Page 76 of Friends That Heal Us
I look to my mom. “I want to sell it. But with everything going on right now, I just haven’t had the time, and I haven’t even had time to look at other places.”
“Well, take your time. You don’t need to rush things if it’s going to cause you more stress.”
“Do you think Zayn will fight you over the house?” Dad asks.
“I don’t know. He’s not on the mortgage or the deed. Maybe he’ll try to fight for equity.”
Dad shakes his head in disappointment. “Yeah, that never sat right with me.”
“What didn’t?”
“Him not being on the mortgage.”
I shrug my shoulders because, in all honesty, I never saw a problem with it. But now I can see more clearly when it comes to him. It shows a red flag that I never saw. It almost makes me think he did this on purpose in case something happened between us and he wouldn’t be stuck with it. A lot of our stuff is separate. It worked for us, and it works for some marriages, but what he did makes me think he was always a step ahead in case he needed to get out quickly. And maybe he wasn’t, but because of everything, those are the thoughts that run through my head about him.
“Do you and Ezra want to stay at our house? I’m sure it’s hard for you two to stay in that house,” Mom asks.
“Thanks, but I think we’re fine for now.”
“It’s always open if you need it.”
That’s probably where I should have stayed when all this happened. It crossed my mind a couple of times, but it was already hard enough for me to get out of bed. I couldn’t find the willpower to move my stuff over there.
“Where are you two headed next?” I ask.
“We’re going to the United Kingdom. We’re going to travel around there for a bit.”
“Fun. Send me pictures.”
“We will,” they both say.
CHAPTER FORTY
EZRA
The squeal ofgrocery carts echoes through the store as I place the bag of poblano peppers in my cart. We were running low on groceries, so after work I went to buy some. With the weather getting cooler, I want to make a poblano chicken soup.
Violet has been so busy with opening the bakery. Before I get off work, she usually has dinner done, but her bakery is doing so well that she has been staying late to bake for the following day. She quickly realized she’ll need to hire someone to help her bake. She wasn’t prepared to have to hire someone other than Liv so fast.
I’m happy my business is in a steady state where my employees can handle the work and I’m able to be home more and contribute to what needs to be done. It feels like a breath of fresh air compared to working a full-time job, running a business, and doing the household stuff, sincesomeonecouldn’t think to ever help keep the household running. It’s not that Violet and I have talked about who does what, who pays what, and so forth, but it’s common sense to know that things need to get done in the household to keep it running. It doesn’t matterwhose turn it is or who needs to do it. It needs to get done; right now I have the time since Violet has been busy, and she got things done when I was busier.
Just as I turn the corner onto an aisle to get some chicken broth for the soup, I spot Rya’s mom right in front of me, and she is staring daggers at me.
Fuck me.
“Ezra,” she says sternly.
Oh, dear Lord. Here we go.
She steps closer to me with her jaw set tight. “I don’t appreciate you not answering my calls.”
“There is nothing to talk about.”
A couple of weeks after I moved out of my place and into Vi’s, Rya’s mom started calling me. Usually, I would answer because I’m not the type of person to ignore someone. But for my own mental health, I had to learn to let the calls go to voicemail and delete them without listening to them. I had a feeling I was going to get an earful of how this is my fault and more bullshit on top of that. Sad as it is, Rya inherited her mom’s mentality. The one where ‘it’s everyone else’s fault.’ I wish I had seen it earlier on, but with age, Rya became worse. I can’t imagine what Rya has told her mom.
“Yes. There. Is.”
I stand here in silence, debating whether I should stay and listen to this or walk away. If I walk away, I know she’ll just follow me around until she’s done saying what she needs to say.
