Ryan swallowed.
“The second she said Daddy, I knew exactly what she was seeing. I realized what I’d done without considering what it might mean to her.”
That explanation hurt.
But it made sense.
I slowly sat across from him.
“You should have told me.”
“I know.”
“You don’t get to carry pieces of my husband around and assume I’ll never notice.”
“I know.”
For several seconds neither of us spoke.
Finally, I stood.
“Okay.”
Ryan frowned.
“Okay?”
“I understand the tattoo.”
I walked toward the front door.
Then he said,
“Claire.”
Something in his voice made me turn.
Ryan looked almost frightened.
“There’s something else.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
He opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
“I don’t know how to say it without making everything worse.”
That was when I remembered the pool party.
Cole’s words.
Two bedrooms.
A playroom.
A family who didn’t live there yet.
I stared at Ryan.
“The renovation.”
His face changed.
He didn’t need to answer.
I already knew.
But I wasn’t ready to hear it.
“Not now,” I said.
Then I left.
I made it until lunchtime.
That was all.
Lily was watching cartoons while I sat at the kitchen table pretending to pay bills.
Finally, I grabbed my phone.
We need to finish the conversation.
Ryan replied less than a minute later.
Whenever you’re ready.
I drove back that afternoon.
This time there was no coffee.
No pretending.
I sat across from him and asked directly.
“Who are the upstairs rooms for?”
Ryan remained silent.
“Cole said you’re building them for a family.”
Still nothing.
“You’re not married.”
“No.”
“You don’t have children.”
“No.”
“Then tell me.”
He looked at me.
And suddenly I hated the answer before he even said it.
“Are those rooms for Lily and me?”
Ryan closed his eyes.
That was enough.
I stood so quickly the chair scraped across the floor.
