Joanne's finger trembled over her phone screen.
Her Jeffrey, was standing beside Heather and… smiling.
Smiling like he didn't have a woman waiting for him. Smiling like he hadn't torn someone's world apart. Smiling like he was whole. Complete. Like that was his family.
Joanne dropped the phone.
Her vision blurred as tears filled her eyes, and then…
They fell.
Heavy. Unstoppable. Like a dam breaking loose.
She curled in on herself at the edge of the tub, sobs shaking her thin frame. The water behind her still ran, unnoticed now, its gentle sound clashing with the grief spiraling out of her.
He had moved on.
Not just from her—but from them. From everything they'd been through. Everything she'd waited for. Everything she believed in.
Was she just a summer fling? Would he remember her as just a redhead farm girl he fucked one summer?
Was that why he asked her to stay out of it? So he could step in—fully—for Heather? For that child? For the life he chose without her?
