Melinda’s POV
He didn’t come back the next day.
Or the day after that.
No text. No email. Not even a short message through Carrie like he usually sent when he had to miss a pickup.
Nothing.
And I didn’t reach out either.
I wanted to.
God, I wanted to.
Ached to explain.
To beg.
To say please understand, please don’t go, please believe that I didn’t use you.
But I didn’t.
Because part of me knew…
If I had to ask for grace, then maybe I hadn’t earned it in the first place.
So I got up.
I packed the twins’ lunches.
I went to work.
I met with the lawyers about the board sabotage — which was unraveling now thanks to James’s team, even though his name never came up.
I smiled when the kids came home.
I read bedtime stories with the lights dimmed low.
But I didn’t sleep.
Not re
