“Hey.”
“Hey,” he responded, not looking away from the screen. “Good day at work?”
“Yep. Big day at work?”
“Not really.” Rob closed his laptop, still not looking at her. He packed his laptop into the leather bag Melanie had gifted him a few Christmases ago before slinging it onto his shoulder. “I should get to work.”
“Yeah. Don’t want to be late.”
Melanie sighed to herself. She knew exactly how the next two minutes would play out. Rob walked over to the door, brushing past her without so much as a glance in her direction. Withoutturning around to look, Melanie knew he was in the kitchen getting his favorite energy drink out of the refrigerator. The sound of his keys rattling as he took them off the hook by the garage door was quickly followed by theslamof the door as he left.
It was then Melanie noticed his phone still sitting on his desk. She debated, if only for a split second, whether to tell him. But that wasn’t Melanie. Walking into the office, she picked up the phone. The screen lit up, showing Rob’s new lock screen. The picture was one Melanie hadn’t seen before, one from a snow-covered mountaintop with Rob holding his snowboard over his head.
And someone vaguely reflecting in his goggles.
They hadn’t been snowboarding in years. And even if they had, Melanie knew the brightly colored ski jacket Rob wore wasn’t one she’d seen before. Granted, she also hadn’t seen the huge smile on his face either. She felt a pang of guilt for letting their marriage crumble without trying to save it.
The phone buzzed in her hand, indicating a text.
Are you on your way?
Melanie squinted her eyes at the name.Janet Doka?The name didn’t even remotely sound familiar to her. She tried to recall ever hearing Rob mention the name in his few work stories, but nothing was coming to mind.
She squinted at the tiny circular picture to attempt to make out who the woman was in the photo. Other than being blonde with a big smile, there was nothing much else to note about her. Except for the man kissing her cheek. That was undeniably Rob.
But she couldn’t linger on that too long before the garage door opened again.
“I forgot my phone.”
“You forgot your phone.”
She and Rob both nervously laughed as Rob took his phone from Melanie. He smiled at her briefly before turning to leave again.
Melanie waited until she knew Rob was out of the driveway before moving. She felt guilty for reading his text, even if it wasn’t intentional. They weren’t the kind of couple that kept secrets.
“Ha,” she said aloud in the empty kitchen as she made a quick breakfast of toast and eggs. “Yeah, right.”
The truth of the matter was Melanie had been keeping a huge secret from Rob. Well, notjustRob. From everyone. Even Cameron. Hell, Melanie had only admitted it to herself for the past few weeks.
Despite living in Moonflower Cove for most of her life, Melanie had never identified as part of the queer community until now. It was all new to her, and she wanted to navigate it a bit in private before she announced to the world—and her husband—that she was bisexual. Although she knew Rob wouldn’t mind, she also knew they couldn’t stay married if they ever wanted to be truly happy. Which they hadn’t been in months.
Melanie struggled with blaming herself. It was something she’d been working on in therapy. One day, she would understand that everything that had happened in her life had happened for a reason. Until then, Melanie just had to keep believing that better days were on the horizon.
On the counter, Melanie’s own phone dinged with Cameron’s text message notification. Melanie couldn’t stop the smile from spreading on her lips as she picked up the phone.
I’ve been thinking. Next weekend is too far away. Pizza and movie night with me and the kiddos tonight?
Melanie bit her lip to keep her smile from spreading wider as she typed out a response.
I’d love nothing more. I’ll bring the pizza. Our usual?
Cameron responded almost immediately.
You know us well.
“That I do,” Melanie sarcastically laughed.
As Melanie made breakfast, Lucy and Hank patiently sat side by side a few feet away. They knew Melanie would slip them a bit of an egg sooner rather than later. Hank jumped onto the counter as Melanie scooped the eggs out of the pan and onto a plate. She walked over to their bowls, dividing the eggs into each bowl.
