Overheated

Crystal’s stomach plummeted, and her entire world shifted beneath her. “What?” she barely rasped, desperately hoping she’d misunderstood.

But he nodded his head. “I’ve been giving this a lot of thought.” He choked out a self-deprecating laugh. “A hell of a lot of thought.”

Crystal struggled to understand his bombshell. “Is this because of the call-in show?”

“It’s because of a lot of things.”

“The guy was a judgmental jerk.”

“But he hurt you.”

“He didn’t hurt me,” she protested. “He’s a total stranger.”

“I saw it in your eyes,” said Larry.

“You were thirty feet away.”

He gripped the steering wheel, focusing out the windshield. “I’m not the right guy for you.”

Real fear gripped Crystal. “Yes,” she insisted. “You are.”

He shook his head. “You want children.”

“Not that badly.”

He looked at her again. “You deserve children. I’ve seen you with Jennifer and David, and you’ll make a great mother.”

“And you make a great father. That doesn’t mean-”

“I am a father. That’s the difference.”

Crystal stared in silence at his implacable face. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t do this to her. She loved him. She was completely and desperately in love with him, and she couldn’t imagine her life going forward any other way.

“I don’t understand,” she tried.

“I love you,” he said.

She shook her head in denial. “If you loved me-”

“Because I love you, I’m walking away. I’m not what you need.”

“You’re exactly what I need.”

He reached for her hand across the dim front seat. “You need someone younger. Someone in the same space of life as you.”

She gave a cold laugh, yanking her hand away from his. If she was forced to endure his gentle touch, she’d burst into tears. She had to stay strong here. She had to somehow convince him he was wrong.

“And what space of life is that?” she asked.

“Starting a family, not finishing one off.”

She felt a spurt of anger. “Is that how you see yourself? Finishing off.”

“I’m fifty years old.”

“Yeah, you’re fifty, not eighty-five.”

“Crystal.”

“Don’t Crystal me. There are two of us in this relationship. It’s not all up to you.”

“It’s for your own good.”

“If you loved me, you would fight for me.”

“I am fighting for you. And the person I’m fighting is me. I’m walking away so that you can have the life you deserve. If you think this is easy for me-”

Panic clawed at her chest. “Then don’t do it.”

“I have to do it.”

“No.” She shook her head frantically. “You don’t.”

Larry took a deep breath. “You’ll thank me-”

Anger overcame everything else. “I will never thank you. Leave me if you have to, but don’t pretend it’s for me. There’s no younger version of you waiting on the next street corner. There’s you and there’s me, or there’s nothing at all.”

He reached for her again, but she shrank back.

“That’s simply not true,” he told her. “There’ll be other men.”

“Other men? You can actually visualize me with other men?”

Something flashed in his eyes. Sorrow, hurt, rage? She couldn’t tell. But it changed instantly to determination. “If I stay, then I’m a selfish son of a bitch.”

The fight went out of her, and tears threatened. “You truly believe that?”

His hands twisted convulsively on the steering wheel. “I know that.”

“You’re wrong.” Her voice nearly broke.

He shook his head. “You’ll thank me, Crystal. I know you will.”

Her eyes burned, and she was forced to blink rapidly. He thought he was saving her, and there was no way to talk him out of it. She stared into his eyes, remembering last night, remembering every single, joyous moment they’d had together.

“Don’t do this,” she pleaded.

He gazed lovingly into her eyes, and she thought she had him. He remembered. He got it. He knew they were meant for each other.

But his voice broke, and he answered her. “I have to.”

She closed her eyes, while the world spun. Groping blindly, she clutched at the door handle. Her overnight bag was in the back, but she didn’t care. She had to get out of the car, and she had to do it now.

She wrenched open the door and fled up the stairs.

Tears streaming down her cheeks, Crystal didn’t look back. Her hand shook as she inserted the key into the lock.

Her phone was ringing in the kitchen, and for one wild, optimistic moment, she thought it might be Larry’s cell, that he’d changed his mind, that he was calling her back.

But Amber’s number flashed on the screen.

“No,” she wailed. Not now. Please, not now.

But she picked up the call. It could be Jennifer. Or something might be wrong.

She took a breath. “Hello?”

“Crystal? Oh, Crystal. Where have you been?”

“What’s wrong?”

“I called and called,” said Amber, a slur apparent in her voice. “I needed to talk to you,” she hiccupped.

“Where are you?” asked Crystal. “Where are the kids?”

“I’m home,” Amber sang. “They’re sleeping.”

“Are you sure? Are they all right?”

“I’m sure.” Amber gave a big sigh. “I had a fight with Zane. He left.”

Crystal couldn’t help the surge of relief. “Did he leave town?”

“I think so.” The tears came back into Amber’s voice. “Oh, Crystal. I’m so messed up.”

Crystal swiped at her own tears with the back of her hand, ripping a tissue from the box and crossing to her couch. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Did he hit you?”

“Who?”

“Zane.”

“Uh, no. I don’t think so.” Something rustled in the background. “I don’t see anything.”

“You can’t remember?” Crystal cringed. This was worse than she thought. “Are you sure the kids are okay?”

The couch springs squeaked. “I’m walking-oops.” Amber giggled. “I’m walking to the bedroom.”

“Don’t wake them up,” Crystal warned.

“Shh,” Amber slurred into the phone.

“Sound asleep,” she announced.

“Both of them?”