Point Hope by Kristen James Read Free Book Online

didn’t want to be like this now. “I didn’t think that far ahead, and no, I didn’t think about which way we’ll exactly split our family up.”
    Our family hung in the air, softening the otherwise sharp words.
    She was playing hardball here, and he wondered if he had finally pushed her too far with his episodes, his distance, and now all of this. Yes, he had said the word divorce first. Maybe to protect himself, or to push her, or maybe just to get it over with. If he didn’t know what he wanted, perhaps that meant they shouldn’t act yet. She remained silent; so did he.
    Finally, Trey held up his palms and said, “We could just keep up this charade for a while longer.”
    She slanted another glance at him with light blue eyes rimmed with a darker blue. It always seemed to him that her eyes looked even lighter when she was mad. Icy. That’s how they looked now, which matched her stiff composure and silent treatment. “Do you have a better idea?” he asked.
    “Than just holding off again?” She exhaled, her shoulders sagging with the departing air. Her anger left as well. “I can’t handle this much stress, every single minute, everything hanging.” Her voice trembled.
    He stepped closer and only caught himself at the last second before he reached out to her. Some people develop ulcers under stress. Rosette responded with her entire body, getting sick to her stomach, losing sleep, and feeling too mentally foggy to get anything done. She’d be in that limbo now, and somehow he hadn’t thought about that.
    “Ricky and I promised each other,” he said, firmly this time, the memory floating into his mind with a strange vividness. “Promised we’d be there to take care of things if it ever needed done.” A fine moment of clarity hit: “Rosette, we’re going to put our personal issues aside for now, so we can focus on the kids, Alex, and this little girl. We have bigger responsibilities.”
    He had almost mentioned Summer in that list of people. His grandfather and father had both taught him that family is family. And for his family, that term meant more than bloodlines. They had never turned anyone away. He’d grown up with a large family, including any relative that needed a place to stay, or even strangers who had wandered into their lives. Trey missed it now that so many were gone.
    Rosette looked down, her brows drawing together. Her family hadn’t been the foundation she’d needed, and she’d wholeheartedly taken on his family identity. Rosette knew his thoughts; she might even understand his feelings more deeply than he did. 
    A minute passed. “Okay.”
     
    ~  ~ ~
     
    It was just before seven when Trey called home. He and Rosette were sitting in the family waiting room. Summer was with the baby. Rosette leaned forward in her chair, impatient to know how Alex and the kids were doing, so thankful Alex could handle things at home right now.
     “Hey, Alex,” Trey greeted, then listened. “No, don’t worry about school today for Candice and Jake… It’s a bit complicated.”
    She could hear Alex after that. “But they’re okay?”
    Trey paused too long. Finally, he chose his words carefully and said, “We’ll be home as quickly as we can to talk. Just hang tight for a bit.”
    He hung up and looked at her. “We have to go tell them.”
    “Together.” Her tentative word sounded like a statement and question at the same time. “I’ll talk to Summer, and then we can leave.”
    Trey stood as she did. They’d been sitting close enough that when they stood, they were standing right next to each other. Somehow old habits prevailed, and his arms slipped around her; hers wrapped around his neck. Rosette wasn’t sure who had embraced the other, or how it happened, but she held onto him as tightly as he held her. His heart beat with hers, under his shaky breathing.
    He was close to tears.
    That shook her more than anything had that day.
    She closed her eyes. Make it all go away.
    This