“Morning, Dad,” I said as I walked by him.

He jumped, as if startled. “Morning, Caley. I didn’t see you come in.”

I laughed as I put my purse under the counter. “I walked right in front of you. Were you lost in your head again?”

“Aren’t I always?” he mumbled before heading back to the coffee pot. “Did you talk to your mother this morning?”

“Nope.” I started turning on the computers.

“I forgot how tense things had been with you two before you left home.” He returned to the counter.

“Well, I didn’t. I knew she’d be like this.” I shrugged, as if it were no big deal, but we both knew her attitude had hurt me more than once over the years. “I’ll be out of her hair soon enough. I’ll start looking this week for cheap places to stay.”

My dad shook his head. “Don’t rush because of her. You’re going through enough right now. Don’t add more stress to your plate.”

I simply nodded, unsure of what else to say. My dad patted me on the shoulder before heading back to his office. I watched him go, wondering just how much my decision was bothering him.

My dad had always been one to let me make my own choices, rarely giving me his opinion. He had one hell of a poker face. I could never read him. But the way he’d looked when I walked in…well, that bothered me. I had a sinking feeling that my life choices were causing him stress, something he already had enough of.

I sighed. There was nothing I could say to reassure him that I would be okay. The only thing I could do was pretend to be okay with the way things were, even when I felt like falling apart. Maybe if he saw that I was handling things well, he wouldn’t worry as much.

The morning went by at a snail’s pace. I had a few customers but not enough to keep my mind occupied.

Instead, my thoughts turned to Joey. He had been so angry with me, not that I could blame him, but his anger wouldn’t help either of us. I wanted a divorce. How could we work together to settle everything if he hated me? The honest answer was, we couldn’t. I needed to talk to him, make him understand that separating was the best choice for both of us.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent him a text.

We need to talk about all of this, Joey. Can you call me when you get a chance, please?

If I’d expected a response right away, I was sorely disappointed. I stared at my phone for a few minutes, willing it to show Joey’s name. When it didn’t, I finally gave up and put it back into my pocket.

All morning and afternoon, I checked my phone every once in a while to see if he’d responded. Each time, disappointment filled me. It wasn’t until a few minutes before three that I finally got a response. It wasn’t one that I’d wanted.

Go fuck yourself.

“Well, we’re off to a good start,” I muttered under my breath.

We need to talk. You know we do. Put aside your anger for five minutes, and talk with me. You’re not only making this harder on us, but you’re making it harder for Amelia, too.

I looked up when the front door opened. Ethan walked in, his eyes instantly meeting mine. I gave him a weak smile, one he didn’t return, as he walked behind the counter.

“Hi,” I said a little too cheerfully, trying to sound like nothing had occurred between us.

He didn’t say anything. Instead, he pulled me into his arms and hugged me hard. Shocked, I froze for a moment before hugging him back.

“Hi,” he finally said as we pulled away from each other. “You had me worried yesterday when I didn’t hear from you.”

“Sorry,” I said. “I was dealing with Joey and then my mom. Things didn’t go well with either of them.”

He glanced back at my dad’s office door. “What did your dad say?”

I shrugged. “He just wants me to be happy. I don’t think this came as much of a shock to him. He’s with me every single day, and he knows how miserable I’ve been. He’s even going to help me find an apartment, so I don’t have to stay with them for long. My mom and I would kill each other if we had to be together for more than a few weeks.”

He frowned. “You get shit on, no matter what you do or where you go.”

“Life’s funny like that, I guess.” I shrugged again. “One day, all of this will be a distant memory. I just have to keep remembering that.”

“You’re right.” He paused. “How bad was Joey?”

“Bad. He kicked me out of our apartment and called me a bad name, not that I’d expected anything less. I haven’t talked to him since yesterday when I went home. I texted him earlier today, but he’s not in the best of moods with me.” I showed him my phone, which still had the texts from Joey on the screen.

“He’s a fucking prick.” Ethan growled. “He has no right to speak to you like that just because you got tired of his bullshit.”

“I’m not worried about it. He’ll come around once he cools down. If not, I guess I’ll file for divorce on my own. He might be able to ignore me, but he can’t ignore those papers.”

“When are you going to file?”

“If he answers me back, I plan on filing once we have everything sorted out. I mean, we don’t own that much, but there’s the whole custody thing. I want us to come to an agreement on that. If he decides to keep ignoring me, I’ll go to the courthouse at the end of the week.” I paused. “The courthouse is where I’m supposed to go, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I remember my parents going up there to file for divorce when I was younger.”

“I figured it would be since that’s where we had to go to get our marriage license.”

Ethan glanced up at the clock. “I guess I’d better head back to the shop before the guys think I’m a no-show.”

“Okay,” I said, disappointed that he was leaving me already.

He pulled me close and kissed the top of my head. “No matter what, you’ve got me, Caley. Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t,” I said as he released me.

He gave me one last smile before heading back to the shop. I sighed, hating how much I depended on him. Ethan was so young, younger than I was, and I had been dumping a hell of a lot on his shoulders.

When I turned around to walk back into the parts room, my father was standing in the doorway leading to his office, watching me. His eyes flashed to the shop door where Ethan had just disappeared through before he looked back to me.

“Did you need something?” I asked.

He walked to the counter where I was standing. “I know you’re going through a lot right now, but don’t let that cloud your judgment.”

I gave him a questioning look. “What do you mean?”

“Ethan. He seems like a good man, but that doesn’t mean he is. You’re vulnerable right now. I don’t want him to take advantage of you.”

“Ethan? Take advantage of me?” I laughed. “Dad, you couldn’t be further from the truth. He’s my friend, and he’s helping me deal with everything.”

“Just promise me that you’ll be careful with your…friend,” he said, his voice firm.

“I promise, I’ll be careful, but I assure you that you have absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to Ethan.”

“I hope not,” my father mumbled, his eyes moving to the door again. “For his sake, I sure as hell hope not.”

The rest of the week had passed by quickly, turning into a routine. I’d wake up, go to work, text Joey, receive either complete silence or rude texts back, speak with Ethan, and go home. At home, I would do my best to avoid my mother. So far, we’d managed not to get into any more fights—but just barely.