to have her little mobile and her little stuffed animals so she won’t know right away that her mother is gone.” His sigh was deep and ragged. “I feel so awful for Elise. She’s sweet and innocent, and her mother just up and abandoned her. Girls need their mothers. She just lost hers.” He hung his head.
“Max, you are a good person and a wonderful father, and Gretchen is a fool.”
Max stood up. Together, he and Reese walked into the house. Reese thought her heart would break as she watched Max scoop up his baby and cuddle her. She touched his arm. “We’ll check on you in the morning, okay?”
Max nodded. “Okay. Tell Isaac goodnight. I need to go home right now; otherwise, I’d stick around to see him.”
“Don’t worry about that. He’s off somewhere cooling down. He’ll understand because he’s your friend.”
Once again, Max nodded. After whispering a barely audible thank-you, he shuffled out the door toward his empty house. Reese watched him go, blurred through her tears, then wiped her eyes and set out to find Isaac. She checked every room of the house to no avail. Puzzled, she tried the garage. The instant she opened the door and stepped in, her nose was assaulted by the strong smell of cigarette smoke. “What on earth?” she muttered to herself. Louder, she called, “Isaac?” but was met with silence.
Her heart began to beat hard in her chest. Isaac hadn’t answered her call. Isaac didn’t smoke. Who the hell was in her garage, and where was Isaac? Had he been knocked out by this intruder? Her adrenaline surged, preparing her to defend herself, her family, and her home. The light was on, and she could see the cigarette smoke emanating from the back of the garage. It looked like the intruder must be sitting on the floor smoking. Her heart continued to pound, banging loudly in her ears. She slunk along the wall, grabbed Dominic’s baseball bat, and crept slowly toward the smoker. Her eyes trained on the cigarette smoke, she looked down only occasionally and then only briefly to step quietly over such obstacles as a bike pump and rollerblades. When she reached the end of her segment of the wall, she leaned her head back, raised the bat, took a deep breath, and pivoted quickly around the corner.
“Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my garage? Get out!” Reese screamed as menacingly as she could muster. She started to swing the bat toward the intruder on the ground, but gasped and abruptly moved it to the side so it hit a bin of Dominic’s toys rather than the man on the floor.
“Isaac! What…Why…Uh, could you explain yourself please?”
Isaac smiled. Or was that a sneer? Reese was fairly certain that he was sneering. He stopped sneering as he inhaled deeply, drawing smoke into his lungs and holding it for several seconds before blowing it out in Reese’s direction.
“Isaac!” she repeated, furious. “Since when do you smoke?”
“Since when are you such a nag?”
“What?!”
When he just shrugged and took another puff, Reese fumed. “Isaac Bittman, I have no idea what has gotten into you. Seriously. You scared the hell out of me outside with your yelling and physical violence. Just a moment ago, you didn’t answer me when I called you, making me think that we had an intruder who had already hurt you, you’re smoking, and you’re being an asshole. I don’t want to deal with this right now. I need to focus on Max and Elise.” She watched Isaac direct another long stream of smoke at her. “Do you have anything intelligent to say, or are you just going to sit there blowing smoke at me?”
After exhaling yet another breath of smoke, Isaac said in the same low pitch he had been using since he became angry at Gretchen, “One, don’t be such a goddamn wuss. I wasn’t hurting you outside, and why the hell would there be an intruder smoking in the garage? Two, you didn’t call my name, so why should I answer? Three, yeah, I’m smoking. So what? And four, I’m not being an asshole. You’re just too sensitive.” As he talked, he lit another cigarette off the one he had finished, and he inhaled deeply after his last word.
“To hell with you, Isaac. I’m going to bed. But I guarantee you, this isn’t over.” With that, she spun on her heels and stomped to the door. She dropped the bat, its clank reverberating off the concrete, turned off the lights, and slammed the door behind her as she stormed inside.
After checking on Dominic, Reese prepared for bed, crawled in, buried herself deep among the covers, and sobbed. This had probably been the worst day of her entire life, and she couldn’t contain her emotions any longer. Lost in her tears and her devastation, she didn’t hear Isaac enter the room. It wasn’t until he slid into bed and cuddled up beside her that she registered his presence. Startled and appalled, she yanked herself away and rolled over.
“Whoa, sweetheart, what was that for?”
Reese noticed that his voice was back to normal, but she would not allow herself to be fooled. She had had enough of his games and horrible behavior. “Don’t play dumb with me, you jerk. Get out of this bed. Go sleep on the couch or, better yet, back in the garage with your precious cigarettes. Leave me alone.”
Isaac gasped. “With my cigarettes? But I don’t smoke. You know I don’t smoke, Reese. What do you mean? And why did you call me a jerk? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His voice had risen in pitch as he expressed apparent confusion and alarm.
Reese sighed. She didn’t roll over. “Really, Isaac? You expect me to buy that load of bull?” Her voice wavered. She swallowed hard. As much as Isaac’s behavior, and his confused reaction now, hurt her, she would not cry in front of him and give him any sort of advantage over her. She flinched when he touched her shoulder. She pushed his hand away.
“Reese,” it was barely a whisper. “I’m confused. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t. I don’t know. I’m so sorry if I was a jerk. Please tell me what I did so I can make it right. And I don’t smoke. I never have. Why would you think I did?”
“Because you were sitting in the garage smoking, Isaac,” Reese snapped. “You kept blowing smoke at me, you called me a nag, you told me I was too sensitive, you sneered at me, and all this was after you attacked Gretchen in the yard, screamed at her, and grabbed her wrist, wouldn’t let go, and twisted it.”
Reese expected a comeback, but instead, Isaac was completely silent. She could hear his breathing and feel his presence beside her, so she knew he was still there. Why wasn’t he saying anything? They needed to hash this out, so with a huff she rolled over to face him. He was just lying there, and when she rolled over, he looked into her eyes. After a few moments, he slowly shook his head. Again in a whisper, he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t remember any of that, Reese, and I would never act like that.” Her heart usually went out to him when he was baffled like this and seemed so lost. Part of her now wanted to hold him and reassure him, but she couldn’t. Not just yet. Not after everything he had done. Did he really not remember, or was this some lame attempt to get himself off the hook? How could he not remember? Although this certainly wasn’t the first time he claimed not to remember having done or said things, it was the most extreme.
“Smell your hands, Isaac.”
“What?”
“Smell your hands. You were smoking, so they smell like cigarettes.”
Slowly, he did as she requested. His eyes widened in apparent terror, and he quickly lowered his hands. He shook his head. “No. No. Why do they smell like cigarettes, Reese? Why?” His voice was rising in pitch again, and his breathing was becoming more rapid.
