Chapter 9 - FRIDAY NIGHT
My stomach dropped.
“Stopped him from what?”
Mason exhaled.
“Nothing happened the way you’re probably imagining.”
“That is not a comforting way to start.”
“I know.”
“Mason.”
“Last night we were drinking by the fire.”
Dad was upstairs with the girls.
I gripped the kitchen counter.
“Go on.”
“Leah and Brandon were talking. Mostly about college.”
“Mostly?”
“She kept bringing up old stuff.”
“What kind of old stuff?”
“How close they used to be.”
Of course.
“I told Brandon he should shut it down.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
My jaw tightened.
“What happened?”
“Leah kissed him.”
I stopped breathing.
For a second, the house disappeared.
There was only Mason’s voice.
“Did he kiss her back?”
A pause.
That pause answered me.
“Mason.”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
“How long?”
“A few seconds.”
I laughed.
He sounded confused.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m laughing because men always use time like it changes what happened.”
“Audrey—”
“Five seconds. Five minutes. What difference does it make?”
“He stopped it.”
“After kissing her back.”
“Yes.”
“Then what?”
“He went inside.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because he isn’t going to.”
That hurt in a different way.
“He told you that?”
“He said it would only upset you.”
I wiped my face.
“How thoughtful.”
Mason continued.
“I told him he needed to go home today after you said Sadie was sick.”
“What did he say?”
“That you were overreacting.”
Of course.
“I lost it.”
“What happened?”
“I told him he’d spent six months complaining about how tired he was when you were the one getting up with the girls.”
My eyes opened.
“You knew that?”
“I stayed at your house in April, remember?”
I did.
One night.
Apparently one night had been enough.
“You got up three times,” Mason said. “Brandon never moved.”
I couldn’t speak.
“I thought maybe it was just that night. Then this weekend…”
His voice trailed off.
“What?”
“He keeps talking about being trapped.”
Something inside me hardened.
“Trapped.”
“Yeah.”
“By me?”
“By the babies. Marriage. Responsibility. I don’t know.”
I looked toward the stairs.
My daughters were sleeping upstairs.
Two tiny human beings who smiled when Brandon walked into a room.
Two babies who trusted him completely.
And he described them as a trap.
“Mason.”
“Yeah?”
“Why did Brandon really want this trip?”
Silence.
Then:
“Leah.”
I went still.
“What?”
“I don’t think he planned to cheat.”
“That sentence is getting popular today.”
“I mean it.”
“Then explain.”
Mason hesitated.
“Leah mentioned in the group chat a month ago that she might be in Tennessee that weekend.”
My skin went cold.
“Before Brandon confirmed he was going?”
“Yes.”
“How soon after?”
“About twenty minutes.”
I closed my eyes.
He hadn’t simply discovered his ex would be there.
He had chosen to go after finding out.
“Send me the messages.”
“I will.”
“And Mason?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“I’m sorry.”
When we hung up, screenshots began arriving.
One after another.
Then I reached one exchange that made my chest hurt.
Leah:
You still owe me that drink from senior year.
Brandon:
Might finally collect.
Leah:
Does the wife approve?
Brandon:
The wife doesn’t need a minute-by-minute itinerary.
I stared at that sentence until Dad came downstairs.
He saw my face.
“Oh, Audrey.”
I handed him the phone.
He read it.
Then placed it carefully on the counter.
He looked angry.
Furious, actually.
But his voice remained calm.
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
I looked at him.
“No. I know what everyone expects me to do.”
“That’s different.”
I sank into a chair.
“What if I leave and regret it?”
Dad pulled out the chair across from me.
“What if you stay for the wrong reason and regret that?”
I didn’t answer.
He leaned back.
“You don’t need to decide your whole life tonight.”
I nodded.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from Brandon.
I’m coming home tomorrow instead of Sunday. We need to talk.
I read it twice.
May you like
Then Mason texted separately.
He isn’t coming home because he decided to. We told him the weekend was over.
