Back To 1981, No More Wife, No More Mother Chapter 03

Back To 1981, No More Wife, No More Mother Chapter 03

After we got back from the city, we sat down for dinner. James waved his hand confidently.

“Three days from now, we’re throwing a backyard barbecue right here to celebrate!”

My hand froze mid-bite of bread. I looked up at him.

“A party? Who’s going to do the grilling?”

James blinked. “Come on, Grace. Don’t be such a buzzkill.”

I kept pushing. ” Who’s gonna make the potato salad? Who’ll wash the dishes and tidy the living room afterward? Most of all, where are we getting money for all this food?”

His face stiffened. ” You’ve still got that piggy bank, haven’t you?”

“That money is for Daniel’s school breakfasts and our monthly mortgage this month!” I shot to my feet.

He brushed it off casually. “My check will be here before long. We can cover the bills later.”

His check?

We’d been married all these years, and he always hoarded every cent he earned. I had to beg him over and over just to get a little for household money.

One day I saw him put a box of premium cut steaks in the fridge. I thought it was a nice surprise for the family. The next day, the steaks were gone.

Instead, Nicole bragged to me about how delicious the steaks she’d had the night before were.

I used to overlook things like that. But now I couldn’t stand them anymore.

I clenched my fists and sneered. “I’ll bet your paycheck all goes to Nicole.”

” I put in work all week long. I have the right to decide where my money goes.” James slammed his hand on the table.

I bit my lip and turned my head away, fighting to hold back my trembling. “I’m not coming to your party. I have a part-time job.”

“What’s the point of that tiny income you scrape up?” James scoffed.

“I covered Daniel’s school breakfasts his entire elementary years! I even bought a brand-new oven for the house!” I shouted. “What have you ever done for this family?”

Caught off guard by my sharp questions, he looked thoroughly sheepish.

But Daniel set his bowl in the sink, walked to the living room doorway, and said to me, ” Suit yourself, then. No party it is. You’re such a stick-in-the-mud., Mom.”

He kicked over the garbage can, let the rubbish spill across the floor, and bolted out of the house.

“We’ll find another way to celebrate!” he yelled from outside on purpose.

I covered my mouth and sank onto the sofa, my body shaking with exhaustion.

The next day, gossip started spreading around town.

“Hey, did you hear? James is throwing a party to celebrate getting into college!”

“But didn’t Grace get rejected?”

“James is throwing it for Nicole. You know how it is — they’ve always been more than just neighbors.”

“Ha! I even saw James buying Nicole new clothes. They sat on a bench together, chatting about how great life in the city will be. They didn’t even notice me walk by.”

By evening, Nicole showed up at our door with red, swollen eyes.

“Grace, I trusted you completely. How could you go around spreading rumors about me and your husband?”

“Are you just jealous I got into college? Why would you hurt me in the worst way possible?”

“I’ll even step aside and let you take my college spot. Just stop ruining my reputation!”

James held her tight, his eyes red with sympathy. Daniel stood between Nicole and me, staring at me with a look of suspicion and disgust.

Nicole sobbed against James’s chest, barely able to catch her breath.

James whirled around and glared at me, his eyes blazing.

“Grace Whitman! Nicole got into college because she deserved it. You didn’t.”

“I didn’t spread anything,” I said calmly, meeting his eyes.

“Then who did? You’re just green with envy over Nicole’s acceptance!” James ground his teeth in fury.

Daniel picked up a crumpled ball of paper from the trash and threw it at me.

“No wonder Dad’s had enough of you!”

“You mess everything up!”

” Quit playing the victim card.”

Every word he spoke sliced right through my heart.

I stared at Daniel’s face, twisted with anger, and my heart lurched. Past-life memories crashed over me in a tidal wave

In that other life, James and Nicole got into a car accident on their way to drop her off at college. Both were killed instantly in the crash.

Before I left to deal with the news, I left Daniel with Mrs. Turner next door. But when I came back, exhausted and heartbroken, with James’s death notice in hand, I found out Daniel had disappeared.

In just a few days, I’d lost my husband and my child. I was utterly hopeless that I stood by the river many times, ready to end it all.

But every time, I thought of Daniel waiting for me to save him. I forced myself to keep going.

I worked four separate part-time jobs every single day and traveled from city to city, searching for him.

Then I was hit by a truck. I became permanently disabled and scavenging for garbage to get by.

But I never stopped looking for him.

Finally, I got in touch with one of James’s cousins and found Daniel. But by then I was so sick I could barely leave my hospital bed.

And in the end, I didn’t get a warm reunion with Daniel. I got his mockery. He told me that James and Nicole had taken him in years ago, and he’d lived a good life for twenty years.

All my sacrifice. All my pain. Every hardship hammered away at my soul relentlessly.