Darren shook his head and materialized next to her. Wordlessly, he helped her move around some of the boxes to make room for one more. When his hand touched hers, a jolt of electricity raced up her arm. She ignored it and slammed the trunk shut with a loud thud. Then she spun around to face Darren, studying his smooth, angular face in the dying light.
Behind him, the sun was beginning its descent below the horizon, bathing the world in hues of pink and purple. For a while, the two of them stood at the end of the cobblestoned path, sneaking glances at each other and not saying anything. As soon as Darren’s phone rang, she took a few steps back and ran a hand over her face.
Darren hung up the call a few moments later and cleared his throat. “And that’s my cue. Let me know if you need my help with anything else.”
Sophia shoved both hands into the pocket of her jeans. “Sure.”
“Soph?”
“Hmm?”
Darren blew out a breath. “I really am sorry things worked out this way. I know I keep saying it, but I do mean it.”
Sophia nodded and avoided looking at him.
She waited until Darren got in his car before turning back around and watching him leave. Sophia watched until his car turned into a speck before rounding the corner and disappearing altogether. Then she shuffled back into the cottage, heart twisting painfully as she stood in the doorway and regarded the empty living room. With a sigh, she kicked the door shut withthe back of her leg and then started to remove the last of the picture frames.
Once she was done, she leaned against the wall and let her eyes sweep over the place.
It was so empty and barren, devoid of the usual life and laughter she’d grown used to. Suddenly, she saw the cottage through the same lens she saw the house they’d shared together in Provincetown. Without their kids keeping them together, Sophia and Darren had drifted apart, finding less and less to talk about with each passing day.
Their marriage had died a slow and painful death, and Sophia had fought it all along, but when it eventually became too much, she knew it was time to call it a day. Walking away from Darren was one of the hardest decisions she’d ever had to make, but she did it anyway.
As much for his sake as for hers.
They both deserved to be happy.
And at least the two of them were getting better at dealing with each other and shielding their problems from their kids. Although Zoe, their youngest, seemed to be taking their divorce well and often teased her mom about it, Zac, on the other hand, was a completely different matter.
He’d quit his internship and moved to another continent shortly after the divorce was finalized. Since then, Sophia had felt him drifting further and further away, and nothing she said or did seemed to bridge the gap between them.
She still clung to the hope that she could fix things with her son.
As soon as the last of the boxes were arranged in her car, Sophia took one final look around the cottage and ignored the twinge in her heart. Then she hurried down the narrow path and into her car. Once her seatbelt clicked into place, Ian’s name flashed across the screen. Slowly, she backed out onto the mainstreet and paused to swipe right, allowing her brother’s voice to fill the car.
“You on your way back already?”
Sophia relaxed against the seat and secured her grip on the steering wheel. “Yeah, it didn’t take as long as I thought it would, and I did tell you I’d be back by the end of the day.”
“Yeah, but isn’t it better to stay in the cottage? It’s the weekend anyway, so it’s not like you need to rush back.”
Sophia’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. “I can’t stay there, Ian. The last time we were there was as a family. It was the day we told Zoe and Zac we were going to separate.”
“I’m sorry, Soph. Did Darren give you a hard time today?”
Sophia sighed. “No, he’s getting better at keeping himself in check. So am I.”
“Good. I would hate to have to give him another stern talking to.”
“Like the one you gave my ninth-grade boyfriend. I still don’t think I’ve ever seen someone laugh so hard that they cracked a rib.”
Ian grumbled something under his breath.
“At least it was better than the speech I gave your eleventh-grade girlfriend. I don’t even remember what I told her.”
“Something about how scientists can clone people. I think she got the impression you’d make her disappear and replace her with a clone if she ever hurt me.”
Sophia chuckled. “Yeah, that sounds like me. How are things with Lucy, by the way?”
