it’s all going to be gone!”
I blamed Aaron for this and hated Angie because of it. Just thinking about what those two did made me angrier now than what I felt on Saturday. She played a big part in this mess and it was time I confronted her. Not by choice, her phone number was embedded in my brain, and I had no trouble remembering it as I dialed. I was so nervous that my hands were shaking like crazy as the phone rang.
“Aaron?” she asked, her voice edgy and jumpy.
“No, it’s Kate.”
There was dead silence at the other end the moment my name was said. Not sure if she hung up or not, I continued. “I’m assuming you’re aware that I know about Aaron and you. How dare you come on to my husband, especially after having your own husband cheat on you? Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me and my family?”
She was still quiet, not saying anything back.
“I don’t know how you can look yourself in the mirror. I pity you and I pity your poor children,” I went on, my voice rising.
Again, she said nothing. Her silence infuriated me.
“You are such a coward!” I finally said and hung up.
Although it felt good to get that off of my chest, I wasn’t happy with how I handled the situation. I have never in my life been a mean, hurtful or angry person, but these last forty-eight hours I have been. Plus, I felt like a coward. A strong person would have confronted Angie in person and made her look me in the eyes and tell me the truth. But no, not me, I called her on the phone, said stupid things and then hang up. Ashamed, I grabbed some boxes and sadly walked upstairs to start packing.
The doorbell rang while I was in my bedroom. Hesitantly, I peaked out the window to see who it was. Recognizing the car in the driveway, I hurried out of my room and down the stairs. Opening the door, I stared at the one man who I knew loved me more than life itself and who would go to hell and back to protect me.
“Dad,” I said, fighting back the tears.
He didn’t say a word, but wrapped his arms around me. I felt like a little girl again, desperately needing my dad’s hug to reassure me everything was going to be okay.
He pulled back and lifted my chin up. “Kate, it’s going to get worse before it gets better, but always remember everything happens for a reason and God wouldn’t give you anything He didn’t know you could handle.”
“God must be thinking I’m stronger than I really am,” I couldn’t help but to say.
My comment put a smile on Dad’s face.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Do you mind helping me pack the girls’ and my clothes?”
“Not at all.”
With Dad’s help, we had everything I wanted to take for the time being packed up and loaded in my car and his truck.
“I wonder what the neighbors are thinking.” Dad said when we put the last box in his truck.
“The nosey old lady across the street probably can’t wait to go to the Sweet Shop and tell her friends.”
“She’s probably on the phone now watching us as we speak. Want me to moon her?”
My dad always had a way of making me laugh, even when I wanted to cry.
We then left my house and headed to their house. Dad’s brother and sister lived in Indiana, so he fixed the upstairs of their three-car detached garage so they would have a place to stay when in town. It was very nice with a fairly large open living room, bar/kitchen area, full bathroom and two bedrooms that were located on each side of a wall with a fireplace on it. Last year, Mom and Dad remodeled and had me paint and decorate it. I remember thinking to myself when I finished that it was almost nicer than my own house. Now, sadly, it was going to be my home.
“Aren’t you going to have the girls’ share a room and you sleep in the other one?” Dad asked when I put Jenna’s boxes in one of the bedrooms and Mia’s in the other.
“No, I want this transition to be as smooth as possible for them, so I’m going to let them each have their own room, and I’ll sleep on the couch. I figured I could put Mia’s clothes in the dresser and use the closet for my things.”
“Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Yes, I’m afraid it’ll be World War III if they have to share a room.”
He shook his head in agreement. “Even though there’s seven years difference between them, they do pick at each other a lot.”
I laughed. “I know. I think I’m getting paid back for the way me, Kellie and Kristie fought.”
“I always warned you three girls that what goes around comes around.”
“Well, it’s definitely going around,” I kidded.
It was around three-thirty in the afternoon when we finished. Dad had an appointment, so he left. I still had a few small boxes yet to get at my house, and dreaded going back there. Aaron had made no attempt to contact me today, which left many unanswered questions. Did he go to the house this morning to stop me, but I was already gone? Or is he happy that I’m finally leaving and was waiting for me to get the last of my things out, before coming home for good? His absence today told me it was probably the latter of the two.
Before going to my house though, there was one more thing I needed to do. Lying on the living room floor was a plastic storage container full of family pictures and home videos from over the years, along with a small red velvet ring box. Doing it more for spite than closure, I slid my wedding ring off and tucked it safely in the ring box, leaving on only my gold anniversary band. I contemplated taking that off also, but this was one thing my stubbornness couldn’t convince my heart to do.
Putting the container on the top shelf of the closet, I shut the door and walked away from the last eighteen years of my life.
Chapter 11
“Something happened between you and Dad, didn’t it?” Jenna asked when I picked her and Mia up from Kellie’s.
I glanced in the back seat at Mia, whose eyes were already shut. Afraid I would start crying if I spoke, I just shook my head “yes” to Jenna.
“Are you two getting a divorce?”
Her question took me completely off guard. With tears filling my eyes, I shrugged my shoulders, not knowing the answer to that myself. She started crying then. Seeing her like that, hurt me so much, and I quickly embraced her.
“Is it something I did?” she asked, her lip quivering.
“Oh, no, Jenna, no, no,” I repeated. “This has nothing to do with anybody but your dad and me.”
She didn’t seem convinced and was quiet the entire way home, but when we pulled into the third bay of Mom and Dad’s garage, her eyes lit up a bit. All of the grandkids loved having sleepovers up here with Mom and Dad,
