12

When I get off the phone, I’m ashen.

“Tell me,” Chris says gently, handing me a gin with berries, just as I like it, before looking earnestly into my eyes.

“I should have known when I saw Wednesday taking photos of the house…”

“You didn’t tell me she did that.”

I shrug and answer his question in a hushed tone.

“He wants everything. He wants the house. We’d agreed the house would be mine. He took the lake cottage. I don’t understand…”

Chris cocks his head to the side.

“Merri, over the past few weeks I’ve garnered a little about how your split went, and it sounds to me like you did everything James asked.”

“I did. I did. That’s why I don’t understand…”

“Apart from the couch, you gave him everything he wanted.”

“Yes.”

“Could it be that he thinks you’re so heartbroken that he can take everything and you won’t resist?”

I frown as I consider this.

“And could it be,” he says gently, “that you’ve done this because deep down you think he might come back?”

I take a long drink and feel a lump building in my throat. I’ve never examined why I didn’t resist when James took everything he wanted from the house, and left. I guess he took my dignity that day too, or perhaps he took that when he started sleeping around. But Chris is right. Deep down I didn’t want to be the bad guy. Maybe I thought I needed to maintain the high moral ground, which was, if I’m honest, probably also why I won’t submit to Chris’ advances. Perhaps I wanted something left to salvage if James ever did discover he’d made a mistake and wanted to return. I didn’t want anything to feel guilty about. Or perhaps I was just so broken by everything that had happened, that I’d lost the will to fight any more.

Chris, seeing my expression, takes my drink from me and both my hands in his.

“Yes. That’s exactly what he thinks,” I murmur.

“But didn’t you tell me that for the first few years of your marriage you supported him and his fledgling business with your ceramic teaching?”

“That was a long time ago, Chris.”

“In human years, perhaps. Merri, I may not know much about a great many things, as I’ve discovered since meeting you, but I do know a little about the law.”

“You do?”

“Yes.”

“Then what’s your advice, angel lawyer?”

“Take him for everything he’s worth, or leave him with everything,” he says gently. “Whatever makes your heart lighter and your smile return.”

I squeeze his hands and look him in the eye as my resolve forms.

‘Yes, fuck James. He’s pushed me too far. May he and his piece of fluff explode from spontaneous combustion!’

“I want it all.”

“Then take it.”

“But just so we’re clear,” I wrinkle my nose and shake my head at him, “you’re a terrible lawyer.”

“Yes,” he grins, “that was total bullshit. I know nothing about the law.”