Page 18 of Summertime Rapture

He got rid of Zachery for the weekend just because he couldn’t handle a little fever.

He didn’t answer my text messages.

He makes me feel invisible and stupid, and unworthy.

And I’ve had enough.

Mallory bounded through the back doorway with her chin lifted. Midway through the living room, she nearly stumbled headlong into Lucas and Nancy. Nancy’s face twisted, showing just how much she didn’t want this man in her house.

“What happened to all your stuff?” Lucas asked, gesturing toward the corner where an old armoire had been.

Nancy groaned and fled back to the rest of the party, not wanting to get into it.

“Where’s your present for Zachery?” Mallory asked, crossing her arms.

Lucas guffawed. “It hasn’t come in the mail yet, okay? But it’s on its way. He’s only two. He won’t know the difference.”

He can’t even get his son a birthday present.

“What the heck happened on Friday? Why did you bail on Zach?”

Lucas rolled his eyes. “You always make everything more dramatic than it should be. Zach was sick, and he’s more used to your mother.”

“Shouldn’t you be asking yourself why that is?” Mallory demanded.

“He’s two, Mall. It’ll get easier for me as he gets older.”

Mallory’s stomach twisted.Where did this guy get off shoving the blame on everyone else’s shoulders? Hadn’t he been there when Zach had been conceived? Hadn’t he been the one to tell her it would “be all right” and that they’d “figure this out together”?

“I can’t do this anymore, Lucas,” Mallory muttered for what seemed like the tenth time in a year.

Lucas rolled his eyes. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re going to break up with me again on our son’s birthday?”

Mallory shook her head. “You can be at his party. You can sit with him and hug him and celebrate with cake. But after that, I need you to leave. We’ll work out another arrangement, something that works for all three of us. But let’s stop kidding ourselves. We need to give ourselves space to move on.”