“Everyone?”
“You. Rachel. The baby. The children.”
“And how exactly were you planning to get everyone through it?”
He looked down.
“I thought you would eventually accept that the marriage was over.”
“Did you ever give me the opportunity to decide whether I wanted to work on it?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“Did you tell me you were unhappy?”
“Not properly.”
“Did you tell me you were seeing someone else?”
“No.”
“Did you ask whether I would agree to give up my home?”
He closed his eyes.
“No.”
I let the silence sit between us.
Then I asked the question I had been avoiding.
“Tyler, when did you stop seeing me as your partner?”
His face crumpled.
“I never stopped.”
“Then why did you treat me like an obstacle?”
He covered his face with both hands.
For a long time, he did not answer.
Finally, he whispered, “I don’t know.”
