I Returned Our Home While He Toured With Her Chapter 04

I Returned Our Home While He Toured With Her Chapter 04

Saturday morning, I made breakfast, scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, the works. “Kyler, can you stay home today?”

I set the plate in front of him. All his favorites.

“Why? What’s up?”

“I just want you to spend the day with me.”

He looked a little surprised. “Sure. I’ve got nothing going on.”

“Really?”

“Really. What do you want to do?”

“Nothing. Just stay in.”

“Okay.” He smiled and sat down to eat. I sat across from him, trying to memorize his face.

“Kyler.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you love me?”

His fork paused over his plate. “Why are you asking me that all of a sudden?”

“I want to hear you say it. Just once.”

“I’m marrying you. What do you think?”

“Marriage and love aren’t the same thing.”

“What’s with you today?”

“I just want to hear you say it yourself.”

He set his fork down and looked at me. “Wren, of course I—”

His phone rang. He glanced at the screen. “It’s Seraphina.”

“Don’t answer.”

“Let me just check.” He swiped. “She says a pipe burst. Her place is flooding.”

“She can call the super.”

“It’s the weekend. Nobody’s gonna pick up.”

“Then call an emergency plumber.”

“By the time someone gets there, the whole place will be trashed.” He stood up. “I’ll go handle it. I’ll be quick.”

“Kyler, you promised you’d stay home today.”

“I know, but this is an emergency.”

“You always say it’s an emergency.”

“A burst pipe, I can’t just ignore it.”

“What about me?”

“What about you? You’re fine.”

I’m fine. He always thought I was fine. Seraphina’s burst pipe was an emergency. My broken heart wasn’t.

Our first year, when he told me he loved me, he said, “Wren, I want to spend my life with you.” That day, he took me for beef noodles and promised we’d come back every anniversary.

The second anniversary, he forgot.

The third year, I reminded him. He said, “It’s just a bowl of noodles. We can go another time.”

The fourth and fifth years, I stopped mentioning it. He never remembered.

“Go.”

“One hour, tops. Then I’m back.” He grabbed his coat and toolbox, paused at the door, and looked back. “Don’t be mad.”

The door clicked shut.

One hour passed. Two. Three. I called.

“Almost done. Pipe’s fixed, but there’s water everywhere. I’m mopping it up.”

“When are you coming back?”

“Soon.”

Another hour. He texted: [Seraphina says thanks for letting me come. She’s taking me to lunch. I’ll head back after.]

I didn’t reply.

He texted again: [Go ahead and eat. Don’t wait up.]

I sat in the living room, staring at the cold breakfast on the table. The eggs had gone rubbery, the toast stiff as cardboard.

I’d asked him if he loved me. He never finished the sentence. Because Seraphina’s call mattered more than my question.

I stood up and walked into the bedroom. Opened the closet and pulled out two suitcases.

I really didn’t have much in this home. One suitcase for clothes, half a suitcase for books and odds and ends. On the bathroom counter, my things amounted to a toothbrush and a bottle of facial cleanser.

Seraphina had more here than I did. Canvas sneakers, a jacket, a mug, a tube of lipstick.

I slid off my engagement ring and set it on the coffee table. Next to it, I lined up the five fridge magnets in a row. Then I left a note.

“Kyler, I canceled the home purchase. Ring’s yours. The fridge magnets too. Find someone else for the honeymoon.”

I wheeled my suitcases to the entryway and looked back one last time. The dent on the couch where he always sat. Seraphina’s coaster on the coffee table. Her strawberry yogurt in the fridge. Her canvas sneakers on the shoe rack. This home was covered in traces of him and her. My traces? Two suitcases packed it all away.

I pulled the door gently shut—didn’t lock it.

Downstairs, a rideshare was waiting. The driver helped with my bags. “Where to, miss?”

“Train station.”

As the car pulled out of the complex, I didn’t look back. I put my phone on silent.

Three hours later, the high-speed rail arrived. New city. No one waiting at the exit. But this time, I didn’t care.

I turned my phone back on. Messages flooded in.