Page 74 of The Gravity of Us (Elements 4)

“You’re mad.” She grimaced.

“You lied to me. Since when do we lie to each other?”

“I knew you wouldn’t approve of me seeing him, but he wanted to talk to me about things.”

“Talk about things?” I echoed as anger rocketed through me. “What in the world could there be to talk about?” Her head lowered, and she started tracing her shoe in the dirt. “Oh my gosh, he wants to talk about getting back together, doesn’t he?”

“It’s complicated,” she told me.

“How so? He walked out on you during the worst time of your life, and now he wants to walk back in during the best.”

“He’s my husband.”

“Ex-husband.”

Her head lowered. “I never signed the papers.”

My heart shattered.

“You told me—”

“I know!” she cried, running her hands through her hair, pacing back and forth. “I know I told you it ended, and it did. Mentally, I was done with my marriage, but physically…I never signed the papers.”

“You have got to be kidding me, Mari. He abandoned you, when you had cancer.”

“But still…”

“No. No ‘but still’. He doesn’t get a pass, and you lied about being divorced! To me! You’re supposed to be my person, Pea. We’re supposed to be able to tell each other everything, and this whole time you’ve been living a lie with me. You know what Mama always said about lying? If you have to lie about it, you probably shouldn’t be doing it anyway.”

“Please don’t quote Mama to me right now, Lucy.”

“You have to leave him, Mari. Physically, emotionally, mentally. He’s toxic for you. No good is going to come from this.”

“You have no clue what it’s like to be married!” Her voice heightened. Mari never raised her voice.

“But I do have a clue what it’s like to be respected! Jesus, I cannot believe you’ve been lying this whole time.”

“I’m sorry I lied, but if we’re honest, you haven’t been the most honest person lately.”

“What?”

“This,” she said, gesturing toward Talon. “This whole Graham thing is weird. Why are you taking care of his kid? She’s obviously old enough for him to take care of himself, or hell, he could hire a nanny. Tell me the truth, why are you still there?”

My gut tightened. “Mari, that’s not the same thing…”

“It’s exactly the same thing! You say I’m staying in a loveless marriage because I’m weak and you’re pissed that I lied to you, but you’ve been lying to me, and to yourself. You’re staying with him because you’re falling for him.”

“Stop it.”

“You are.”

My jaw dropped open. “Mari…this, right now, this isn’t about me, or Graham, or anything other than you. You’re making a huge mistake talking to him. It’s not healthy and—”

“I’m moving back home.”

“What?!” I exclaimed, shock reverberating through me. I stood up straighter. “That’s not your home. I’m your home. We are each other’s home.”

“Parker thinks it will be best for us, to work on our marriage.”