None of that repaired our relationship.
But it mattered to our son.
Rachel ended the relationship with Eric shortly after our meeting.
I learned this from Eric, who admitted she’d returned the key to the rental house.
He told me she’d accused him of using both of us.
I didn’t ask for the details.
By then, I was tired of organizing my life around what Eric wanted, feared, or regretted.
I started doing things we’d postponed for years.
Melissa and I took a weekend trip.
I replaced the kitchen faucet myself after watching a dozen tutorials and calling a plumber when the first attempt leaked.
Noah and I planted bulbs in the front yard.
There were hard days.
I worried about bills, hated the quiet when Noah was with his father, and sometimes missed the ordinary conversations Eric and I used to have.
But I no longer spent my mornings wondering which version of the truth I would hear.
