جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

When I pushed open the gate, the backyard was buzzing with noise.Someone in the crowd shouted, "Kiss! Kiss!"I stopped short and looked over.Delia Fairbrook stood at the center of the crowd, kissing the man in her arms with deep affection. Calvin Reddick held a glass of wine nearby, smiling as though he could not have been happier for them.Just then, my daughter, Poppy Wheeler, ran out of the house clutching a toy car, threw herself into the man's arms, and called out sweetly, "Papa!"The laughter in the yard died at once.Calvin was the first to notice me, and his face froze.Delia looked over too, and her expression darkened instantly. She walked up to me and kept her voice low. "What are you doing here?"I did not answer and only looked at her. "Am I not allowed to be here?"The man looked at me and asked sternly, "I was about to ask you the same thing. Who are you?"I had been with Delia for seven years, and our daughter was already five, yet he was asking me who I was

After I told her I wanted a clean break, Delia did not panic. She simply leaned back against the couch, as though she had finally gotten me to give in.Poppy was even happier. She turned and ran back to her room to pack, her little slippers slapping against the floor. "I'm bringing my robot! And the new clothes Papa bought me!"I stood by the doorway and watched her dump her old backpack on the floor and stuff her toys into it one by one.I had bought her little jacket at a thrift store last year. The cuff was torn, so I stayed up until midnight stitching it back together. When she put it on, she hugged me and said I was the best daddy ever. Now, she did not even glance at it.Delia pulled a card from her wallet and set it on the coffee table. "Take this.""What's this supposed to mean?" I asked."You don't need to work at the restaurant anymore." Her tone softened a little, as if she were granting me some dignity out of charity. "I'll send you money every month. Just stop making

By the time I reached Solenne Valley, the sun had just come up.Dragging my suitcase past the drivers hustling for fares outside the station, I found the cheapest motel I could. The room was tiny, and the corners of the walls were damp. I locked the door behind me, sat on the edge of the bed, and turned on my phone.A string of missed calls popped up. There were more than 20 from Delia, more than a dozen from Calvin, and even two from Dad. I looked at them for a while, then turned my phone off again.That afternoon, I went to a carrier store, canceled my old number, and got a new one.The employee asked, "Are you sure you don't want to keep your old number?"I nodded. "I'm sure."At first, I washed dishes in the kitchen of a small restaurant.The owner looked me over. "Meals included, 3,000 dollars a month. Want the job?"I agreed right away.The kitchen was always thick with steam, and the floor was slippery year-round. Whenever my old leg injury flared up, I leaned on the si

Delia did not leave Solenne Valley right away. The next day, she brought Poppy to the bed and breakfast again.Poppy walked up to me and held out a bag of fruit candies. "Daddy, these are for you."I glanced at them. "I don't eat candy."Her hand froze in midair. "But you used to say they were yummy.""That was because you liked them, so I ate them with you," I said flatly.She lowered her head, and the tears came spilling down.Delia's voice turned stern. "Simon, don't treat her like this."I closed the guest log. "Then how should I treat her? Like before, when I let everything go the second she starts crying?""She's still little," she said.I looked at Poppy. "She is little, and that's why I don't hate her. But when my hearing aid got crushed, the pain I felt was real too."Poppy's head snapped up, and she cried, "Daddy, I didn't mean to!""Then why did you step on it?" I asked.She sobbed between her words. "Papa said it was ugly and that it made you look like an old gr

Six months later, my life had settled down a lot.Mark put me in charge of part of the operations. I got a raise and moved into a new place, which had a small balcony. I bought two potted plants and set them by the window.On payday, I went out and bought myself a new jacket. When I got home, I washed my old work uniform, folded it, and put it away in the closet.I had not forgotten those hard days. They just could not weigh me down anymore.Ingrid was the same as ever. She never pried into my past, and she never expected anything in return for looking out for me.Once, Mark joked that she had been waiting for me for a long time.Ingrid only said, "He doesn't owe anyone an answer just because they've been waiting."I kept my head down and sorted the receipts, but the corner of my mouth still twitched upward. I had never known that being respected like that could slowly put a person at ease.Meanwhile, Delia was not having an easy time.Jensen had completely turned on her, and