MasukScarlett's POV Spencer didn't move."In the hallway," I said. "After the kids said goodbye. We were talking and he said.." I stopped. "He said he was still in love with me and then he just..." I pressed my lips together. "I slapped him and he left."Spencer was still not moving."Spencer.""I heard you," he said.His voice was different. Not the warm steady version, it was quieter in a way that had no comfort in it.He stood up from the table.He went to the counter and stood there with his back to me, both hands flat on the surface, looking at nothing."Say something," I said again.He turned around. Leaned back against the counter with his arms crossed and looked at me."What do you want me to say, Scarlett.""What do you want me to say, Scarlett?""Anything." My voice was sharp. "You're just standing there...""Because I'm trying to figure out what the appropriate response is to my girlfriend telling me another man kissed her."The word landed between us. We didn't use that word.
Chapter 37:Scarlett's POV I closed the door and stood there.The hallway was empty. I stood with my back against the door and my heart pounding slightly in my chest.I stayed like that for ten seconds, then I heard Aiden's voice from down the hall.I pushed off the door and went back inside.Spencer was at the stove when I walked in. He looked up when he heard me. Read my face the way he always did, quick and quiet, and looked back at the pot without saying anything.Aiden was at the table already, sketchbook open, pen moving, not looking up. "What took so long?""Just saying goodbye," I said."He's coming Wednesday though right?" He asked."Yeah he said." I replied."That's good." He added something to the drawing. "Because I told Lukas."I stopped. "You told Lukas?""I tell Lukas everything, Mom," He said. "that's the whole point of a best friend...""What exactly did you tell him?" I tilted my head.He looked up. "Just that my dad was back and that he's tall." A pause. "And that
Nicholas's POV "You don't know what you're saying," she said finally."I know exactly what I'm saying.""Nicholas...""I'm in love with you, Katrina." The words came out steady, steadier than I felt. "I never stopped loving you, not for one day in ten years."She looked at me for a long moment. Something moving behind her eyes that she was working hard to keep off her face."You don't get to say that to me," she said quietly. "You don't get to show up after ten years and tell me you never stopped loving me like that's supposed to mean something...""I'm not saying it to mean something." My voice cracked. "I'm saying it because it's true.""It doesn't matter if it's true." Her voice was still low but the edge in it had sharpened. "You know what was true ten years ago? I was twenty seven years old and I walked into your parents' house thinking..." She stopped and pressed her lips together. "I walked in there thinking maybe things were finally going to change and you sat at that table a
Nicholas's POV Aiden kept talking.I could hear him, though it was muffled, he said something about Coach Peters and a rematch and whether the trip counted as a real vacation or just a very long boat trip. Valeria was correcting him about something. The words were reaching me but none of them were landing.All I could think about was Spencer Ashford sitting in that kitchen this morning.Already there when Aiden woke up. Sitting at her table, drinking her coffee, in her apartment at whatever hour the morning started in this house. Like it was normal. Like it had always been normal and he was in her room.I turned my mug on the table and looked at the garden plan, looked at Aiden's sketch on the napkin, trying to follow the conversation and kept losing the thread of it every time my mind went back to the same place.Him staying sleep over in her room and Aiden said it so casually like it was just another thing Uncle Spence did. Another way Spencer was already woven into every corner of
Nicholas's POV She opened the door and I looked at her face for one second before my eyes went past her.Spencer Ashford was sitting at my children's kitchen table like he'd been doing it his whole life. Aiden pressed against his side, tablet between them. Valeria across from them with some color coded document, pen in hand. They looked warm and easy and completely ordinary.Aiden's head came up and his whole face changed."Dad!"He hit me like a small truck. Both arms locked around my waist, squeezing. I put my hand on the back of his head and held on and looked at the ceiling for a second."Hey, son." I said with a smile."You're exactly on time, I told Val you would be...""I said adults are often late," Valeria said, already walking over. She stopped and held out her hand. I shook it. "Good morning.""Morning, Valeria.""We made a garden plan." She said. "It has nine color codes. Aiden will explain it wrong so I'll do it.""I'm right here," Aiden said."I know." She said flatly.
Scarlett's POV I woke up before my alarm.Spencer was still asleep, one arm thrown over his eyes, breathing slow and even. I lay there for a second just looking at the ceiling. The room felt different having someone sleep like this beside me. That hadn't happened in ten years.I slipped out carefully making sure he didn't wake up.I found my robe, tied it, stood at the door for half a second looking back at him in the grey morning light, and walked out.The kitchen was still dark when I got there. I put the coffee on and stood at the counter listening to it brew and tried to figure out what I was actually feeling. Which honestly I had no idea yet. I did know that I felt like myself in awhile.I poured a mug and sat at the table and looked at the garden.Spencer appeared in the doorway. His shirt from last night. He looked at me.We didn't say anything for a minute. "Hey," he broke the silence."Hey." I said awkwardly."You okay?" He asked."Yeah," I said. "I think I actually am."We
Scarlett's POV "Talk me through what you're seeing."Silence from the observation gallery above. The kind that meant the residents up there was deciding between answering wrong or not answering at all. I kept my hands exactly where they were, the mitral valve exposed, posterior leaflet repairs, an
Nicholas's POV I walked towards them before I could stop myself.Aiden saw me first and his face brighten instantly, He said something to Katrina and pointed directly at me.I watched her go still.She turned slowly and her eyes found mine across the cafeteria and whatever she saw in my face told
Nicholas's POV Abigail knocked twice.I was mid-sentnce on a call when she came through the door. I held up one finger but she shook her head once, which meant whatever she was about to say couldn't wait for whatever I was currently doing. I ended the call."It's your mother," she said. "She's at
Scarlett's POV The elevator was empty.I pressed seven and stood with my back against the wall and looked at my hands which were shaking slightly. I pressed them flat against my thighs and breathed, his voice flashed through my mind and I pressed harder against my thighs and looked at the door and







