Going toe to toe with Eric wasn’t going to be easy, and she knew she was going to give something up, but she wasn’t willing to compromise her soul for him.
“You don’t have to bad-mouth him,” Lily reasoned. “But at least defend yourself and tell them the truth. How much have you told them, anyway?”
“I haven’t told them anything,” Amy responded after a long silence. “Regardless of what Eric says or does, I think there are some things that are better left between me and him. We did share a life together, after all, and he is the father of my children.”
No matter how angry or hurt she was, she couldn’t forget who she was dealing with.
Even if Eric himself was all too happy to pretend otherwise.
Her soon-to-be ex-husband was poisoning the well, and she couldn’t do anything to stop him.
“I understand all of that, but you need to tell them the truth. Otherwise, who knows what else he’s going to tell them? You might not have a relationship with them after all of this.”
“I have to believe our relationship is stronger than that.” Amy ran a hand over her face and shuddered. “It has to be.”
Otherwise, she had no idea what she was going to do.
“I’ll talk to them again and try to make them see reason.” Lily exhaled, and Amy could hear the exhaustion in her voice. “I’msorry he’s doing this. Each time I think I’ve come to understand the depth of his cruelty, I’m proven wrong.”
Amy gripped the phone tighter. “It’s not your fault.”
“Yeah, well. Anyway, I should get going. I think the construction crew is calling out for me, so I’d better check in. I’ll talk to you later.”
As soon as Lily hung up, Amy sat back down at the dining room table, the headache in the back of her skull having spread to the rest of her body, making her feel disconnected and lethargic. The low pounding remained as her hand hovered over the keyboard, allowing her to scroll through a few more options. When she was done, she maximized the tab with the Photoshop picture she was working on.
She no longer had any desire to work on it or anything else.
Without meaning to, Lily had soured her mood for the rest of the day.
Hours later, Amy was still thinking about their conversation and wondering if her approach to the whole thing was wrong when she walked into the church and stopped. There were a few people in the pews on either side of her, and moonlight shone through the stained-glass windows over the wooden altar. The smell of incense and lemon followed her as she walked past the pews and pushed a small door open. She took the winding staircase two at a time till she found herself in the cold, airy basement with the same flickering yellow lights overhead.
A single handwoven carpet sat in the middle of the room, an attempt to tie it together.
A few other people were already there, but Emily was nowhere to be found.
Amy wandered over to the refreshment and dessert table and poured herself some iced tea. She was a few sips in when William and Jack Johnson walked in, dressed similarly in their jeans and T-shirts. After a shared smile, Jack wandered over to a group ofpeople who formed a cluster near the windows. William, on the other hand, made a beeline for her. Her stomach did an odd little somersault when he stopped in front of her and reached around her for a drink.
“It’s good to see you again, Amy.”
Amy hid her half smile behind her Styrofoam cup. “You too, William.”
He eyed her over the rim of his cup. “Call me Will. William makes me feel so old.”
Amy lowered her cup. “I know what you mean. It feels like I blinked and turned seventy-one, and I find myself wondering where all the time went.”
William’s lips lifted into a half smile, giving him a boyish and more youthful appearance. “My wife used to say that’s how you know you’ve lived a good life. When you’re so busy living and enjoying it that it all flies by.”
Amy gave a small smile. “Your wife sounds like she was a smart woman.”
William nodded and gestured to the row of foldable chairs in the back. “She was really perceptive sometimes. It was one of the first things I noticed about her.”
“What’s the second thing you noticed?” Amy sat down, crossed one ankle over the other, and placed her purse in the center of her lap. “If you don’t mind my asking.”
“Her smile,” William replied, his caramel-colored eyes adopting that far-off, glazed look. “Laura could put the sun to shame with that smile of hers. I never understood how she did it, but I didn’t care.”
Amy’s stomach tightened as she took another sip of her drink. “It sounds like you really loved her.”
It warmed her heart to hear that some people out there still had normal marriages—full of love and laughter and respect.
