “He—”

Adrian cut me off. “Stop this.” He loomed over us. “You’re being rude. Lily is little. You can’t be mean to her.”

Cy was in no state to explain. He buried his face into my shirt and wailed. 

“You know he can’t help it. He’s dysregulated.”

“No, he’s tantruming. Sabrina and the baby didn’t do anything. This is ridiculous.”

My restraint broke. “You’re the one who’s ridiculous. You missed his birthday. He was excited. He waited all day for you, but instead of being with him and celebrating, you brought a stranger and another child into our home. You’ve ignored him since then. It’s no wonder he’s overwhelmed.”

Adrian froze. Could he really have forgotten so completely? Missed the wrapping paper I picked up off the kitchen floor, the leftover cake, the guests leaving.

Of course he could. Adrian could ignore an earthquake if he wanted to. 

His rigid demeanor melted, and the man I fell in love with came back. He walked over to his son, holding out his arms. Cy went to his father, calmer now. 

“I’m so sorry, Buddy. You must have been disappointed when Daddy missed your birthday.”

Cyan forced shuddering breaths through his little chest. “Daddy, okay,” he said, forgiving his father far too easily.

Adrian kissed his hair. “Tomorrow, we’ll have fun. Just the two of us.”

Cy straightened, eyes wide. “Chu chu playground?” He meant the local theme park.

Adrian laughed and ruffled Cy’s hair. “Absolutely. I promise.”

He handed Cyan back to me. Maybe it would be okay. People divorced and co-parented all the time. Adrian loved our son, after all.

…

Later, I laid on the chaise under the bedroom window, struggling to fall asleep.

Today was so bizarre. I felt…relieved, and unsteady at the same time. What was my life going to look like from now on?

My answer came at 4:00 AM, when Sabrina pounded on the door. I sat up groggily. Adrian stalked to the door, pulling it wide. He was shirtless, apparently not caring if she saw.

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s Lily. She’s throwing up and wheezing.”

Adrian turned and rushed to the closet, pulling a pair of pants and a shirt from the rack. “I’ll take you to the hospital.”

Just like that, he broke his promise, and I knew. It was gone. That fragile spark of love I had been holding onto. He finally smothered it for good.

In a daze, I got through my morning ritual. Shower. Teeth. Face. Hair. Then I packed a bag.

I sent a quick text to Jennifer. She would pick us up in an hour. Enough time to grab some of Cyan’s things and explain. 

I tiptoed through the hall to avoid waking Grace, and left a copy of the divorce papers on Adrian’s desk.

A sliver of light from the hall hit Cy’s sleeping face as I opened his door. He thrashed and rolled over, pulling the covers over his head. 

“Hey baby.”

He responded with a whine. I went to his bed and lay down, rubbing his back. I pulled out my phone. “Do you want to watch goats?”

He squinted at me. “Goaz.”

We laughed at the videos for a few minutes, then I sat up and said, “Mama needs to talk to you about something.”

I explained the best I could, though I left my feelings out of it.

“Mama’s right here though. I promise we’ll be okay.” I sniffed and tried to keep my voice calm. “Shall we leave here?”

Cyan nodded, stood up, and got dressed.

We found Grace at the front door, blocking us.

“Where do you think you're going?” Her hair stood out at odd angles, and she wore a hastily fastened robe. 

“We’re leaving,” I said, pushing past.

Graced tried again. “Lily will need breakfast when they get back.”

We kept walking. Jen waited in her shiny black Porsche.

I went to the passenger side and buckled Cyan into his booster seat as quickly as I could. 

Grace screamed, “You bitch. You—you faithless whore! Get back here, now. I never liked you. You—”

I slammed the door as I slid into the front seat.

Jennifer cranked up the music as she peeled out of the driveway. “Funny, I could have sworn that was Grace. Imagine, a refined lady like her? In her nightie and swearing in the middle of the yard?” She grinned.

A bit of the tension in my chest eased. 

On the drive, we talked about the past. My engagement to Adrian, an arrangement our fathers cooked up before we were old enough to talk. My dad helped Adrian’s dad out when he was in a bind, and just like that, they decided they would be in-laws. Until Dad lost everything. 

“They were going to call it off. Adrian would have been free, and I would have moved on.”

 “Then your parents had their accident. That must have been so hard for you.”

I nodded. “I think Adrian felt sorry for me, though at the time I told myself we were in love. We signed the papers, and he rebuilt Dad’s company. You know the rest.”

Jen reached over to pat me on the shoulder. “But you don’t regret it.”

I looked back at Cy. He stared out the window, forlorn.

“Never.”

Jen peered at him through the rearview. “Why so blue, Bud?”

Cyan started. “No Chu Chu playground,” he whimpered.

“Who says? We’re going right now.”

At her words, his face lit up. He bounced in his seat repeating, “Chu chu chu.” 

…

At the park, we headed straight for the train, only to stop short. 

Adrian stood at the end of the line, holding Lily on his shoulder. Sabrina leaned into him, her arm around his waist. 

Our eyes met. Then Sabrina waved and said, “Adrian brought us here to reward Lily for cooperating during her checkup without throwing a tantrum. Summer, you’re not upset, are you?”

That smirk. She knew exactly what she was doing.

Jennifer rolled her eyes. “I’ll grab some drinks at the cafe.”

I frowned.

Adrian sat Lily down and stepped in front of Sabrina like I might attack her. “Summer’s a grown-up. She understands.” 

His face told me I’d better at least pretend to understand.

My response was cut off by a scream. 

Lily and Cy both sprawled on the train tracks crying. They must have gone to play, but the barrier was down, and the train’s whistle blasted as it rolled towards them. The attendant tugged at the brakes desperately.

Adrian and I rushed to the children. He passed me, and my heart twisted as he picked up, not our child, but Lily.

He set the girl safely on the sidewalk and turned back to look at Cy. He hadn’t moved. Adrian ran back for him. Too late.

A man from the crowd rushed past me and dove onto the track, scooping Cyan up and rolling out of the train’s path at the last moment. I closed the gap and halted in front of them.

My heart eased, and the stranger looked up at me.