He Cheated For Three Years And Asked Me To Save Her Baby Chapter 10

He Cheated For Three Years And Asked Me To Save Her Baby Chapter 10

I opened the door anyway.

He held a cake box from my favorite bakery.

It was raining, but the cake hadn’t gotten wet.

He had no umbrella.

He was soaked through.

Mom stepped in front of me.

“What are you doing here?”

Calloway didn’t hide from her.

He stood in the rain and looked at my mother.

“Mom.”

“I’m not your mother.”

Mom cut him off.

“Don’t call me that.”

He was silent for a moment.

“Mrs. Holloway.”

He corrected himself.

“I just want to say a few words to Maren.”

“There’s nothing to say.”

Mom started to close the door.

I put my hand over hers.

“Mom, it’s okay.”

She turned back to me.

“Mare.”

“It’s really okay.”

I gave her a small smile.

She looked at the for a few seconds, then released the handle.

Dad came over and stood beside her.

The two of them filled the doorway like a wall.

I turned sideways and stepped out onto the porch.

The rain was still falling.

Calloway stood below the steps, looking up at me.

“You’ve lost weight,” he said.

“So have you.”

A car passed on the street, splashing water along the curb.

“It’s your birthday.”

He held the cake out.

“I remembered you like strawberry shortcake.”

I looked at the box.

Every year on my birthday, he used to buy strawberry cake from that bakery.

He said other places didn’t use fresh strawberries.

Later, I wondered if remembering those things meant he had truly cared, or if it had simply become

habit.

Just like he remembered Blythe was afraid of pain.

Just like he remembered what Blythe liked.

He remembered mine too.

Maybe he was just used to being attentive to every woman he wanted to keep.

“No, thanks,” I said, “My mom made birthday lasagna.”

His hand froze in midair.

“Maren.”

I cut him off.

“The rain’s getting worse. Go home.”

Rain fell on his hair, his shoulders, and the cake box in his hands.

His eyes reddened.

“I did a lot of things. I said a lot of things.”

“Every single one of them was unforgivable.”

“I know I don’t deserve to ask.”

“But I’m asking anyway.”

Water dripped from his hair onto the porch steps.

“Is there any chance you could let me try again?”

I looked at him.

I thought of so many things.

The day he pulled me away from the courthouse and told me never to cry again.

The night he knelt on one knee, slid a ring onto my finger, and promised he would never let me

suffer again.

The moment he crouched beside the couch and wiped my tears away.

Then told me Blythe was the woman he loved most.

He had done the gentlest things in the world.

And the cruelest.

“Calloway.”

He lifted his head.

“I gave the marrow.”

“The baby is gone.”

“The marriage is over.’

“You got everything you wanted. And everything you didn’t want is gone too.”

His lips trembled.

“Maren…”

“There is nothing left between us.

“Go.”

He stood there as rain ran down his face.

Dad came out of the house.

He was holding an umbrella.

I thought he was going to hand it to Calloway.

Instead, he opened it over my head.

“Sweetheart, come inside.”

“Your pasta’s getting cold.”

He didn’t even look at Calloway.

I turned and walked back in.

Mom stood by the door, her eyes

She didn’t say anything.

red.

She only pulled me inside and closed the door.

The moment the door shut, I heard Calloway’s voice from outside.

“Maren Holloway.”

“Happy birthday.”

I didn’t turn back.

At the table, the birthday lasagna was still warm, the cheese bubbling at the edges.

Mom handed me the fork.

“Eat before it gets cold.”

I sat down and twirled a forkful of pasta.

Tears fell into the bowl.

Mom didn’t speak.

She sat beside me and patted my back, one slow stroke after another.

Outside, the rain came down harder.

It struck the windows in sharp, uneven bursts.

I took a long time to finish that bowl of pasta.

And by the time I finished, the man outside the window was gone.