Page 3 of Yours

I blew out a calming breath. “I think you should stay somewhere else tonight. We can talk when I’m ready. Right now, I just need some time.” It occurred to me that asking him to stay elsewhere probably meant he would be with Mya, but having him at our house wouldn’t be good for me—or the kids.

“I really don’t want to leave you alone.”

“Don’t pretend to be the concerned husband now. You didn’t seem to have a problem leaving me alone for the last year,” I sneered as I opened my car door and climbed in.

He opened his mouth to respond, but I didn’t want to hear anything else he had to say, so I held up my hand to stop him.

“I’ll text you when I’m ready to talk.” I pulled my door shut.

As I exited the parking lot, I glanced in my rearview mirror and saw him watching me drive away. His choices had turned my life upside-down, and I had no idea what my future held, but one thing I did know: I wasn’t ready to start over.

ONE

DRAFT

AUTUMN

One YearLater

“I think we’ve got everything,”Tessa’s husband, Nick, pulled the rolling door shut on the moving truck.

“Thank you.” I smiled at him.

Standing in the front yard of what had been the family home I’d created with Shawn, knowing it was no longer mine, broke whatever pieces of my heart still existed. I’d been stupid enough to take him back after he swore he broke things off with Mya and wanted to fix what he’d done to our relationship. We started attending marriage counseling twice a month, and for a while, I truly believed we could build back what we’d had lost.

But Shawn’s commitment to saving our marriage wasn’t as strong as he led me to believe. It only took about six months before he slipped into old habits, and we began spending less and less time together. I tried to convince myself we needed to work harder on our marriage, but when Mya showed up one night a couple of months ago and announced she was pregnant with his child, that was the end for me.

Tessa wrapped an arm around me. “Are you okay?”

I leaned my head on her shoulder. “I don’t know. This home was supposed to be where we raised our children and lived happily ever after. Now he’s going to do that with someone else. It’s just hard to believe this is it.”

The judge had signed off on our divorce the day before and moving out was the last step in the process. Shawn and I had agreed he would buy me out of our house, seeing as I couldn’t afford it on my own, even with child and spousal support. He was also keeping most of the furniture. It wasn’t as though any of it would fit into my new place anyway, and I was looking forward to a fresh start, hoping it would help me move on. Still, I hated thinking of Shawn playing house withherin the space I’d spent countless hours decorating and setting up for us.

“He’s a fucking douche,” she muttered, and I couldn’t help but laugh. My sister had been calling Shawn a douche since the night I came home from the bar and told her what had happened.

“Yeah. He is.” I sighed.

She squeezed me tight. “Let’s get a move on it. I’ll follow you to the new place.”

Tears welled in my eyes as I caught a glimpse of Beau, our golden retriever, who stared at me from the large living room window. Since he was Josh’s best friend, Beau would travel between the houses with our kids.

Our kids.God, I already missed them. Shawn and I had decided it would be best for him to take them somewhere fun while I moved out. He was going to bring them to me the following day after the furniture was delivered, and I wasn’t looking forward to staying in my new home alone.

* * *

Thirty minutes later,we pulled up in front of the duplex that was my new place in Newhill, the same town I’d grown up in, and drastically different from the gated neighborhood in Las Vegas to which I’d grown accustomed. I was going from a large, modern home with six bedrooms to a small three-bedroom, two-bathroom duplex. Since I hadn’t found a full-time job yet, I needed to be careful with my finances and save the money I’d received from Shawn for the house.

I walked to the front door where Thomas Lawson, Nick’s father, was waiting.

“Hi, Autumn. Here’s your key.”

I took it from his outstretched hand. “Thank you so much. I really appreciate you renting this place to me.”

Thomas and his wife, Rita, owned several properties in the area and had the kindest hearts of anyone I knew. The minute they heard I was looking for a house to rent, they’d offered to help.

“You don’t need to thank me. This place has been vacant for months. I’m just glad someone will be living here.”

I smiled, knowing that while his words may have been true, he’d also given me one hell of a deal on the rent. “Well, I appreciate it all the same.”