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“I’ll be sure to pass that along,” she said. “Helovesgetting tips from our customers.” She pulled our check out of her pocket and dropped it on the table.

“My fries are perfect,” I called after her, my voice louder than I intended. Ellen took another bite of her sandwich.

“The only thing I know for sure is that you and Jim need to talk,” she said.

“He won’t take my calls.”

“Then go to his office. Or show up at my house. Apologize, beg, do whatever it takes. You did cheat on him.”

“I’m judging myself. I don’t need you to judge me too.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just you and Jim were the most solid couple Sam and I knew. If you two get divorced, we’ll never find another couple we both like.” I felt the same way about her and Sam.

“This whole thing makes me sick to my stomach, which is why I haven’t wanted to talk about it. I know you mean well, but I need to get out of here.” I took a big bite of my sandwich, grabbed a few fries, dropped money on the table and left. As I walked past the waitress, I handed her a ten-dollar tip. “Thanks for your patience.” I continued out the door. Everyone I loved was mad at me. I didn’t want the waitress to be mad at me too.

In the parking lot, I called Jim and was surprised when he answered. “I need to know if you’re coming home soon,” I said. “If not, we need to tell Gia something.”

“I’m not,” Jim said.

“Not soon or not ever?”

He stayed silent. Was he saying he was never coming home?

After a few moments, he said, “Fine, I’ll come over later today, and we can talk to Gia.”

“What should we say?”

“How the hell should I know?”

“You’re a shrink. You’ve been trained for this kind of thing. You must’ve given your patients advice on what to say to their kids if they separated.”

“I think we should just be honest,” he said.

“That’s a dumb idea.”

“Fine, then lie. You’re good at that.” He hung up on me. He had perfected that skill in such a short time.

I shoved my phone back in my purse and saw Ellen walking out of the restaurant. I didn’t want to talk to her again, so I ducked down beside an SUV.

“Excuse me, that’s my car,” a woman said. She and her toddler had come up behind me.

“Mommy, what’s that lady doing?” her toddler asked.

“I was just tying my shoes,” I said and walked off quickly before she could realize I had on leather boots with no laces.

Normally visiting with my dad made me feel better, but I hadn’t seen him since the funeral. I couldn’t handle the reality that both my parents were gone, while I was dealing with my life falling apart.

When Gia got home that afternoon, I didn’t tell her Jim was coming over. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure he’d show up.

Later that evening, Jim did come through the door, and I tried to convince myself that everything would be okay, but as soon as I saw his face, I knew it wouldn’t. He brushed past me and reflexively hung his keys on the hook next to the front door. Then, as quickly as they landed, he picked them back up and put them in his pocket. When Gia saw him, she hugged him tightly. She told him how much she missed him and how happy she was that he had come home.

“Why don’t we sit down?” I said.

“Why do we need to sit down?” Gia asked.

“It’s okay,” Jim said and led her to the couch. Gia sandwiched him between the arm of the couch and herself, probably so she could keep him from leaving again. I sat across from them, feeling as if I was on my own island. I waited for Jim to start, but he didn’t.

“Your father and I are going to live apart for a little while,” I said, ripping off the Band-Aid. “It doesn’t mean we aren’t still a family or that you did anything wrong.”