Page 80 of Let's Call a Truce
Juliana:What the fuck is going on, Ben?
Ben:I wanted to talk to you about it this morning. I’m so sorry, Juliana. Can we talk at the field in a bit?
Juliana:Why does Sophie think you and your ex are back together?
Ben:She pulled this wild stunt yesterday. I’ll explain it all when I get there.
I threw my phone back in my purse, fuming over his nonanswer. I tried to focus on the game, pushing through stilted conversations with Katie, Morgan, and plenty of others.
Paris and Ben walked over to the field as I packed everything up. Walking at his side was a gorgeous woman with strawberry blond hair that fell in a soft wave all the way to her waist. She was tiny, no more than five feet two, and her outfit and makeup were perfectly maintained. I hadn’t even been that put together before kids, much less while trying to manage everything for them. I fought the urge to fidget with my own stretched out T-shirt and faded leggings.
Paris ran up to me, throwing her arms around me and squeezing tight.
“Did Sophie tell you the good news, Miss Juliana?”
“She told me all about last night, sweetie.” I forced a smile. None of this was Paris’s fault. “Good luck in your game.”
“Thanks.” A half second after the words left her mouth, she sprinted after Sophie.
“You must be Sophie’s mom. I’m Stephanie, Paris’s mom. She loves you so much, and we’re just so thankful for how special you make her feel. Aren’t we, honey?”
She laid a possessive hand on Ben’s arm, taking a step closer to him, and I clenched my hands at my sides to keep from pushing her away from him.
“I’m Juliana.” I shook her hand. “Ben, a word?”
I walked farther away from the crowd, keeping an eye to make sure all three kids were out of hearing range.
“What the fuck, Ben?”
He sighed and dropped his head forward, his hands anchored on his hips. “She showed up last night while I was at your place. When I got home at two, she was sitting in the living room waiting for me. She told Paris we were back together and going to be a family again.”
“And you told her she could shove it?”
“That’s exactly what I told her. I said I was going to tell Paris the truth first thing in the morning. I told her we would never be together again. But then Paris woke up happier than I’veseen her in years. I didn’t know how she’d react if I told her it wasn’t true—that I was choosing for us not to be a family. I’m the only person she’s ever been able to rely on, and I couldn’t break her heart like that.”
“So you’re back together?” I fought to keep my breakfast from coming back up.
He shook his head quickly and stepped closer. I took a step back on instinct, and he clenched his fists. “No, I know Stephanie. She gets whims like this and decides she has to have something without thinking it through. It’s like when she decided she had to have a dog, and a few weeks later demanded we get rid of her because of the dog fur. She decided getting me back is the only way for her to be happy, and she’s willing to use our daughter to manipulate me into it. A week or two around me and she’ll remember all the reasons she left in the first place.”
“You’re lying to your daughter?”
“No,” he said, running a hand over his forehead like he was working out a headache. “Okay, only a little. I told her Stephanie could stay in our guest room while we all spent time together. I didn’t promise anything, so when she disappears again, Paris will still feel like she can turn to me.”
He wouldn’t intentionally hurt me. If he said she wouldn’t stick around, he believed it. But that didn’t make it true. His own words echoed in my head.Beautiful and bright. Fun and full of life.And one word cycled on repeat, the most concerning one:
Addictive.
It hadn’t bothered me when he said it in Boston, but now I saw it in a new light. I saw him watching her warily to start, but hit after hit of her enthusiasm, drawing him back in like a junkie who couldn’t walk away. And I saw me, sitting on the sidelines, crumbling under the disappointment.
I ground my teeth together at the thought. “Couldn’t you just be honest with Paris?”
“It’s not that simple, Juliana.” He reached for my hand and I snatched it away. “Paris makes things… complicated.”
Complicated. Like I couldn’t understand the challenges of raising kids. Or maybe he didn’t consider me an important enough part of his life to discuss those complications.
“Don’t patronize me. It’s complicated, but you’re choosing not to deal with it.”
He blinked quickly and looked up at the sky, clear blue and perfect. It shouldn’t look like that. There should be rolling thunderclouds when my life was falling apart.
