He froze. “Where did you get that?”
“Charles kept it. All these years. Did you threaten him? Did you force him to leave me?”
“Charles?”
I held up the letter.
“Yes, he’s my son’s coach.”
My father looked away.
“I was protecting you.”
“Protecting me? You destroyed my life!”
“I wanted you to have opportunities! Charles was a nobody from a poor family with no future. You deserved better.”
“Better? I married a man who cheated on me and left me for another woman. I’ve been raising Daniel alone ever since. Is that the ‘better’ you wanted for me, Dad?”
“I didn’t know that would happen.”
“Charles was a nobody from a poor family with no future.”
“Because you thought you could control my life.”
“I did what any father would do. I protected my daughter from making a mistake.”
“Loving Charles wasn’t a mistake. Listening to you was.”
I turned and walked away.
“Grace, wait…”
I didn’t look back. I got in my car and drove home.
When I pulled into my driveway, I froze. There was a car parked in front of my house.
I recognized it immediately.
There was a car parked in front of my house.
“Why now?” I cried. “Why would fate be this cruel?”
My ex-husband, Mark, was sitting on my porch.
“What are you doing here?”
He stood up. “Grace, we need to talk.”
“We have nothing to talk about.”
“Please. Just hear me out.”
I crossed my arms. “You have five minutes.”
My ex-husband, Mark, was sitting on my porch.
“I made a mistake. I want to come back. I want us to be a family again.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“You left us for another woman.”
“I know. And I’m sorry. But it didn’t work out with her. And I realize now what I lost. I want to fix this.”
“So you want to come back because your backup plan didn’t work out?”
“That’s not fair.”
“Fair? You abandoned your son when he needed you most. You left me to pick up the pieces.”
“I want to come back.”
“I know. And I want to make it right.”
I took a deep breath, trying to calm the rage building in my chest.
“Fine. You can stay. In the guest room. Until we figure things out. But this doesn’t mean we’re back together. It means you get a chance to prove you’re not the same selfish man who walked out on us.”
***
Two days later, Daniel came home from the hospital.
He was on crutches, but his spirits were slightly better until he saw his father standing there.
“Dad? Mom… what is he doing here?”
His spirits were slightly better until he saw his father standing there.
“He’s staying with us for a while, sweetie. Until we figure things out.”
Mark tried to help him out of the car, but Daniel pulled away.
“I got it, Dad.”
***
That night at dinner, the tension was unbearable.
Mark tried to make conversation. “So, Daniel, maybe when you’re healed up, we can throw a ball around.”
Daniel set down his fork. “I can’t play sports anymore. My knee’s permanently damaged.”
“Right. Sorry. I forgot.”
Daniel looked at me.
“He’s staying with us for a while, sweetie.”
“Mom, can Coach Charles visit tomorrow?”
Mark didn’t like that. “Why do you need to see your coach?”
“Because he actually cares about me.”
“I care about you.”
“Where were you for the past three years then?”
Mark’s face went red. “I’m here now. I’m trying.”
“You’re only here because you had nowhere else to go. Mom told me everything.”
“Daniel, that’s not true.”
“Why do you need to see your coach?”
“Mom, you should’ve married someone like Coach Charles. Someone who actually shows up. Not someone who abandons his family the second things get hard.”
Mark slammed his hand on the table.
“That’s ENOUGH! I won’t be disrespected in my own house!”
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