“You miss me taking care of things,” Melanie replied.
“Yeah,” Adam replied, then sighed. “I wasn’t good to you. I wish I hadn’t messed up like that—”
“Adam, this is long finished,” Melanie said. “We’re divorced.”
“I know...” Adam met her gaze. “Is there someone else?”
“You don’t get to ask that,” she replied with a shake of her head. “After all you put me through, you have no right to ask that question.”
Adam smiled faintly. “So there is.”
He was so confident, so sure of himself, and she could see now why she’d been drawn to him and had continued trusting him all those years. There wasn’t any visible chink in that armor.
“You should know that Tilly knew you were cheating on me the entire time,” Melanie said. “All the kids did.”
Adam’s easy smile fell. “What?”
“The kids see more than we think,” she replied. “And I’m only telling you this because I think it’s done a real number on her. She thinks our marriage is the norm, and it’s what she has to look forward to.”
Adam swallowed. “Look, I made some mistakes, but—”
“Do you want her with a guy who lies to her and cheats on her?” Melanie asked, raising her eyebrows. “She figures that’s the trade-off in order to be loved.”
“I know my daughter—” Adam started, his gaze snapping, and she could feel the fight rising in him.
“Not as well as you think,” Melanie replied tiredly. “And I have no intention of having a fight with you in my kitchen. You two are due for some long honest talks, and I truly hope it helps her, because otherwise, she’ll be with Simon or some other guy who treats her the same, and it will be because she saw more than you thought.”
Adam pressed his lips together. “I think you can leave my daughter to me.”
Melanie cocked her head to one side, regarding her ex-husband with new eyes. There it was—the line he always drew, be it ever so subtly. These were his kids, not hers. Of course, he missed her...she’d held his private life together, but he wasn’t going to change any more than Simon would.
“For the record?” Melanie said. “I raised Tilly, too, and I love her. Deal with Simon as you see fit.”
Would it make any difference? Likely not. The Isaacs family dynamic would go on, and Melanie would be cut out. Tilly came out with her suitcase and Adam stepped forward to take it from her. He headed for the door, leaving Tilly and Melanie momentarily alone.
“Thank you for—” Tilly shrugged “—letting me stay for a bit.”
And this was goodbye. Tilly would go off with her dad, and Melanie would likely never see her again. Because that was how divorces worked when the kids had never been yours to begin with.
Tears welled in Melanie’s eyes. “Anytime. I mean that. I know I’m not your real mom, Tilly, but I’m the one who raised you. And I’ll always be here for you. I’m what you’ve got.”
Tilly nodded. “Okay.”
Melanie wrapped her arms around the girl’s thin shoulders and pulled her into a hug. It wouldn’t change anything, would it? Tilly wouldn’t need her again.
“This doesn’t have to be goodbye—not forever,” Melanie said.
“Yeah...” Tilly’s chin trembled.
“Hey, I’m not going anywhere,” Melanie said, smiling past her own tears. “And you obviously know how to find me.”
“Mel, I’ve been feeling really bad about what I said before,” Tilly said. “About how we knew about Dad cheating and all that, and...”
“Hey—my relationship with your father wasn’t your fault, or your business. Don’t worry about it.”
“I was going to tell you a few times,” Tilly said, “when I was younger, but Michael said that if I told you, you’d divorce Dad and leave us, and I didn’t want you to go.”
Tilly met Melanie’s gaze tearily.
“You were afraid I’d leave you?” Melanie breathed.
Tilly nodded. “Because Mrs. Brent left Mr. Brent when she found out he was cheating on her, right? And Mrs. Klein did. And Mr. Cossens divorced Mrs. Cossens when he found out about her yoga instructor, and—”
“I get the idea,” Melanie said. “You kids carried around a bigger burden than I ever thought.”
“I guess so.”
They’d known too much, hidden too much and tried to control what they could in their world. It was sadly touching that Tilly had hidden that information in hopes of keeping her stepmother. Maybe Melanie hadn’t been quite so rejected as she’d thought.
“I might have divorced your dad, but I’m not gone,” Melanie said. “Okay? I’m still yours, Tilly. And I always will be. I’m the one who tucked you in, and read you stories. I was your Tooth Fairy and your Easter Bunny, and the one who baked for your bake sales every year... No one can change that, Tilly. No one can take back that time that was ours, together.”
But even as she said it, she realized that the time was slipping away. The past wouldn’t change, but the future certainly would.
“I wish I’d been better to you,” Tilly said softly.
“Oh, sweetie,” Melanie said. “You were a kid. I can forgive that. I suggest you do, too. I love you, okay?”
Tilly leaned in to give Melanie one more hug, and the door opened again and Adam came back inside. He spotted Tilly’s last two bags and came forward to collect them.
“Let’s go, Tilly,” Adam said. “I need you to fill me in on Simon.”
Adam would be good for that much—Simon would be quaking before Adam was done with him. Melanie grabbed a box of granola bars from the cupboard and pressed them into Tilly’s hands. “In case you get hungry.”
Tilly smiled, and she followed her father to the door. Melanie stood in the doorway, watching Tilly get into her father’s black pickup truck.
“I’ll send a guy for Tilly’s car,” Adam called.
“Sure.” Melanie nodded and watched as he got back into the truck. Adam undid the window and met her gaze with a sad smile.
“It was good to see you again,” Adam said.
“Yeah...” Melanie took a wavering breath. “Take care
