A Turn in the Road

He looked down at his drink. “I know it may not be possible for you to ever completely forgive me.”

Bethanne felt a twinge of shame. She sighed heavily. “I apologize, Grant,” she said. “I don’t hate you. Really.” She’d given him twenty years of her life. He was the father of her children. And there was a part of her that still loved him.

Grant’s eyes flickered with hope. “Can we do that? The two of us together for Andrew’s sake on the most important day of his life?”

“I’ll think about it,” she promised.

“That’s all I ask,” he said, and didn’t raise the subject again.

Their meals arrived shortly afterward. Grant spooned salsa over his enchiladas. Bethanne remained silent as she waited for him to hand her the bowl.

“I understand Annie’s got a hot date tonight,” he said.

Although Annie rarely mentioned her conversations with her father, Bethanne knew the two of them spoke regularly these days.

“What’s your impression of Vance?” Grant asked, sliding his fork under the steaming enchilada.

Bethanne finished spooning salsa over her own dish as she gathered her thoughts. “He’s a good kid … a bit immature, I’d say.” She paused. “But then, so is Annie.” She took another sip of her drink. “He’s an archaeology major and graduated this year. As far as I know, he’s going to graduate school.”

“Annie seems to think he’s about to pop the question.”

“So she said.” Bethanne set her fork down. “Frankly, I feel they’re both too young for marriage. If they do become engaged, I hope they decide on a lengthy engagement.”

Grant frowned. “You don’t feel Vance is a good choice for our daughter?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“It’s what you implied.”

Bethanne’s gaze was direct. “No, what I said is that I hope she’d have the sense to wait before making that kind of commitment.”

Grant took a bite of his enchilada. “Were we too young?”

She shrugged, uncertain how to answer. Like Annie and Vance, Bethanne and Grant had attended the same college. He was a business major and she’d been pursuing a degree in education. They’d met over the summer between her junior and senior year. From their first date, Grant Hamlin had become her entire world. They were engaged by Christmas, and while her parents liked Grant, they’d wanted them to delay the wedding until after Bethanne graduated.

Waiting, however, felt impossible. Grant was out of school and job-hunting. He was hired by Boeing in their corporate office, and with his first paycheck bought her an engagement ring.

Against her parents’ wishes, Bethanne dropped out of school just six months shy of graduation. From that point forward she’d dedicated her life to being a good wife and mother. She’d worked briefly in a department store, but only until Andrew’s birth.

“Too young?” she repeated his question. “Perhaps …”

They finished their meal quickly after that, avoiding awkward subjects. When they left the restaurant, Grant walked her to her car.

“I enjoyed dinner,” he said, standing beside her. “Did you?” The driver’s side door was open and she’d already thrown her purse on the passenger seat.

“I did.”

“And your dinner companion?”

She gave him a warning look: don’t push it. “Tonight brought back a lot of memories,” was all she said.

“It did for me, too.” He touched her car, tracing patterns in the dust. “We were happy, Bethanne,” he said, so softly she almost missed it.

She nodded, suddenly sad. “We were,” she agreed. “At one time.”

He tentatively raised his hands to touch the curve of her shoulders. “I’d give anything to take back the past six years,” he said, staring down at her.

“Make that seven,” she added. His affair with Tiffany had been going on long before he’d asked for the divorce.

“Seven,” he amended, and exhaled slowly. Then something in him seemed to deflate, and she read the regret in his eyes. “Tell me … is there any hope for us?”

As she considered his question, she saw him tense, as if anticipating a blow.

“I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head. Everything was just so confusing….

“Would it be possible to put the past behind us—forget about the divorce and pretend the past seven years never happened?”

“But they did.”

“I know,” he whispered brokenly. “If I could take away what I did to you and the kids, I would. I’d pay whatever it cost. If you wanted blood, I’d bleed. I’m miserable without you, Bethanne.” His words were heartbreaking in their sincerity. “Tell me you’d be willing to let me have a second chance. All I need is a sliver of hope.”

He wanted an answer … but as hard as she tried, Bethanne couldn’t give him one.

A lump formed in her throat. She had loved Grant … still did in certain ways that were tied to their shared past, to the memories of their marriage, the years of struggle and sacrifice, the happiness of companionship. And despite everything, they were linked forever through their children.

“Maybe,” she breathed.

He smiled then, and his shoulders relaxed. “That’s enough for now.”

Four

Annie rummaged around inside her mother’s closet looking for the silver chain belt that would go perfectly with her Mexican-style skirt. When Vance came by to pick her up for dinner, she wanted him to be awestruck by her beauty. It wasn’t every day of the week that a girl got a marriage proposal—if that was what he intended. Annie thought so; all the evidence pointed to exactly that. Dinner at an expensive restaurant, being seen in a high-end jewelry store. What else was she to think?

She located the belt and wrapped it around her waist, checking her reflection in the full-length mirror that hung on her mother’s bathroom door. The mirror also reflected the queen-size bed her parents had once shared. Even after six years of living alone, her mother still slept on the right-hand side. Not in the middle.

Silly as it sounded, this gave Annie hope that her parents would one day reunite. It was what her father wanted most in the world. What Annie wanted, too. Her parents were meant to be together. Her father had made a terrible mistake, but he was sorry. More than anything he wanted to make it up to the family, and in Annie’s opinion they should let him.

It felt good to be close to her dad again. Now that the lovely Tiffany was gone, Annie felt there was real hope for a reconciliation between her parents. It just seemed wrong for them to live apart. The problem was getting her mother to recognize how sincere he was and take him back. Annie loved them both so much, and all she wanted was for them to be happy. What they did with their lives wasn’t really up to her, as Andrew pointed out with annoying regularity, but sometimes she felt she understood them better than they understood themselves.

The security alarm beeped, indicating that someone had entered the house. “Is that you, Mom?” Annie called down from the second-story hallway.

“Annie? What are you doing here?”

Annie had her own apartment near the University of Washington campus. “I came to borrow your silver belt. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course not.”

“Are you and Dad finished with dinner already?” she asked as she walked down the stairs.